News Country Bear Jamboree is getting new songs and acts

[HauntedPirate]

I normally hate country music too (though if bluegrass is considered a form of country, then that's an exception for me). But it fit with the original show and setting and the songs chosen had some hilarious lyrics and really played well with the silly nature of the attraction. Bare Necessities at least has the benefit of bear puns, if nothing else. It will likely be the only one that has even that small benefit. Probably why they chose to lead with it for that initial promo when the retheme was first announced, because it was their best and only foot forward. The other two revealed yesterday are just so utterly unfitting and lacking in humor that there are no words...

It really doesn't matter to me what sort of "talent" is involved in this. With Disney mandating horrible choices for songs that don't fit and aren't going to be able to capture any of the hilarious charm of the original, nothing can save it. You don't have to convince me that Whole New World is an incredible song. But you'll never convince me to accept a country music variant in Country Bear Jamboree.

#ThankYouBurbank

 

[WaluigiTime]

I wouldn’t call “Try Everything” at all obvious.

That was my knee jerk reaction, what I mean is that I was hoping they wouldn't just use mostly "Disney's Greatest Hits." My hope was that it would be mostly songs you don't hear that often so it would feel some what unique.

 

[WorldExplorer]

So far this reminds me of Harmonious. Take a coherent experience that worked together to make you feel something (in Country Bears' case, a sense of quirky humor and endearment) and replace it with a novelty CD that amounts to nothing.

 

[Bocabear]

So far this reminds me of Harmonious. Take a coherent experience that worked together to make you feel something (in Country Bears' case, a sense of quirky humor and endearment) and replace it with a novelty CD that amounts to nothing.

This!^^^
Harmonious was terrible....all in the name of making it an IP showcase...I am afraid that is what will happen with Country Bears, then like Harmonious, they will shutter it completely and gut it for extra seating and a DVC booth.....

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I don’t get the hate, tbh. I think the country covers sound great

like Harmonious, they will shutter it completely and gut it for extra seating and a DVC booth.....

HarmoniUS was replaced with a different show. Likely what would happen to Country Bears if for some reason this show is less popular than the original.

 

[Brer Oswald]

This show seems like a travesty. Probably a one and done for me. Sad, the classic show would be something I would go to multiple times a trip.

 

[The Leader of the Club]

I don’t know, maybe I’m just not as sentimental about the music as most, but I’m very excited for this. What I love about the original show are the characters, animatronics, and the humor. Those things will likely still exist in a new show, especially if they include a lot of references to the other shows.

 

[Gusey]

Might be controversial to post on here but I'm glad this show is getting an update and some recognisable songs. It was always a one and done before for me as I never had the nostalgic viewpoint as some of you have. I think the new songs are keeping with the Country Bear country theme whilst providing something for more modern audiences.

They also said that the song choices are "multi-generational" and we now know they've got one song from the 1960s, one from the 1990s and one from the 2010s. We don't know what the other songs are. I just don't understand how people can write off the whole update as a "travesty" based on a snippet of a few songs???

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

Why are the bears singing these songs? Where are we? When are we? The old show was celebrating "a bit of Americana, our musical heritage" and it felt like it had a purpose. Yes, I know the songs weren't traditional folk songs, but it still felt authentic to me. The bears were putting on a coherent show.

Now we're celebrating, what? Disney? It just sucks the charm out of the attraction. Or to put it more succinctly, it just sucks.

I love Alan Menken's Disney songbook. If they made an attraction that took me through scenes/songs from the Disney Renaissance, I would love it (actually, Philharmagic fits that description pretty well).

For this attraction, it doesn't matter how good the songs are, or how good they sound as country songs, or how great the country artists are; it's whether it has the heart that the old attraction had. I don't feel it with this, based on what we've seen so far. I don't doubt they're trying to replicate it, but using songs from Disney movies is a definite shift. I didn't need to be familiar with the songs...I liked the characters. And Trixie is not a "Girl Boss anthem" character, in my opinion.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Why are the bears singing these songs? Where are we? When are we? The old show was celebrating "a bit of Americana, our musical heritage" and it felt like it had a purpose. Yes, I know the songs weren't traditional folk songs, but it still felt authentic to me. The bears were putting on a coherent show.

Now we're celebrating, what? Disney? It just sucks the charm out of the attraction. Or to put it more succinctly, it just sucks.

I love Alan Menken's Disney songbook. If they made an attraction that took me through scenes/songs from the Disney Renaissance, I would love it (actually, Philharmagic fits that description pretty well).

For this attraction, it doesn't matter how good the songs are, or how good they sound as country songs, or how great the country artists are; it's whether it has the heart that the old attraction had. I don't feel it with this, based on what we've seen so far. I don't doubt they're trying to replicate it, but using songs from Disney movies is a definite shift. I didn't need to be familiar with the songs...I liked the characters. And Trixie is not a "Girl Boss anthem" character, in my opinion.

There’s some serious nostalgia there. The bears never really fit in 19th century Old West.

Some of us pretend Frontierland hasn’t been filled with inconsistencies since 1971.

