The Jingle Jamboree

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

  

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pictures and Information from JTCent and Yesterland.

A Vacation Hoedown

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. .

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.

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.

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.

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.

Pictures and Information from Walt Dated World and TDR Fan

The Original Country Bear Jamboree

The Country Bear Jamboree was originally intended by Walt to be placed at Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort which he was trying to build in the mid 1960s. Walt knew he wanted some sort of show to provide entertainment to the guests at the resort, and he knew he wanted the show to feature some sort of bear band. The project was assigned to Imagineer Marc Davis. Davis, together with Al Bertino came up with many bear groups, including bear marching bands, bear mariachi bands, and Dixieland bears. One day Davis was working on drawings of the characters in his office. Walt Disney walked in and saw the drawings and laughed because he loved the characters. On Walt's way out he turned to Marc Davis and said "Good Bye", which Walt was known never to say. A   few days later he died on December 15, 1966. It was the last time Marc saw Walt.

After Walt's death, plans for the show still carried on. The bears would be featured in the resort's Bear Band Restaurant Show, and it was decided that they would have a country twang. But while plans for the show progressed, plans for the ski resort did not. Instead, the Imagineers working on the project decided to place the show in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in time for its grand opening in 1971. Imagineer X Atencio and musical director George Bruns created songs for the bears to sing.

 

On October 1, 1971, The Country Bear Jamboree opened its doors in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. It received so much good feedback that Imagineers immediately planned to make a replica of the show to be placed in Disneyland on March 4, 1972. The addition to the show in Disneyland, inspired a brand new land appropriately titled Bear Country. Because of the tremendous popularity of the show in Walt Disney World, excess capacity was added to the Disneyland incarnation in the form of two identical theaters, each housing a copy of the show in its entirety. Tokyo Disneyland received another ‘copy’ of the show and it opened with the park (like Magic Kingdom’s) on April 15, 1983.

  

 

This attraction was originally sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay for a few years. Not only did the show mention their sponsorships, but at the beginning, Henry even mentions part of Pepsi's old slogan at the time ("You've Got a Lot To Live; Pepsi's Got a Lot To Give!") by saying, "Just refrain from hibernatin' and we'll all enjoy the show, 'cause we've got a lot to give." When Pepsi's sponsorship of the attraction was dropped, only the mention by Henry of its sponsorship was dropped, but such was not the case for his introduction that included part of the slogan.

In 1986, the Vacation Hoedown debuted at Disneyland and Walt Disney World. To supplement the change, the DL attraction was renamed the Country Bear Playhouse. Attendance struggled during the Vacation Hoedown's run in Florida, so for the Magic Kingdom's 20th anniversary in 1992, the original show returned to rotate with the Christmas show as it had since 1984. There were rumors of bringing the Vacation Hoedown back to Disney World in the summer of 2002, but it never happened.The Country Bear Playhouse at Disneyland closed on September 9, 2001, to make room for The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh on April 11, 2003. Rumors of the Disneyland Country Bear attraction being rebuilt in the Grizzly Peak Recreation Area of Disney's California Adventure have surfaced from time to time and some Cast Members have even admitted to it possibly happening. However, the attraction's return has yet to be made official.

   

During the holiday season, the bears still performed their Christmas Show in Florida through 2005. It hasn't returned since then, but is rumored to return in the future. The Country Bear Christmas Special was the first time an attraction at any Disney theme park became interchangeable during the year. The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown was added a year later. Both the Country Bear Christmas Special and The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown were created, directed and animated by Dave Feiten and Mike Sprout. The Tokyo Disneyland version of the attraction still features all three versions of the show at different times of the year.

In the fall of 2008, the WDW attraction underwent a major rehab to receive much-needed technical upgrades, including a new sound system and refurbished animatronics of the characters.

The show is basically a continuous string of short country songs sung by the various bears. As each bear sings their song, a curtain opens to reveal them, except in the case of Wendell (who rises from the stage), Teddi Barra (who descends from the ceiling), Gomer (who ascends from the stage), and The Sun Bonnets (who also rise from the stage itself).

