Rumor Country Bear Jamboree to be Replaced by Toy Story Show?

[tirian]

My kids (Twin 13 and 16) have always found the bears to be corny...not the good kind, but the "ugh...just stop" sort of misery. They love CoP and Tiki and want to see it multiple times. The pacing of the Birds is much faster, the entire building IS the show and the music is more universally appealing. Heck, Hawaiian shirts arent exactly out of style ATM. The bears schtick is basically a stereotype of dumb southerner that died in the 70s with a music style that hasn't really aged well. How many places do you walk into that play Island music vs how many have 1940s Appalachian and western music?

I hope they never replace the bears, as I have a soft spot for them from my youth, but I can see why they haven't held up as the generations move on...There is just nothing about them that a modern person that is under 30 can identify with. The modern media interpretation of the characters and show, from music to accents is "poor, dumb, southerner"...which are things most modern people make fun of.

The summer vacation and Christmas shows need to come back into the rotation. I love CBJ, but I also concede the show’s charm is based on corny camp humor from the late 1960s.

Meanwhile, I’m also one of those horrible fans who loves the parks, loves classic Disney, misses old-school Epcot Center—and thinks the Carousel of Progress should be either completely upgraded or outright replaced.

 

[prberk]

@MansionButler84, most of the songs in the show were actual songs before Disney used them, including the first one you mentioned. It was sung by Tommy Collins. Others were original or actual folk tunes of the time the show is supposed to represent.

Frontierland is supposed to represent the American frontier of the 1800s, and as I mentioned above, these types of vaudeville-like revue "medicine shows" were a staple of that, as evidenced by the "Royal Nonesuch" in the Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, which is also represented across the river. The banter and songs in the show are what they are supposed to be -- a throwback to a different time, but still in a lighthearted way. Remember, Henry spends some time reigning in all manner of foolishness, and they all come together in the end to celebrate their own unique characteristics that others might not like, doing so to overpower a drunken "bully" of a bear who takes over the show.

As for someone above who mentioned the shorter show not working as well, I agree. The timing of the comments is not allowed to play out naturally.

I do wish they would still do the holiday overlays, and perhaps update the show (still with classic elements, but perhaps with people like Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, and Alison Krause bringing in some fresh instrumentation for new sound). But overall the show works and fits the theme. And we can still learn from it about a type of entertainment from that era. (Same is true of "Hoop de Do," by the way.)

 

[ToTBellHop]

@MansionButler84, most of the songs in the show were actual songs before Disney used them, including the first one you mentioned. It was sung by Tommy Collins. Others were original or actual folk tunes of the time the show is supposed to represent.

Frontierland is supposed to represent the American frontier of the 1800s, and as I mentioned above, these types of vaudeville-like revue "medicine shows" were a staple of that, as evidenced by the "Royal Nonesuch" in the Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn, which is also represented across the river. The banter and songs in the show are what they are supposed to be -- a throwback to a different time, from still in a lighthearted way. Remember, Henry spends some time reigning in all manner of foolishness, and they all come together in the end to celebrate their own unique characteristics that others might not like, doing so to overpower a drunken "bully" of a bear who takes over the show.

As for someone above who mentioned the shorter show not working as well, I agree. The timing of the comments is not allowed to play out naturally.

I do wish they would still do the holiday overlays, and perhaps update the show (still with classic elements, but perhaps with people like Ricky Skaggs, Sam Bush, and Alison Krause bringing in some fresh instrumentation for new sound). But overall the show works and fits the theme. And we can still learn from it about a type of entertainment from that era. (Same is true of "Hoop de Do," by the way.)

Oh, I understand completely how CBJ came to be in our Frontierland. But WDW does not exist in a vacuum and I don’t personally think it “works” in MK in 2019. Pirates is set in a time when women were bought, and yet the company decided to stop highlighting that truth. While some parts of MK are ostensibly set in the past, the park is not meant to be a history lesson. It can be hard to combine realism with escapism (most guests are looking for the latter). We’ve seen this issue lead to changes at Epcot, DCA, and DAK. Sometimes old attractions just need to be retired. As much as we fans pine for nostalgia, I think Walt would be upset to see largely unchanged attractions. CoP in particular is an embarrassment. Update it or replace it.

 

[Tick Tock]

Did you know that they closed the Disneyland version of CBJ before that movie was released?

This was not Disneyland's decision to close their version of CBJ before the movie. Right after the earliest screenings of the film, the animatronic bears physically left the stage and walked out of the park forever in protest. Rumor has it they've been seen roaming in the woods of Yosemite.

 

[DugLovesU]

There are two types of people. Those who like CBJ and those who are wrong. It could easily be updated to modern tastes.

Updated to modern tastes? Thank you, no. The day I walk into CBJ and hear The Bears performing any of the dreck that's considered modern "Country"-is the day I cut up my AP and never darken the gates of a Disney Park again.

 

[dX927]

Would it somehow be possible to make a show where we are essentially "shrunk down" to the size of toys and are watching Andy play with them? two large animatronic hands come in holding the toys and doing motions that most kids do with their toys? Or is that way too complicated?

 

[Phil12]

I have a hard time believing your kids pay that much attention to the lyrics. Nothing that is said in that show is as nearly as offensive to what they hear or see on TV today. Honestly I think this is a little over dramatic. I also think that referring to this attraction as trash and passive aggressively insulting Southerners is counter productive to the Pollyanna message you are trying to convey.

I agree! That's why they should change the entire show to a rap version:

 

[Phil12]

Updated to modern tastes? Thank you, no. The day I walk into CBJ and hear The Bears performing any of the dreck that's considered modern "Country"-is the day I cut up my AP and never darken the gates of a Disney Park again.

But rap would be OK...right?

 

[kwoodfan1]

But rap would be OK...right?