Hell, what is a 19th century Hudson River Valley manor house doing in Philadelphia in 1776?

Sometimes, I just try to enjoy the ride.

 

[LittleBuford]

And Trixie is not a "Girl Boss anthem" character, in my opinion.

I just read the lyrics to be sure my impression wasn’t wrong, but I really don’t see how “Try Everything” is a “girl boss anthem”. It’s a song about rolling with life’s punches.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I just read the lyrics to be sure my impression wasn’t wrong, but I really don’t see how “Try Everything” is a “girl boss anthem”. It’s a song about rolling with life’s punches.

Triche uses wine to “roll with life’s punches,” so it works.

 

[𝕴𝖒𝖆𝖌𝖎𝖓𝖊𝖊𝖗97]

I just read the lyrics to be sure my impression wasn’t wrong, but I really don’t see how “Try Everything” is a “girl boss anthem”. It’s a song about rolling with life’s punches.

I was just using someone else's phrase. Either way, it doesn't fit her character to me. She's a somewhat tragic bear, lonely and sad...

Oh my gosh, I just remembered I'm talking about an animatronic bear!

 

[Brer Oswald]

Might be controversial to post on here but I'm glad this show is getting an update and some recognisable songs. It was always a one and done before for me as I never had the nostalgic viewpoint as some of you have. I think the new songs are keeping with the Country Bear country theme whilst providing something for more modern audiences.

They also said that the song choices are "multi-generational" and we now know they've got one song from the 1960s, one from the 1990s and one from the 2010s. We don't know what the other songs are. I just don't understand how people can write off the whole update as a "travesty" based on a snippet of a few songs???

Simply put, I hate listening to these overplayed songs. "Try Everything" is one of the worst songs Disney has ever put out. I've heard enough of "You've Got A Friend In Me" to last me three lifetimes. I don't think you can divorce "A Whole New World" from the wonderful sequence in Aladdin and get anywhere near the impactful effect. Bear Necessities however is a great pick.

It's less about the change itself, and more what it is changing to. I love The Vacation Hoedown score, perhaps even more than the original, and I've never even watched it in person.

 

[Gusey]

Country Bear Jamboree official descriptions over the years:
"Laugh along with the laughable lunacy of this hilarious Audio-Animatronic" show" - 1992-1996
"Sing'in, swing'in Audio Animatronics show" 2006-2013
"Have a knee-slappin' time with these singing bears" 2014-2022
"Musical revue with singing bears" - 2023
"Have a knee-slappin’ good time at this jolly country-and-western musical revue starring a cast of singing bears." - WDW website

The show has always been a musical revue starring Audio Animatronic bears, something the new songs still fit into. At least they are putting a Country spin on these Disney songs, and not just turning it into a bear version of the Mickey Mouse Revue

 

[Gusey]

Simply put, I hate listening to these overplayed songs. "Try Everything" is one of the worst songs Disney has ever put out.

I'm surprise you mention Try Everything as being overplayed, since it's not featured in any of the Disney Parks apart from in Zootopia Land at Shanghai. I get not liking the song but I wouldn't say it was overplayed.
I am a fan of the jazz version of the song, so hopefully the country version is just as good:

 

[McMickeyWorld]

To be honest, I liked the performance of "Try Everything" more than "A Whole New World," but it might just be bias. I've never been too excited about it; I think it's the weakest song in Aladdin.

 

[TeriofTerror]

I was just using someone else's phrase. Either way, it doesn't fit her character to me. She's a somewhat tragic bear, lonely and sad...

Oh my gosh, I just remembered I'm talking about an animatronic bear!

I hear you. My concern is less about the individual songs selected and more about the possibility of the individual bears losing their quirky and unique personalities and charm. Well-known Disney songs bring their own history and connotation with them; will those overpower the characters of the bears?

 

[bmr1591]

Actually, what is their fixation with shoehorning that song into everything? First HarmonioUS and now Country Bears. Frankly, it's overkill. Also, I don't exactly think of this song as country and western.

You’ve got a friend in me is even worse and it’s in there.


Fact is, we can complain and groan and wish for days of yore, but Country Bears weren’t moving the needle. Shows were often half empty and the bears sang songs no modern people knew. Yeah, I’m not a big fan of it being a Disney sing a long, but the majority of guests will inevitably prefer it over what we had. And if it keeps the bears around, better it than a DVC lounge.

 

[JohnD]

You’ve got a friend in me is even worse and it’s in there.


Fact is, we can complain and groan and wish for days of yore, but Country Bears weren’t moving the needle. Shows were often half empty and the bears sang songs no modern people knew. Yeah, I’m not a big fan of it being a Disney sing a long, but the majority of guests will inevitably prefer it over what we had. And if it keeps the bears around, better it than a DVC lounge.

I understand the show was getting an update after 50 years. Blood, ugly women ("all the guys who turn me on, turn me down", shoot him instead, come up and see me sometime/as soon as I find me a ladder, I'll be right up). I get it. I just think there could have been better choices for songs.