Disney's low-tech 'Country Bears' aims for tiny tots
By Moira Macdonald
Friday, July 26, 2002 - 12:42 a.m. Pacific
(Seattle Times) -- Cinematic inspiration is everywhere, so they say, and nowhere is this more apparent than in "The Country Bears," a feature film based on a Disneyland attraction involving artificial bears who play country music. (The Pirates of the Caribbean movie, starring Johnny Depp, opens in 2003. No, I am not making this up.)
You might reasonably expect, from the mighty Disney, that the big-screen bears might be kind of cutting-edge, with stunningly realistic digital effects. Um, no. It's guys in bear suits, lumbering around with their big heads and synthetic-looking hair, with dubbed voices chiming in from a sound booth. Of course, "The Country Bears" is aimed at tiny children, who aren't always sticklers for high aesthetic standards. For the record, though, the tots at a recent preview screening made little response to the bears, but audibly appreciated a human character who made noises come out of his armpit. Can a guy in a bear suit provide that kind of entertainment? I think not.
"The Country Bears" is about young Beary, a fourth-grader who feels, like all Disney heroes before him, that he just doesn't fit in. (Don't even think about taking a real fourth-grader to this movie, unless you want to be subjected to extreme eye-rolling. Think preschool.) In Beary's case, there's a good reason for feeling isolated: He's only just figured out that he's a bear in a human family. OK, so maybe he's not the swiftest fourth-grader. Voiced earnestly by Haley Joel Osment, whose parents probably wanted him to make a movie that didn't involve dead people, Beary runs away from home to pursue his dream of reuniting his favorite musical group, the Country Bears.
The rest is easily sketched in: the road trip in the old Country Bears bus, the rounding up of the far-flung band members, the triumph over the nasty guy in a fedora (Christopher Walken, who must be doing one for the grandchildren), the general good feelings and requisite happy ending. At times, "The Country Bears" resembles "Almost Famous," but without the drugs and ______ and with bear suits; there's one scene on the bus where you can almost hear "Tiny Dancer."
And a myriad of musical guests show up, turning much of the movie into a series of bear-laden music videos. Most are unidentified, with the mysterious exception of Elton John, who does a cameo as a gardener. Seems like an odd choice, as preschoolers aren't likely to know who Elton John is. Maybe he should have made an armpit noise.
By Moira Macdonald
Friday, July 26, 2002 - 12:42 a.m. Pacific
(Seattle Times) -- Cinematic inspiration is everywhere, so they say, and nowhere is this more apparent than in "The Country Bears," a feature film based on a Disneyland attraction involving artificial bears who play country music. (The Pirates of the Caribbean movie, starring Johnny Depp, opens in 2003. No, I am not making this up.)
You might reasonably expect, from the mighty Disney, that the big-screen bears might be kind of cutting-edge, with stunningly realistic digital effects. Um, no. It's guys in bear suits, lumbering around with their big heads and synthetic-looking hair, with dubbed voices chiming in from a sound booth. Of course, "The Country Bears" is aimed at tiny children, who aren't always sticklers for high aesthetic standards. For the record, though, the tots at a recent preview screening made little response to the bears, but audibly appreciated a human character who made noises come out of his armpit. Can a guy in a bear suit provide that kind of entertainment? I think not.
"The Country Bears" is about young Beary, a fourth-grader who feels, like all Disney heroes before him, that he just doesn't fit in. (Don't even think about taking a real fourth-grader to this movie, unless you want to be subjected to extreme eye-rolling. Think preschool.) In Beary's case, there's a good reason for feeling isolated: He's only just figured out that he's a bear in a human family. OK, so maybe he's not the swiftest fourth-grader. Voiced earnestly by Haley Joel Osment, whose parents probably wanted him to make a movie that didn't involve dead people, Beary runs away from home to pursue his dream of reuniting his favorite musical group, the Country Bears.
The rest is easily sketched in: the road trip in the old Country Bears bus, the rounding up of the far-flung band members, the triumph over the nasty guy in a fedora (Christopher Walken, who must be doing one for the grandchildren), the general good feelings and requisite happy ending. At times, "The Country Bears" resembles "Almost Famous," but without the drugs and ______ and with bear suits; there's one scene on the bus where you can almost hear "Tiny Dancer."
And a myriad of musical guests show up, turning much of the movie into a series of bear-laden music videos. Most are unidentified, with the mysterious exception of Elton John, who does a cameo as a gardener. Seems like an odd choice, as preschoolers aren't likely to know who Elton John is. Maybe he should have made an armpit noise.