The show begins with Max, Buff, and Melvin telling Henry to get on with the show. Henry then asks Gomer to give him a "little intro", and then the jamboree begins. The show features a great cast of characters from small bears, to be bears, from bears that come from the ceiling, to ones that rise from the stage:

Henry- The "MC" of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears a grey top hat, starched shirt front, and a string tie. It is implied that he and Teddi have some sort of backstage romance.

  

Liver Lips McGrowl- Liver Lips is perhaps the funniest-looking bear. He gets his name from his very large lips. He is a brown bear and plays the guitar.

Wendell- Wendell is a hyperactive golden brown bear who plays the mandolin. He wears a blue bandanna around his neck and a light brown hat. He also has a massive overbite and buck teeth.

Terrence (aka Shaker)- A tall bear with tan fur (in the Disneyland version his fur was grey), Terrence wears a miner's cap and plays the guitar.

Teddi Barra- Teddi Barra is a unique bear because she never appears on stage. Instead she descends from a hole in the ceiling on her swing, which is decorated with pink roses. She is a brown bear and wears a blue hat with a pink feather as well as a long pink boa around her neck.

   

Ernest- Ernest is a brown bear who plays the fiddle. He wears a derby and a red polka-dot bowtie around his neck. He was voiced by Van Stoneman from October 1971 until July 1975, when his vocals were rerecorded by Randy Sparks.

Trixie- Trixie is a very large brown bear who wears a blue bow on her head, a blue tutu around her waist, and holds a blue handkerchief in her left hand. She also has a slight crush on Henry.

Big Al- Big Al is the fattest bear. He is grey with a light grey belly and wears a tan hat and a red vest. He plays an always out-of-tune guitar and is voiced by Tex Ritter.

    

       

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 and wear matching blue bonnets and dresses.
• Bubbles- Bubbles stands to the audience's left between Gomer and Bunny.
• Beulah- Beulah stands to the audience's right and is voiced by Peggy Clark.

Gomer- Gomer never sings but instead plays his piano, which has a honeycomb on top of it. He is considered Henry's right-hand bear. He is tall and brown and wears a collar with a blue tie.

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 grey top hat. He was voiced by Dallas McKennon from October 1971 until July 1975, when Randy Sparks rerecorded his vocals.
• Zeb- Zeb is brown bear with a light brown stomach. He plays the fiddle as well as wears a bandanna around his neck and a miner's hat.
• Ted- Ted is a tall, skinny bear who blows on the cornjug and plays the washboard. His fur is brown, and he wears a vest with a brown hat.
• Fred- The biggest of the five bears, Fred ironically plays the smallest instrument: the mouthharp. He is a brown bear and wears blue jeans held up with suspenders as well as a striped red and white tie.
• Tennessee- Tennessee Bear plays the thang, which has only one string. He is brown and wears a red bandanna (blue in the Disneyland version) around his neck.

Baby Oscar- Oscar appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument. In fact, he never says a word, aside from mumbling "uh-huh" during the Vacation Hoedown (in which he is dressed as a Cub Scout). He is a brown bear and always has his teddy bear to keep him company. In the 1971 album, it is mentioned that Zeb is his father.

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.

Though named Country BEAR Jamboree, there are some other characters that aren’t bears that make the show a classic:

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

Max- Max is the head portion of a stag and is voiced by Peter Renaday.

Melvin- Melvin, a moose head, is the Dopey of the animal head trio. He often makes good-natured jokes and is voiced by Bill Lee.

Sammy- Sammy is Henry's raccoon pal who cuddles around Henry's top hat. He acts like a coonskin cap for Henry. He is voiced by Bill Cole.

A tribute to the Disneyland Jamboree is made in their version of The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in the form of Max, Buff, and Melvin.

Our final pins we will be taking a look at are an Walt Disney Imagineering Series featuring posters for the acts featured in the Country Bear Jamboree.

Pictures and Information From All Ears Net, Yesterland, and PinPics