Country Bear Jamboree Edit Reports

[J.E.Smith]

Hello folks.

Even though the Country Bears are a day away from reopening, some CMs have already tweeted the edits made to the show. Surprisingly enough "Mama Don't Whoop Little Buford" is still there. However...

* Teddi Barra has a really great new sparkly hat and parasol, but she still has crazy eyes. Also her flower is bright purple and sequined.
* Lots of interstitial dialogue is missing. Show feels very abrupt.
* "Devilish Mary" and "Fractured Folk Song" are both gone.
* Liver Lips has crazy, wild man hair now. It's so odd.
* Many bears got new costumes. Some are really out there.
* Gomer got new fur. He is like, a deep burgundy red with a blonde goatee. It looks so crazy.
* Lots of songs have been shortened. Finale is at least half gone.

...I am not pleased at all with this. Devilish Mary and the finale were two of my favorite bits and I don't like that they were butchered. The Tiki Room changes I liked, and those were understandable because of the attendance issues it had back in the day. But I don't see any reason to this...

I guess we'll just have to wait till the videos come out and we see how bad the damage is.

[almandot]

why don't they just make it an open theater with a push-button to start the show that people can just walk by and watch as much as they feel like? that way people aren't inconvenienced by having to actually go into and sit in a theater for a show like they were at some kind of amusement park, and if no one's even there no harm no foul the show doesn't start until someone hits the button.

[Micoofy Duck]

Teddi Barra has a really great new sparkly hat and parasol, but she still has crazy eyes."

Thanks, that made me laugh out so good and hard. But it should read "but she still has cray cray eyes!

[disneyfann121]

Sounds very disappointing. Thanks for nothing, Disney.

[ttintagel]

Liver Lips's new 'do makes me think of David Bowie in Labyrinth.

[Bronco21]

Sounds very disappointing. Thanks for nothing, Disney.

Seriously? Why didn't they just make a whole new show that was designed to be shorter? Trying to cut this out here and this out there does not work. Removing dialogue here and a phrase here or there could easily destroy the fun live animal feel the show has and make it even more apparent to little ones that its just robots... Shame on you Disney. Super fail.

[Virtual Toad]

Seriously? Why didn't they just make a whole new show that was designed to be shorter? Trying to cut this out here and this out there does not work. Removing dialogue here and a phrase here or there could easily destroy the fun live animal feel the show has and make it even more apparent to little ones that its just robots... Shame on you Disney. Super fail.

Well said sir. It is increasingly evident that WDW has become a place run by morons, for morons. At the very least TDO thinks its customers are morons.

If I want to see mediocre robotic singing bears, performing a rushed and amateurish routine, I can save a lot of time, money and frustration by taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese.

Because what TDO has done to the CBJ is crap. Just plain, simple, crap. Pile it on top of the ever-growing list of formerly amazing WDW attractions reduced to overpriced and overhyped crap.

Because that's what to expect from a company that thinks "Limited Time Magic" is a good name for a promotional campaign. At least they got the name right. Because, thanks to those in charge, every last piece of Magic that somehow remains at WDW is living on borrowed time.

The extent and dogged determination with which TDO is systematically destroying its own brand staggers the imagination.

[KingEric]

It isn't all doom and gloom. My official review is coming.

[Prof. Emelius]

People have been comparing the Country Bear Jamboree edits to the cuts made in the 1990's at Disneyland's version of the Enchanted Tiki Room. I think the cuts made to the Tiki Room do not distract from the overall show - they cut out just one song - the one by Offenbach. It was originally put there in '63 so that guests could take the time to marvel in the delight of the birds moving, as this was a brand new and fascinating technology at that time. Although I love the music, and it brings back special memories for me to hear it, I have to admit that is did slow down the pace of the show, and as people were not as impressed by the technology, as time wore on, its need to be there waned. Not to mention, the younger kids, used to MTV and Video Games, were bored by its low key tempo. So Disney opted to remove it, in order to keep the show more upbeat for modern audiences. I think in general this was an improvement. And this is coming from someone you all know is a purist. It did not detract from the show at all in my opinion, and people not familiar with the show would never miss it. Even people who had seen it, but not as avid Disney fans as we, may have never even noticed it was gone.

