September 14, 2010

A Vacation Hoedown

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The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown was an attraction created due to the overwhelming popularity of The Country Bear Jamboree. In the summer of 1986, it replaced The Country Bear Jamboree show at Disney World. It remained there year round for five years until the original show was once again put in. In Disneyland, it opened in February 1986 replacing the original show indefinitely. The show remained until the Country Bear Playhouse closed September 9, 2001.

On July 15, 1994, the show opened at Tokyo Disneyland as Vacation Jamboree. Out of the three shows, it features the most differences between the US and Japanese versions. Several of the songs are different, and there is more dialog from Henry.t172

Songs Featured in Disneyland/Disney World Versions:

  • "The Great Outdoors" - The 5 Bear Rugs and Henry
  • "Life's No Picnic Without You" - Trixie
  • "On the Road Again" - Wendell
  • "We Can Make It To the Top" - Liverlips McGrowl
  • "California Bears" - The Sun Bonnets, Gomer, Max, Buff, and Melvin
  • "Two Different Worlds" - Terrence the Shaker (with his octopus)
  • "Rocky Top" - The 5 Bear Rugs
  • "Nature" - Ernest the Dude
  • "Singin' In the Rain" - Teddi Barra and Henry
  • "Ghost Riders In the Sky" - The 5 Bear Rugs
  • "On My Way To Your Heart" - Big Al
  • "Thank God I'm a Country Bear" - Cast

Songs Featured in Tokyo Disneyland Version:

  • "The Great Outdoors" - The 5 Bear Rugs and Henry (sung in Japanese)
  • "On the Road Again" - Wendell (sung in Japanese)
  • "Achy Breaky Heart" - Trixie (Verses 1 &3 in Japanese and verse 2 in English)
  • "Hawaiian Love Song" - Terrence (with his octopus) side note: This song was almost used in the U.S. version) sung in Japanese
  • "California Bears" - The Sun Bonnets, Gomer, Max, Buff, and Melvin (sung in English but abbreviated from the U.S. version)
  • "We Can Make It To the Top" - Liverlips McGrowl and The Sun Bonnets (sung in English)
  • "Singin' In the Rain" - Teddi Barra and Henry )sung in English)
  • "Mountain Music" - Ernest the Dude, Henry and The 5 Bear Rugs (sung in Japanese)
  • "I've Been Working on the Railroad" - Big Al (sung in Japanese)
  • "Camptown Races / She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain / V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N" - Cast (sung in Japanese)

This special variation of the classic show features the Country Bears celebrating the many joys of summer and the great outdoors. Its opening is different from the other shows because Max, Buff, and Melvin do not talk at the beginning. Instead, the 5 Bear Rugs can be heard tuning up their instruments. Zeke calls for Rufus to turn on the lights, and then the show begins with "The Great Outdoors". Here is a list of bears and other animals, and their descriptions of their Vacation themed outfits.

Henry- The "ringmaster" of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears his old "Camp Grizzly" t-shirt (which barely fits him) and a scout master's hat. Like in the original show, he is voiced by Pete Renaday.

Liverlips McGrowl- He's 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, appearing as a mountain climber wearing an Elvis-style shirt with German pants and suspenders. He plays a Fender stratocaster guitar with a strap.

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Wendell- He's a brown bear with a massive overbite and buck teeth. He wears a vacation shirt and hat and carries a camera, which he takes a couple of flash pictures with. In this show, he is voiced by Dave Durham.

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Teddi Barra- She descends from a hole in the ceiling on her swing. She's a brown bear who wears a yellow raincoat and galoshes and holds an umbrella.

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Ernest- He's a brown bear who plays the fiddle. He wears his old derby from the original show and a stripped shirt. He even uses a fly swatter as a bow for his fiddle.

Terrence- He's a tall bear with tan fur who plays a guitar. In this show, he wears a blue scuba mask and snorkel and blue trunks. Seaweed is around him. He's also accompanied by his octopus "girlfriend," Delores.

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Trixie- She's a very large brown bear who holds a napkin in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She wears a pink skirt with Butterfles on it and a hat. .

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Big Al- He's the fattest bear. He's grey with a light grey belly and plays a guitar with his name on it. In this show, he wears a plaid flannel shirt with a miner's hat and camping gear.

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The Sun Bonnet Trio

  • Bunny- She stands in the center of the stage. Because she and her sisters are triplets, they all have brown fur. She wears a two-piece sailor-inspired swimsuit. 
  • Bubbles- She stands to the audience's left, between Gomer and Bunny. She wears a one-piece, white swimsuit covered in red hearts, a red towel and heart-shaped sunglasses.
  • Beulah- She stands to the audience's right. She wears a pink floral bikini.

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Gomer- He never sings, but instead plays his piano, which has a clam and a pineapple on top of it and fishing net thrown over it. He is considered as Henry's right-hand bear. He's tall, brown and wears a pink Hawaiian shirt, a lei and a straw hat.

The Five Bear Rugs

  • Zeke- Considered the leader of The Five Bear Rugs, he plays a banjo and taps on a dishpan with "a real ol' country beat". He is a grey bear with glasses who wears a fishing vest and hat.
  • Zeb- He's a brown bear with a light brown stomach who plays the fiddle. He wears a fishing hat, brown boots and a white t-shirt with Binoculars. 
  • Ted- He's a tall, skinny brown bear who blows on the cornjug and plays the washboard. He's completely naked in this show, wearing only a racoon hat and camping gear.
  • Fred- The biggest of The Five Bear Rugs, he ironically plays the smallest instrument: the mouthharp. He has brown fur and wears a green bandana, a racoon hat, blue jeans with suspenders and camping gear.
  • Tennessee- He plays the "thang", which has only one string. He has brown fur and wears a fishing hat and a Hawaiian vest.

Baby Oscar- He's a brown bear who appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument. He wears a Boy Scout uniform and always has his teddy bear to keep him company. ulike the other two shows, He was given a minor speaking part at the beginning of "Ghostriders In The Sky", simply saying "Uh huh" when asked if he wanted to hear a scary story

Rufus- Rufus is never seen, but only heard in the projection booth as he runs here and there to fix light bulbs, change projections, alter backdrops, etc. He can be heard from time to time running backstage, constantly out of breath.

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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 fisherman's hat and is voiced by Disney legend Thurl Ravenscroft.

Max-Max is the head portion of a stag. In this show, he wears a green baseball cap. He's voiced by Mike West.

Melvin-Melvin, a moose head, is the Dopey of the animal head trio. He often makes good-natured jokes and, in this show, he has lots of assorted hats, most of which are hanging on his antlers as if they were hatracks. He's voiced by Frank Welker.

Randy-Randy, a skunk who loves to sing and tap dance, appears in this version of the show in place of Sammy the Raccoon. He keeps breaking into the backstage. At various times throughout the show, the bears can be heard offstage running here and there, trying to get away from him. In the finale, he manages to get on to the top of Henry's hat and finally reveals that he only wanted to break into show business with the bears.

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Pictures and Information from Walt Dated World and TDR Fan

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