He's beloved throughout the world. Believe what your heart tells you, son. You don't have to listen to those older kids.
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MK Country Bear Jamboree is getting new songs and acts
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
Eh, I don't know. "Milky Milky Coco Puffs" are some quality lyrics. This checks out.
I have seen both - and see the vacation version when I am in Tokyo in the summer - but both were/are temporary.
This new show at MK is permanent.
Disgruntled Walt
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- No
I believe in Santa Claus, like I believe in love.
I believe in Santa Claus, and everything he does.
There’s no question in my mind that he does exist.
Just like love, I know he’s there, waiting to be missed.
I believe in Santa Claus, and everything he does.
There’s no question in my mind that he does exist.
Just like love, I know he’s there, waiting to be missed.
Nobody nobody
Well-Known Member
As a country bear fan, i think we should all be more greatful for this redo. It was never gonna be perfect but with how beautiful grizzly hall and the bears themselves look now, the fact the voices of the bears don’t have “wrong sounding muppets” syndrome, and despite ip, we got a competent, respectful, and at times funny show that wasn’t overbearing on the Disney part, this is probably one of if not THE best case scenario under todays Disney. It could have been SO MUCH WORSE.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
Clearly, you’re entitled to your opinion and your interpretation of the room.
I’ve seen it several times now, including twice last week, and I love it. It is much tighter than the most recent version. The most recent version hasn’t been the original in a long time, since it was chopped up. Most notably, my boys on the wall seemed to have a disjointed part in the old version. Now they are fully integrated once again and make more sense.
I don’t know half the songs, and I don’t care. I didn’t know any of the songs in the last one before I saw the show.
“Blood on the saddle“ was perfectly replaced.
The songs were good choices in my opinion, and the ones I did know landed very well. I’ve yet to see a showing without audience clapping when “You’ve got a friend in me” comes on.
The characters have a more modern country vibe with the sequins and all. OK, they are in frontierland, so I don’t know that technically fits, but it is relatable to modern audiences. If we’re being picky, bears can’t sing or play instruments, either.
I see just as much engagement as the old one, no more no less, from my visits. Sometimes it depends on how crowded the theater is, sometimes it depends on one family getting into it and getting the clapping started, and everyone else joins in.
This was an excellent move. This was an excellent business decision. Probably not too costly, completely revamped a beloved show while maintaining the integrity of individual characters and the show itself. Well done. Bravo.
Nobody nobody
Well-Known Member
I’m glad that with everything slated for Frontierland, let alone Walt Disney World, that they decided “this his has significance to the park and resort’s history, we need to find a way to save it”. It really did deserve it, and to me it proves that imagineering does care about park history, individuality, and all the stuff we love, they’re just stuck with management who doesn’t.
Tony the Tigger
Well-Known Member
I don’t know where that narrative comes from.
Kevin_W
Well-Known Member
There was audible excitement in our show when Big Al started playing.
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost
Well-Known Member
Is this secretly the account of Marc Davis's Ghost? He famously hated both seasonal overlays because they "ruined" the bears, even though imo I think all three overlays do a great job at keeping the characters consistent- maybe except Liver Lips/Romeo, since the Elvis thing comes out of nowhere- though I always saw it as a "modernized" version of the Vaudeville-ian Crooner/Serenader archetype LL originally was.
People really are missing the forest for the trees here. It could've been Under New Management 2.0 (or the Marvel Small World for a contemporary comparison), with the IP just stapled on. Concept art originally showed Henry wearing Mickey Mouse ears on his top hat, the three mounted heads had theme park hats (Max notably had an Olaf hat), Big Al was dressed as Hector Rivera complete with a Coco backdrop. But instead we got a show that has the same philosophy as the other two overlays- the bears are a troupe of performers who cover songs. The characters all feel like the same exact characters we've seen in three other shows in the last 50 years, they nailed their personalities and individual song themes/choices. Even the voices are pretty accurate to the past three shows (shame we didn't get a voice for Ernest though). The "Disney" part of this was treated less as a tangible thing that gets namedropped and just as a music genre. The fact the word "Disney" or any of the movie names aren't said at all shows the respect they put into this. You could've had Trixie cosplaying as Elsa but instead we got entirely original costumes, a refreshed stage, sound, and lighting package, modern day AAs that look and work even better than anything on TBA, and a show that knew what was on the line here and did it's best to meet expectations. Is it perfect? No. I personally would've chosen different songs in some places. Is it better than the original? Of course not. Is it awful? Definitely not. This show just saved the bears from becoming another defunct classic, and showed Disney sees them valuable enough to keep (probably after they got lots of fan mail from people asking them to not remove them), likely until the day the park is literally underwater.
