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MK Country Bear Jamboree is getting new songs and acts

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Well-Known Member
J.E.Smith said:
One of the D23 showings with the Imgaineers behind the show is up:



They mention that one of the reasons behind using Disney songs was they felt actual country songs wouldn't appeal to everyone like people up north. They also said the reason they picked Kiss The Girl for Romeo was because of his huge lips and a kissing song would be perfect for him.
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Just watched this, really nice to hear children laughing and giggling, people cheering and singing along, and better visuals of all the AAs! The talk portion at the beginning was nice too. I still think the "country music isn't popular" excuse is them avoiding saying what we all know the real reason is (the audience even laughed when he said that, because we all know country is still popular), but the rest of the talk was really nice. Loved hearing that the people in charge were megafans who wanted to make sure the show's spirit wasn't lost as much as they could- they even acknowledged that adding Disney music is very controversial and easy to mess up. I still fully believe this turned out the best it could've given the circumstances. Sure, in a perfect world, there would be different songs in place or entirely non-Disney music, but that's not the world we live in so it makes no sense to compare the CBMJ to a fantasy. This is Iger's Disney, and it's a miracle the bears weren't replaced with Disney characters. Plus, with the AAs being modernized, it's easier to replace the shows- they even mentioned the Christmas and Vacation shows, so maybe that's on their mind.
 
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Well-Known Member
J.E.Smith said:
Watching videos of the D23 showing more, and Teddi's nails have been painted red. Big Al's fur around his head as been readjusted too looks like.
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Looks like Teddi got a little curly bang tuft added to her too. Didn't see any other changes other than that and the one you mentioned (and maybe Shaker's shaking being more pronounced- still wish they adding the Tokyo shaking mechanic to him)- that Big Al change is so much better. Him having longer bangs didn't fit the character.
 
zipadee999

zipadee999

Well-Known Member
The Chatbox Ghost said:
Looks like Teddi got a little curly bang tuft added to her too. Didn't see any other changes other than that and the one you mentioned (and maybe Shaker's shaking being more pronounced- still wish they adding the Tokyo shaking mechanic to him)- that Big Al change is so much better. Him having longer bangs didn't fit the character.
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I thought Shaker did get the shaking mechanic? It looked like he was moving quite a bit when they played the drum noises at the end of his song. I never remember seeing him do that in Orlando, unless it had just been broken for a really really long time in WDW fashion!

As for other changes to the bears, I think Ernest got the biggest glow-up and now looks like the original Marc Davis concept. He also seems to have way more back and forth movement, which I’m not sure whether it was added or restored. The finale Henry is almost entirely different. He was reprogrammed to play a guitar rather than flail his arms like intro Henry, and Sammy has been moved from his head as we’ve all noticed. I wonder if they were able to reprogram his arms to play guitar or if new arms needed to be given to that animatronic?
 
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Well-Known Member
zipadee999 said:
I thought Shaker did get the shaking mechanic? It looked like he was moving quite a bit when they played the drum noises at the end of his song. I never remember seeing him do that in Orlando, unless it had just been broken for a really really long time in WDW fashion!

As for other changes to the bears, I think Ernest got the biggest glow-up and now looks like the original Marc Davis concept. He also seems to have way more back and forth movement, which I’m not sure whether it was added or restored. The finale Henry is almost entirely different. He was reprogrammed to play a guitar rather than flail his arms like intro Henry, and Sammy has been moved from his head as we’ve all noticed. I wonder if they were able to reprogram his arms to play guitar or if new arms needed to be given to that animatronic?
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From what I can recall from memory, the DLR and TDL Shakers had their hips separate from the rest of the body so they could really sway wildly.

Video of Tokyo's from 2021:

You can see that Tokyo Shaker's hips really sway compared to Florida's. The only way Florida Shaker can shake is just by making the whole animatronic shake from the base, which is how he does it in CBMJ.

Here's Florida Shaker earlier this year before the refurb:
And Florida Shaker in the new show:

You can see the Florida one still uses the "shake the entire animatronic from the base" animation rather than having the independent hips. I wish they added it but I understand why they didn't (budget).
 
zipadee999

zipadee999

Well-Known Member
The Chatbox Ghost said:
From what I can recall from memory, the DLR and TDL Shakers had their hips separate from the rest of the body so they could really sway wildly.

Video of Tokyo's from 2021:

You can see that Tokyo Shaker's hips really sway compared to Florida's. The only way Florida Shaker can shake is just by making the whole animatronic shake from the base, which is how he does it in CBMJ.

