Ten things you MAY not have known about the Country Bear Jamboree

[RobotMirror]

Ten things you MAY not have known about the Country Bear Jamboree:

1. This attraction was an "E-Ticket" attraction under the old disneyland ticket system.

2. You can still see the Country Bears perform at Walt Disney World and Tokyo Disneyland.

3. Wonder Bread replaced Pepsi Cola as the sponsor in 1975. However, Henry the bear continued to announce, “... enjoy the show, cause we got a lot to give!”, which was originally a reference to Pepsi Cola’s 1969-1973 slogan, “You’ve go a lot to live, Pepsi’s got a lot to give!” Frito Lay was also briefly a sponsor.

4. This show opened in 1971 as one of the original attractions in Walt Disney World, although it was originally planned for a ski resort which was never built by Disney.

5. During its planning stages, the Imagineers toyed with a variety of musical types, including Dixieland, "hillbilly,"and finally, country. In fact, the songs were written first, and then the Imagineers developed the bears to match them!

6. A curtain opens to reveal each bear for their respective song(s), except for: Wendell (rises from the stage) Teddi Barra (descends from the ceiling) Gomer (ascends from the stage) The Sun Bonnets (ascend from the stage).

7. One bear is never seen: Rufus. Rufus runs the projections and lights, and can not be seen in the show (although sounds of him backstage can be heard from time to time).

8. The Audio Animatronic structure used for Big Al was reused to make up the structure of the Oogie Boogie Audio Animatronic in the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction at Disneyland.

9. The three talking animals on the wall of the Country Bear Jamboree are Melvin the Moose, Buff the Buffalo, and Max the Deer. In the Disneyland version of the Jamboree, held in the Country Bear Playhouse, the heads were in opposite locations. Max, Buff and Melvin can still be seen hidden in The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

10. There were 18 bears that performed in the show.

[OogieBoogie]

[quote=Frogberto

8. The Audio Animatronic structure used for Big Al was reused to make up the structure of the Oogie Boogie Audio Animatronic in the Haunted Mansion Holiday attraction at Disneyland.
[/quote]

Who are you calling a Animatronic?!?!?!?!?! And be nice about the HMH attraction.. its the only time out of the year I have a real job other than doing lounge work out in Vegas.

[FrumiousBoojum]

5. During its planning stages, the Imagineers toyed with a variety of musical types, including Dixieland, "hillbilly,"and finally, country. In fact, the songs were written first, and then the Imagineers developed the bears to match them!

Well... like all incarnations of the show, the only original song was the opening number. So, of course the songs were written first!

[Gemini Cricket]

Sayyyy, is Oogie Boogie really Big Al in green burlap? He looks like him, but I didn't hear anything official on that. Sources?

[OogieBoogie]

No I'm not Big Al. I'm far less hairy!!!! (Those of you who know me.. Don't you dare say a word. lol)

[Disney Wrassler]

I thought Oogie was just a bag of bugs????

[Saddlesore Swanson]

#8 just blew my mind!

...and also, I'm sure you know that Rufus was also the one snoring away in that cave where Splash Mountain now stands...

[Yendorb]

7. One bear is never seen: Rufus. Rufus runs the projections and lights, and can not be seen in the show (although sounds of him backstage can be heard from time to time).
.

Rufus was not part of the Country Bear Jamboree, he only made his offstage appearance in the vacation hoedown and I think the Christmas show also.

[RobotMirror]

Sayyyy, is Oogie Boogie really Big Al in green burlap? He looks like him, but I didn't hear anything official on that. Sources?

Yep. Thanks for asking for the sources - I keep them bookmarked for a reason, and here they are:

http://www.disneyworldtrivia.com/tri...untrybears.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Bear_Jamboree

[Disney Wrassler]

Rufus was not part of the Country Bear Jamboree, he only made his offstage appearance in the vacation hoedown and I think the Christmas show also.

I thought he was in all three. That is interesting. I will have to listen to the original Country Bear Jamboree track again.

[RobotMirror]

Rufus was not part of the Country Bear Jamboree, he only made his offstage appearance in the vacation hoedown and I think the Christmas show also.

My sources indicate that he was in the original Country Bear Jamboree and the Hoedown. Maybe they are incorrect?

http://www.answers.com/topic/country-bear-jamboree

http://www.funtrivia.com/en/subtopic...ee-151512.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Country_Bear_Jamboree

And yes, Rufus is the snoring bear:

http://www.hiddenmickeys.org/Disneyl...er/Splash.html

[Yendorb]

I've copied and pasted from your second source:

Who was the bear who worked the lights, scenery, and props for the Jamboree, but never actually appeared on stage.
Rufus. In the early days, Rufus could be heard snoring from his cave outside the hall, but when the cave was removed for Splash Mountain, Rufus had a house way up on the mountain and you could see his mailbox (and hear him snoring) while riding the ride. Later this was unceremoniously repainted the "Brer Bear" quite an insult to Rufus I guess. Now a bear of very little brains named Winnie the Pooh lives in the old Bear Hall anyway, so I guess Rufus is retired. Actually he was seen in the County Bear Jamboree movie as the caretaker of the hall and the grounds, so maybe that's what he's doing now.

This source is pointing out that in the early days, ie before the vacation hoedown, he was only the snoring bear on the hill.

I just listened to the Jamboree, and I couldn't find him referenced there.

perhaps there was something I missed, could anyone else confirm or deny?

[OogieBoogie]

He was not in the original CBJ, but he's in the Hoedown and Holiday versions. If you listen to the CD's of the 50th celebration (the 6 disk set with all the rides in it, you can hear all 3 versions, and hear Rufus)

[RobotMirror]

I've copied and pasted from your second source:

Who was the bear who worked the lights, scenery, and props for the Jamboree, but never actually appeared on stage. ...

Hmm. The source mentions the "Jamboree", not the Hoedown or the Holiday show, so maybe I misread. You might be right, I can't tell from memory or from the sources quoted.