Just a few days ago a friend of mine, another CBJ megafan like myself, saw the show for the first time. He loved it, and he even said the theater was packed full- they even had to wait to get in. Everyone was clapping and stomping along, and kids seemed engaged and excited. This is the first time the show has had crowds like this arguably since the early 70s, not counting the final days of the (2012 version of the) original having huge lines. If they bring back seasonal overlays or even add new songs to the current show and add a randomization feature like Star Tours, that'll really keep the momentum going.
Really, the biggest mistake Disney has made is not having merch for this show. Where are the teddy bears? Where are the pins? Where's all the random stuff with the same art plastered on it? All we got was a generic t-shirt that, as far as I'm aware, is gone now. Not having a Big Al plush is effectively the same as throwing away money.
Streetway Again
Well-Known Member
Simple:
People know Bear Necessities, Try Everything, Whole New World, ect....
Not many knew How Long is Forever, Devilish Mary, Tears Will be the Chaser, ect....
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost
Well-Known Member
No need to apologize, at least to me lmao (but I may be biased)
I think it’s safe to say the bears are sticking around for a while- though imo this headline isn’t that surprising. Modern guests to WDW just want Disney Disney Disney, so of course a show featuring Disney music is gonna rank higher, even if it still has original characters. What I wanna know now though is whether or not this means actual merchandise is coming!
Also since this is a CBJ thread, I figure this would be a fun mention- I was just at my town hall to pay a bill and on my way out I heard (muffled) from another room “Mama Don’t Whup Little Buford”. What’re the odds?
Exactly. To 95% of the guests Blood on the Saddle was just a funny song sang by a fat drunk bear, nothing more, nothing less. But Remember Me, that people know.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
I’ve been called names like “pearl clutcher” and “stuck in the past” and I was pretty happy with the bears. My only 2 complaints are try everything (the songs arrangement and recording feels too modern and pop) and the electric guitar and amp for Sammy - they should have kept the skin cap gag.
Other than that….. no real complaints. Whole new world is a stretch…. But it’s out there enough that it feels very old school vaudeville so it works haha.
Other than that….. no real complaints. Whole new world is a stretch…. But it’s out there enough that it feels very old school vaudeville so it works haha.
My word!! <monocle pops off>
threvester
Well-Known Member
I disliked this new show so much im one and done. It was such a downgrade
Charlie The Chatbox Ghost
Well-Known Member
I do wish we got to keep Blood on the Saddle, I think anyone of any age and generation would've found that funny. I know I was like "wait, what did he just say?" the first time I saw it as an adult (for whatever reason, I didn't remember the specific songs but I remembered the theater and the bears themselves, haha)
I agree with you on Try Everything not working well. I think the slides are cute, they fit the throughline of the last three shows of Trixie having nothing but bad luck, but the song itself just doesn't fit. The performer does an amazing job though. Whole New World is a huge stretch and it's annoying that they picked it when it's in PhilharMagic already. To that point, I wish they had tried some more out-there picks, given that all the movies they picked save Mary Poppins already have representation in WDW elsewhere, most of them being in MK already too. But the covers are enjoyable enough that I still like the show.
They did say they tried to get Sammy to work with the cowboy hat, but they weren't able to get him to fit without making the hat super tall or wide (Doug Dimmadome style) so they compromised with the amp. Sammy originally had little paws that would come up and rest on top of the amp, I wish they kept those. It's nice as a CBJ fan to finally see them physically canonize Sammy as a real raccoon and not a living hat, as 2D art has already shown. I like the idea that he can curl up on Henry's head to look like a hat, but he isn't just a head and tail attached to loose skin.