Here's Florida Shaker earlier this year before the refurb:
And Florida Shaker in the new show:

You can see the Florida one still uses the "shake the entire animatronic from the base" animation rather than having the independent hips. I wish they added it but I understand why they didn't (budget).
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Ah ok. It looks like his movements in Florida remain as they were, they were just exaggerated and sped up after the refurb. The Tokyo version has a true hip-sway motion which seems to be separate from the rest of the animatronic like you said. In Florida it just looks like the whole animatronic is on a motion base that they’re jackhammering back and forth
 
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost

Well-Known Member
zipadee999 said:
Ah ok. It looks like his movements in Florida remain as they were, they were just exaggerated and sped up after the refurb. The Tokyo version has a true hip-sway motion which seems to be separate from the rest of the animatronic like you said. In Florida it just looks like the whole animatronic is on a motion base that they’re jackhammering back and forth
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Yeah. I can only imagine how bad that must be for the animatronic, but I suppose if it lasted 50 years with it, then what's another 50 more now that they have entirely new mechanical parts?

If they ever build another CBJ (which I doubt will happen, but people keep saying it could happen at DCA), I hope they make all future Shakers with the Tokyo hips.
 
Epcot82Guy

Epcot82Guy

Well-Known Member
I'm interested to see this live. Overall, this looks to be leaning toward a much better use of IP integration. I do think the song choice is the biggest weakness. But that's also probably the easiest thing to change if needed. From first glances, it's far from perfect. But it's much better than I feared it could have been.

I do think a brief "There was bah-luhhh-" (even cut off there) would have gone a long way for the fans.
 
J.E.Smith

J.E.Smith

Well-Known Member
Indeed, while DL and Tokyo Terrence's AAs were made so the hips could shake independent from the rest of the body, when the show first opened in 1971 -71, Terrence would bob around on his tiny, stubby legs, so violently that the curtain behind him shook.. This action was so difficult to program and maintain that for many years the lower half of his body was simply turned off. (Credit Passport to Dreams)

Around 2007 to when the show closed to be shortened in the 2012 refurb, Terrence's whole body shook rapidly during the finale, as seen here:
 
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retr0gate

retr0gate

Well-Known Member
zipadee999 said:
I thought Shaker did get the shaking mechanic? It looked like he was moving quite a bit when they played the drum noises at the end of his song. I never remember seeing him do that in Orlando, unless it had just been broken for a really really long time in WDW fashion!

As for other changes to the bears, I think Ernest got the biggest glow-up and now looks like the original Marc Davis concept. He also seems to have way more back and forth movement, which I’m not sure whether it was added or restored. The finale Henry is almost entirely different. He was reprogrammed to play a guitar rather than flail his arms like intro Henry, and Sammy has been moved from his head as we’ve all noticed. I wonder if they were able to reprogram his arms to play guitar or if new arms needed to be given to that animatronic?
Click to expand...
I was at one of the D23 showings and during the interview they claimed that all the animatronics, while still hydraulic, were rebuilt from the ground up. After seeing them in person, I don't doubt it either. It sounds silly to say, but their movement was so lifelike that it was actually difficult to see them as anything but real, living characters. I don't know when the last time I was that immersed into an attraction was. Probably not since I was a kid.
 
Disgruntled Walt

Disgruntled Walt

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
retr0gate said:
I was at one of the D23 showings and during the interview they claimed that all the animatronics, while still hydraulic, were rebuilt from the ground up. After seeing them in person, I don't doubt it either. It sounds silly to say, but their movement was so lifelike that it was actually difficult to see them as anything but real, living characters. I don't know when the last time I was that immersed into an attraction was. Probably not since I was a kid.
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Wait, so they're not electric? Wasn't everyone on here saying they would be? What does that mean for future reprogramming? Is it not actually easier?
 
Dear Prudence

Dear Prudence

Well-Known Member
LOL LOL LOL, I guess people are super mad about Big Al singing "Remember Me," and I just want to say that, as a Mexican, I absolutely hate that song and I think it sounds insipid and corny, especially next to the songs that were written by Mexican artists in the film. Obviously, I don't pretend to speak for everyone, but it really irked me that it doesn't sound Mexican at all (not in terms of melody/structure/ lyrics/vocal inflections), and it's become this figurehead.

The lyrics are absolutely abysmal, and Big Al singing them really punctuated that. 🤣
 
Dear Prudence

Dear Prudence

Well-Known Member
Epcot82Guy said:
Yes. The song selection is the big problem. They are not using the song catalogue well. This would have been a perfect opportunity to incorporate lesser used songs that translated to the musical style well. But the overall idea works in MK.
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I wish Teddi didn't have to share that song. 😕 I wish she had her own song to herself.
 

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