September 15, 2010

The Jingle Jamboree

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The Country Bear Christmas Special is a special holiday edition of the Country Bear Jamboree attraction at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. The show premiered in both parks in the winter of 1984. Also, the show opened at Tokyo Disneyland as Jingle-Bell Jamboree in 1988. Since then, it has run every November through January.

However, it hasn't been presented since 2006, due to copyright issues with some of the songs, such as Rodolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer but it has been rumored to return in the future. The show still plays at Tokyo Disneyland every year during their Christmas events.

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The show is a mesh of many different traditional Christmas carols, more modern songs and original Christmas "bear-ols" all sung by the bears in a country twang. The show begins as always with Buff, Max, and Melvin. As the three argue over who gets to sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Henry appears onstage and begins the show.pin39267

Songs Featured in the Christmas Version of the Show:

  • "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"- Melvin
  • "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas"- Henry and Gomer
  • "Tracks in the Snow"- The 5 Bear Rugs and Henry
  • "12 Days of Christmas (Oh What a Christmas)"- Wendell
  • "The Hibernating Blues"- Trixie
  • "Deck the Halls"- The 5 Bear Rugs
  • "Rock and Roll Santa"- Liver Lips McGrowl and Gomer
  • "Blue Christmas"- Terrence (with his penguin)
  • "Sleigh Ride"- The Sun Bonnets
  • "Hungry as a Bear"- Ernest and The 5 Bear Rugs
  • "The Christmas Song"- Henry and Teddi Barra
  • "Another New Year"- Big Al
  • "Let It Snow/ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer/ Winter Wonderland"- Cast (except Ernest & Trixie as she is on the opposite side of the performing Henry and Ernest is opposite Big Al's stage)

Because the show was a Christmas Special, the characters in the show were put into Christmas outfits for their various acts. Here are a list of the bears and other animals featured in the Christmas Edition of the show, and their changed outfits (NOTE, most outfits are different colors than from Tokyo Disneyland version, and most pictures are from Tokyo Disneyland Version):

Henry-The "ringmaster" of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears a grey top hat with a red trim and a scarf.

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Liver-Lips McGrowl-Liver Lips is perhaps the funniest-looking bear. He's a brown bear who gets his name from his very large lips. He becomes an Elvis impersonator in this show, playing a Christmas tree-shaped guitar.spex06b18

Wendell-Wendell is a brown bear with a massive overbite and buck teeth. He carries a squirrel gun, which he accidentally fires a couple of times throughout the show. He wears a hunter's hat and jacket.

Teddi Barra-Teddi Barra descends from a hole in the ceiling on her swing. She is a brown bear who holds a pair of skis, has a cast on her leg and is dressed in ski gear.

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Ernest-Ernest is a brown bear who plays the fiddle. He wears a beanie cap and sweater with a trim in the middle with reindeers. There's also a sled next to him.

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Terrence-A tall bear who plays a guitar. In this show, he wears a scarf and earmuffs and has white fur to resemble a polar bear. He is also joined by a penguin encased in ice.

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Trixie-Trixie is a very large brown bear who wears a blue bow on her head, a blue tutu around her waist, a pair of skates hanging from her neck and holds a pair of mittens in one hand and a mistletoe in another. spex06b16

Big Al-Big Al is the fattest bear. He is grey with a light grey belly and plays the guitar. In this show, he's dressed as baby New Year (sash and diapers) and wears an icepack and a party hat on his head. A banner hangs above him.

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The Sun Bonnet Trio

  • Bunny-Bunny stands in the center of the stage. Because she and her sisters are triplets, they all have brown fur. She wears a green hood and sweater with her name on it.
  • Bubbles-Bubbles stands to the audience's left between Gomer and Bunny. She wears a red hood and sweater with her name on it.
  • Beulah-Beulah stands to the audience's right. She wears a red hood and sweater with her name on it.spex05b09

Gomer-Gomer never sings, but instead plays his piano, which has a small Christmas tree on top of it and Christmas decorations. He is considered Henry's right-hand bear. He is tall and brown and wears a heavy winter coat and sunglasses.

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The Five Bear Rugs

  • Zeke-Considered the leader of The Five Bear Rugs, Zeke plays a banjo and taps on the dishpan with "a real ol' country beat". He is a grey bear with glasses who wears a black hat and yellow scarf.
  • Zeb-Zeb is brown bear with a light brown stomach. He plays the fiddle as well and wears a bandana around his neck and a winter hat. His feet are in a hot bucket of water, due to having a cold, and sneezes several times throughout the show. 
  • Ted-Ted is a tall, skinny bear who blows on the cornjug and plays the washboard. His fur is brown and he wears a white vest and a red Santa Claus hat.
  • Fred-The biggest of The Five Bear Rugs, Fred ironically plays the smallest instrument: the mouthharp. He is a brown bear and wears blue jeans held up with red suspenders as well as a red Santa Claus hat and a green tie with a candy cane on it.
  • Tennessee-Tennessee plays the "thang", which has only one string. He is brown and wears a hunter's jacket and red hat.

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Baby Oscar-Oscar appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument. He is a brown bear and always has his teddy bear to keep him company. Oscar wears white earmuffs and red boots and holds a candy cane. His teddy bear has a tag with his name on it.

Rufus-Rufus is not a performer, but instead runs the projections and lights. He is never seen, but can be heard from time to time running backstage, constantly out of breath.

Buff-Buff is considered the leader of the animal heads and is also the largest. He is the head portion of a buffalo, wears a red Santa Claus hat and is voiced by Disney legend Thurl Ravenscroft.

Max-Max is the head portion of a stag. In this show, he has a small red light bulb sitting on his snout, making him look a bit like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

Melvin-Melvin, a moose head, often makes good-natured jokes and, in this show, he has lots of Christmas lights hanging on his antlers.

Sammy-Sammy is Henry's raccoon pal, who cuddles around Henry's top hat. He acts like a coonskin cap for Henry. He wears a piece of a Christmas leaf next to his right ear.

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Pictures and Information from JTCent and Yesterland.

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