The New Country Bear Musical Jamboree Sounds as Good as It Looks

By Garrett Martin | July 23, 2024 | 3:08pm

Photos by Garrett Martin

Theme Parks Features country bear musical jamboree

The New Country Bear Musical Jamboree Sounds as Good as It Looks

As somebody born and bred in the South, with roots in North Carolina and Georgia, I was apprehensive when Disney announced they were updating the Country Bear Jamboree. These are my people, after all; this is my culture. The Jamboree has long been a reminder of an old, weird country music industry very different from the glam pop country Nashville of today—something that was simultaneously hokier and more cornpone, and yet far more honest than what gets played on country radio now. Of course I’m protective of it. To me, these robot bears singing archaic country songs remind me of relatives who are no longer with us and a culture that wasn’t any less cynical than the one today but was at least a little slower, a little less brash and shameless. That version of the show felt too old-fashioned—in a way, too pure—to last in this decrepit century. There was no way whatever changes Disney would make today would preserve the confounding charm and sheer inexplicableness of this opening day attraction, I reasoned. Nothing made by the corporate synergy-obsessed Disney of 2024 could be this genuinely, bafflingly weird.

The good news is I was only partially right. Yes, the newly updated Country Bear Musical Jamboree is far less weird than the show that preceded it. And yes, it’s now a tribute to famous songs from Disney movies instead of old country songs. It’s also at least as good as the old show, though, and maybe even better. Most importantly, at least to Disney and most of its guests, it’s definitely more of a crowd-pleaser, based on a few performances I witnessed last week.

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If you’ve somehow never seen the majesty of the Country Bears, let me set the stage for you. For over 50 years the Magic Kingdom show has featured animatronic bears “performing” country songs from the ‘60s and earlier. By the time it closed in early 2024, it was easily the strangest, most out-of-place attraction at any Disney theme park—a cute, whimsical show whose soundtrack included a song about shooting a poorly behaved child instead of beating them, two different songs about men mistreating women, and a beloved showstopping rendition of a song about a blood-drenched saddle. In other words, it was absolutely amazing, a relic from the early ‘70s that probably should’ve had its songs replaced multiple times over the last few decades. (As much as I love Buck Owens, he doesn’t have a lot of cache with 21st century theme park fans.) These songs were so old and had become so obscure that most Disney fans assumed they were written for the Country Bears—even the relatively small group of Disney fans who actually liked or cared about the Country Bears often thought that.

As a regular audience member for the old Country Bear Jamboree set, I can confirm that the show was almost never at capacity anymore. Far from it: the old show might’ve been excellent, but it clearly wasn’t popular. Popularity is no mark of quality—and popularity itself, or the lack of it, is no reason to make random, ill-considered changes to beloved theme parks. But if the Country Bear Jamboree absolutely had to be refreshed, Disney has at least done a fantastic job of it, modernizing its setlist with songs guests will actually recognize, while preserving much of the humor and fun of the earlier show. And now that I’ve seen it a few times—and, more importantly, seen how the audience reacts to it—I can admit that this show was a smart, much-needed update.

Country Bear Musical Jamboree

The biggest change in the Country Bear Musical Jamboree, and the one most concerning to old diehards like myself, is the new setlist. It’s almost completely different, swapping out the old country originals with new versions of Disney songs. Instead of Wanda Jackson and Tex Ritter, the show now features “The Bare Necessities,” “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” and other songs from Disney movies in new country-style arrangements. Zootopia’s “Try Everything” now appears as a pop country Shania Twain-style empowerment anthem, sung by the formerly lovelorn Trixie and the three bears previously known as the Sun Bonnet Trio. “Supercalifragilistic” is a lightning-paced fiddle instrumental by the flashy, well-dressed Ernest the Dude; in a gag worthy of the original show, he plays so fast that his fiddle starts to smoke. (Footage of Ernest’s smoking fiddle went viral the day after the new show opened, with TMZ reporting that an unrelated breakdown was caused by this intentional joke.) Big Al, the sad-eyed burly bear who used to interrupt the proceedings with “Blood on the Saddle,” now plays “Remember Me” from Coco, in perhaps the one new gag that doesn’t land.

The best jokes, outside of Ernest’s blazing fiddle, might come before the show itself. The waiting room has been redone with memorabilia from the Bears’ long careers. Display cases show off various show-used instruments, from Romeo’s flashy Les Paw guitar to a washboard shredded by claws. Big Al’s 10th farewell tour vest (no, make that 11th) redoes the classic “(We’re Not) The Jet Set” joke with patches for such tour stops as Paris (Texas), Athens (Georgia), and Rome (Tennessee). A movie poster for Beary Poppins, a copy of Trixie’s memoir I Bearly Remember, and Country Bear appearances on the covers of such magazines as Hiber-Nation and Country Bear Living round out the little exhibit, showing the kind of charming detail Disney packed into the updated attraction.

The music is the main draw, of course, and the new songs work incredibly well. They aren’t too glitzy or too generic; there’s a variety of country and western styles on display, and the character of each bear shines through in every performance. Veteran songwriter and musician Mac McAnally, who handles the voice of Terrence during a rendition of Frozen’s “Fixer Upper,” is responsible for the new arrangements, and his knowledge of and respect for the history of country music is on full display. He also brought in a crew of ringers, from accomplished session musicians to a roster of excellent guest singers; Big Sandy drops by (sans Fly-Rite Boys) for a rockabilly take on “Kiss the Girl,” mandolin legend (and MacArthur Genius grant recipient) Chris Thile and the Grammy and Juno Award winning Allison Russell team up on a duet of “Whole New World” (with Russell playing Country Bear favorite Teddi Berra), and The Voice contestant Emily Ann Roberts takes over as Trixie on “Try Everything.” The result is a cleaner, slicker, more mainstream show that doesn’t lose sight of what made it popular in the first place.

The attraction also got a much-needed technical upgrade. The bears are more expressive than ever with new, more complex animatronics. Their costumes have also gotten a glow up, with Trixie and the Sun Bonnets getting a more modern look that would fit in perfectly at this year’s CMA Awards show, while presenting new spins on the classic country fits of Big Al, host Henry, and the Five Bear Rugs. Romeo McGrowl, the former Liver Lips, is now a full-on Elvis in Vegas caricature. And it’s not just the clothes and faces that are more full of character now; the choreography is more fluid and lifelike, especially during “Try Everything.” Even critics of the new setlist should be impressed by updates like these.

Again, though, this change wasn’t done with the Country Bear superfan in mind. The simple fact that the bears remained and weren’t replaced by something more popular is the biggest win possible for those of us who love them. The new show is for the new fans it’ll hopefully attract—the vast majority of Disney World guests who don’t know Buck Owens from Buck Henry but love the music of The Little Mermaid and Toy Story. Somewhere along the way humanity seemed to lose its passion for robotic animals herky-jerkying their way through pop songs; just look at what’s happened to Chuck E. Cheese. The Country Bear Musical Jamboree faces an uphill battle in a world such as this one, but based on the excited reactions to the new show that I witnessed last week, I think it might be a hit. Audiences of all ages were stomping, clapping, and singing along, something I almost never saw during the old show. And that’s why the Country Bear Musical Jamboree should be embraced by all Disney fans: it preserves the oddball spirit of the show old heads like me loved, while making the Country Bears more relevant than they’ve been in decades. Isn’t that what every theme park upgrade should hope to do?

Senior editor Garrett Martin writes about videogames, comedy, travel, theme parks, wrestling, and more. He’s also on Twitter @grmartin.