Rap is ALWAYS ok! Screw TS, that’s the redo. Henry voiced by Travis Scott, Cardi B kills it as Trixie, and periodically you hear DJ Khalids voice slowly yell out “D...J....Earl!!!” Add some Dre and Snoop for us old guys and you’ve got an E Ticket.

 

[Imagineer999]

ERNEST
One night, I left the wife at home,
And I went out with the boys.
I was acting like a Don Juan,
And making a lot of noise.

ZEKE
Tell ’em, lover boy!

ERNEST
A go-go girl caught my hand,
I said, “I can’t. I’m a married man.”
She said “If you ain’t gonna steal,
You better not prowl.”

-----------------------------------

SUN BONNETS
Every time I meet a guy who gets me shook,
All I ever get from him’s a dirty look.
It’s the same way everywhere, I’ve found.
All the guys that turn me on turn me down.

All the guys that turn me on turn me down.
Nothing works for me that I’ve found.
It’s the same way everywhere, I see.
Nothing ever seems to work for me.

-----------------------------------

The comments from the male bears as Teddi Barra sings

TEDDI BARRA
Well, there he goes.
He hardly knows
The heart he’s breaking.

MAX
Lovely, lovely.

TEDDI BARRA
I talked to him,
But I don’t think
He understood.

BUFF
Aw, sing it gal!

TEDDI BARRA
Oh, just forget
About the plans
That we were makin’.

HENRY
My, my.

TEDDI BARRA
Heart, we did all that we could.

(Music continues as TEDDI BARRA’s swing starts to rise.)

TEDDI BARRA
Y’all come up and see me some time, ya hear?!

HENRY
Yeah! Soon as I find a ladder, I’ll be right up! Mm-hmm!

----------------------------------

Not my cup of tea and not really what I expect to listen to in the Magic Kingdom in 2019. I don’t need my kids hearing about “whoopings” or thinking that this is how we speak toward and about women (whose value is derived from their looks, of course).

The lyrics never bothered me or were bad influences to me as a little kid because I didn't really understand them until I got older.

 

[GlacierGlacier]

Updated to modern tastes? Thank you, no. The day I walk into CBJ and hear The Bears performing any of the dreck that's considered modern "Country"-is the day I cut up my AP and never darken the gates of a Disney Park again.

"I got the horses in the back"

 

[MisterPenguin]

So. If you're a Southerner, and you think this humor is OK because there are indeed gap-toothed, inbred, man-hungry yokels around you, and that it is culturally OK to make fun of them. Then, two things to know:

1. Making fun of them is a form of bigotry.​

​

2. Your approval of joking over that stereotype only means that everyone outside the region of "The South" applies this stereotype to *everyone* in the South, yourself included.​

If you don't have compassion for your local, rural poor, then at least have some self-interested preservation to keep these stereotypes from accruing to yourself, Bubba.

 

[larryz]

So. If you're a Southerner, and you think this humor is OK because there are indeed gap-toothed, inbred, man-hungry yokels around you, and that it is culturally OK to make fun of them. Then, two things to know:

1. Making fun of them is a form of bigotry.​

​

2. Your approval of joking over that stereotype only means that everyone outside the region of "The South" applies this stereotype to *everyone* in the South, yourself included.​

If you don't have compassion for your local, rural poor, then at least have some self-interested preservation to keep these stereotypes from accruing to yourself, Bubba.

Maybe Disney should hire Whoopi Goldberg to do a video disclaimer running prior to each show explaining how it was developed during a time in America when people had a sense of humor and didn't take everything as a personal insult.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Maybe Disney should hire Whoopi Goldberg to do a video disclaimer running prior to each show explaining how it was developed during a time in America when people had a sense of humor and didn't take everything as a personal insult.

More like the recent Captain Eo run where there was a disclaimer pointing out that the technology used in the film was old so please don't laugh at how antequated and awful it is.

But let's say people regain their sense of humor... what ethnic groups should we make fun of next?

 

[larryz]

More like the recent Captain Eo run where there was a disclaimer pointing out that the technology used in the film was old so please don't laugh at how antequated and awful it is.

But let's say people regain their sense of humor... what ethnic groups should we make fun of next?

All of them.

 

[Rodan75]

All of them.

And that is true equality. We all deserve it.

 

[Rodan75]

So. If you're a Southerner, and you think this humor is OK because there are indeed gap-toothed, inbred, man-hungry yokels around you, and that it is culturally OK to make fun of them. Then, two things to know:

1. Making fun of them is a form of bigotry.​

​

2. Your approval of joking over that stereotype only means that everyone outside the region of "The South" applies this stereotype to *everyone* in the South, yourself included.​

If you don't have compassion for your local, rural poor, then at least have some self-interested preservation to keep these stereotypes from accruing to yourself, Bubba.

I’m having trouble deciphering what level of sarcasm I should be reading this post with.

 

[MisterPenguin]

I’m having trouble deciphering what level of sarcasm I should be reading this post with.

Level 4.

 

[MaximumEd]

So. If you're a Southerner, and you think this humor is OK because there are indeed gap-toothed, inbred, man-hungry yokels around you, and that it is culturally OK to make fun of them. Then, two things to know:

1. Making fun of them is a form of bigotry.​

​

2. Your approval of joking over that stereotype only means that everyone outside the region of "The South" applies this stereotype to *everyone* in the South, yourself included.​

If you don't have compassion for your local, rural poor, then at least have some self-interested preservation to keep these stereotypes from accruing to yourself, Bubba.

Born and raised in Alabama.
1. Lol, ok.
2. Don’t care.

I did get the sarcasm, btw. I think everyone is fair game.

 

[General Mayhem]

This entire thread reminded me why I've been becoming more and more detached from Disney and their theme parks in the last 2-3 years.