In contrast, the hack job they did on Country Bear Jamboree was done awfully. The show never had any portion in it that had the slow pace issue that Tiki Room's Offenbach segment did. Kids were never bored by the show, and always enthralled. The show was only 15 minutes long - a very short show as is, and it had the perfect pacing. The edits they made are very noticeable, the pace is off and things seem very out of place. The final number, Ole Slue Foot, is just too short, and I feel this is something even people who have never seen the show before will notice. Wendel is never properly introduced, as his first song is gone, the jumps in music are choppy and very noticeable to even a slightly trained musical ear. The dialogue seems jumpy. Overall it is a mess. They did a terrible job. People waited in line in 1971 to see it when it was the most popular show in WDW, and there were very few other attractions then, so I am sure they can wait in line today when it is not quite as popular as it was then, and there are many more attractions. If they could wait in long lines then, they can wait in shorter lines now. It was just not necessary to do this, and I am very upset over it. It is like Ted Turner colorizing the classics. (Although even that is more debatable change than this change)

I feel bad for those who never had the chance to see the full show, and for the many kids who are going to the park for the very first time. Another Disney great has been ruined for me. A sad day in Disney history.

[aimster]

Growing up, Country Bear Jamboree has been one of my favorite WDW attractions. I still have my original soundtrack record from the 70s. I listened to that thing so much as a child I know the show by heart even to this day.

I saw a video of the shortened version and I don't like it. Not one bit. Gomer the piano player looks awful and cheap. Terrence doesn't shake like he used to/supposed to (at Tokyo Disneyland, his character is called "Shaker Bear"), plus his new costume is garish and cheap looking. I miss the banter from the "peanut gallery" (Max, Buff and Melvin). The new order of the songs messed up the flow of the show to me ("If You Can't Bite, Don't Growl" right after "Bear Band" seemed just odd). I was actually amazed they left in the "Little Buford" number but took out the fat jokes during Trixie's number (oh come on... she looks like Honey Boo Boo's mom!). Sad "Devilish Mary" and "Fractured Folksong" are gone and most all the other songs shortened.

This show was a classic case of, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." All the AA's needed was a little TLC and some audio adjustments. Doesn't look like I'll be visiting this show very often anymore. It used to be a MUST DO every time I visited the Magic Kingdom. One of the classic, original, untouched opening day attractions. Now this once beloved show is a shell of what it used to be. The context and story of Grizzly Hall has been taken away. Now it's just s show of singing bears with no real rhyme or reason to it.

[Diznygrl]

So typical. Allow me to imagine what Disney's thought process was on this one. "Screw it up badly enough and first time visitors will think it's horrible and would never even miss it. Give no hope to fans of ever fixing or restoring it to former glory, and instead of fighting us to keep it they will soon be begging us to put it out of its misery. Then we can build that Woody's Root'n Toot'n Preschool Playground that we've always wanted." *insert evil maniacal laughter*

All kidding aside, this really sucks. Declining by degrees, indeed. Way to go, Disney.

[J.E.Smith]

Terrence doesn't shake like he used to/supposed to (at Tokyo Disneyland, his character is called "Shaker Bear"), plus his new costume is garish and cheap looking. .

Yeah, it annoyed me that they took away one addition from the last refurb. I don't know if it was a problem with the AA or if they reprogrammed him, but after the last refurb in 2008 Terrence started shaking wildly during the finale and I liked that. Now he's just still with a little bit of shaking.

Also, if they removed Devilish Mary to make it faster with less talking and instrumentals, maybe they should have just replaced it with Rockytop from Vacation Hoedown, since moving at a fast pace seemed to be the point of the edits. With the finale they should have just cut the middle bit with the bears hollering and kept the first verse.

[Gn2Dlnd]

I was so happy to be able to see CBJ on my first (and so far only) visit to WDW in 2010. I remember the show fondly from Disneyland, where it had been replaced with the Vacation Hoedown and Christmas show for years before it was eventually replaced with Pooh. So sad to watch this new lobotomized version. While I don't love the cuts made to the Tiki Room, the show still works just fine. In this edited version of CBJ they've removed almost all character interaction, leaving absolutely no sense that this is an actual performing troupe, with the typical family friction that occurs in such a group. Now it's just Henry introducing songs, aaaand get out! Storytelling be damned, if you're sitting in a show, you're not buying a churro.

[Smilee306]

Well, that blows. I was just listening to a (admittedly a few months old) podcast extolling the virtues of Country Bear Jamboree and how solid the show was, particularly in the fact that it basically hadn't changed since its opening in 1971, I think the only ride that could say that in WDW. I was so psyched to see it again over Thanksgiving, and now I hear this - I don't even want to watch that video...yuck. It really angers me when execs who have no idea what they had make decisions like this - it's An Under New Management situation all over again.