Country Bear Musical Jamboree Debuts Today at Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World

Jul 17, 2024 in "Country Bear Musical Jamboree"

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Country Bear Musical Jamboree Opening Day

Posted: Wednesday July 17, 2024 9:20am ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

The reimagined Country Bear Musical Jamboree officially opens today, July 17, 2024, at Magic Kingdom, bringing a fresh twist to a beloved classic.

Guests entering the first show on official opening day of the Country Bear Musical Jamboree

This beloved attraction, originally influenced by Walt Disney himself over 50 years ago, has been refreshed with a new show that aims to combine the charm of the classic Country Bear Jamboree with Nashville-style Disney tunes.

The new show, Country Bear Musical Jamboree, brings a fresh lineup of songs that pay homage to the Opry-style shows of Nashville. Guests can expect twangy interpretations of Disney favorites across various country music genres, including Americana, bluegrass, pop-country, and rockabilly. Some of the highlights include renditions of “Try Everything” from Zootopia, “Kiss the Girl” from The Little Mermaid, and “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” from Toy Story.

Country Bear Musical Jamboree Opening Day

Grizzly Hall, the iconic venue in Frontierland, is once again home to the cast of bears. The show continues the legacy of Ursus H. Bear, the founder of Grizzly Hall. Now, his grandson Henry has taken the reins, co-writing the opening song with the Five Bear Rugs and serving as the master of ceremonies.

Grizzly Hall

Fans of the original show will be able to see their favorite bear characters return. Henry, the five-bear band The Five Bear Rugs, and Trixie, among others, are back with new acts and costumes that draw inspiration from classic country singer culture. Notable new performances include:

Trixie: Now performing with Bunny, Bubbles, and Beulah, Trixie takes on “Try Everything” from Zootopia.

Trixie

Teddi Barra: The Jewel of the Dakotas, Teddi Barra, lends her voice to “A Whole New World” from Aladdin.

Teddi Barra

Wendell: Wendell now sings “A Whole New World” alongside Teddi Barra, showcasing a new side of his musical talent.

Wendell

Behind the scenes, Walt Disney Imagineering has collaborated with popular and upcoming country music talent to bring authenticity and energy to the new setlist. Notable contributors include Mac McAnally, Emily Ann Roberts, Allison Russel, and Chris Thile, who lend their voices to bring the bears’ performances to life.

Emily Ann Roberts, voice of Trixie St. Claire

Country Bear Musical Jamboree is located in Frontierland at Magic Kingdom and is open daily from park opening to closing. Although the show is not included in Early Theme Park Entry for resort hotel guests, it is available during Extended Evening Hours for guests staying at Walt Disney World Deluxe Resort hotels.

Learn more about Country Bear Musical Jamboree.

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Blobbles9 days ago

Yknow, with all the closures happening in the Disney park and in general the theme park general this year, I am honestly way happier that the country bears got an update than I was before. With out the update, I don’t know how good I would feel about the CBJ’s Future. While I am sad we lost the original, I am very happy the bears have at least a good amount of time to remain on this earth, if not forever (hopefully). Big Al had a very close call.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost14 days ago

I actually own this set! The Country Bear chapter is pretty much just his character design sketches and some WIPs of the animatronics, like Blaine Gibson's head sculpts and a photo of them applying some fur onto either Big Al or Buff.

aladdin200714 days ago

I don't know if it will help for what your doing but the table book 2 volume set called Marc Davis Imagineering the Disney Theme Parks has quite a bit of Country Bear material. its pricy but libraries may have it, or a used copy could be found for less.

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost15 days ago

Thanks a ton!

EagleScout61015 days ago

I'll send this to some of my friends who are CBJ fanatics. They'll definitely be able to help out

Charlie The Chatbox Ghost15 days ago

This is the most relevant thread I could think to post this in, since it's not necessarily Imagineering! I'm working on documenting all the design iterations of the Country Bears over the last 50+ years, in preparation for an art project I want to do where I draw the design evolution of the bears. I'm doing a lot of digging looking for the best quality and most accurate photos I can find, but I can't do it alone! If anyone wants to or can help me out, please do! Feel free to request edit permissions, too!

CompedNov 19, 2024

I saw it about 2 weeks ago and was disappointed. Everything felt pretty rushed, and only one or two songs even got close to working for me personally. The group I was with commented that "the costumes look cheap", although I tried to assure them that almost certainly was not the case. A lot of segments felt like an attempt by Disney to perhaps advertise a new country album, more so than fitting concept of the show and country music into the Disney canon. Which is funny because Disney definitely has a history of taking songs from one medium and putting them into another, most notably jazz during the '90s - but always with a little bit more care than whatever happened with the orchestration of most of these songs. Very disappointing. A huge letdown musically, even more so than when I saw the taped performances when it originally opened. Used to be a show I would see probably at least once a month, now I probably won't go back until they redo it or close it permanently.

tancNov 19, 2024

Saw it back on Nov 8th, great show! The updates are phenomenal, while the original is preserved in Tokyo, the new look of everything is spectacular in WDW.

JD80Nov 14, 2024

I saw it for the first time two weeks ago. Loved it.

EagleScout610Nov 14, 2024

Or they could've had the gag of them running around backstage like they did from the skunk in Vacation Hoedown

zipadee999Nov 14, 2024

They could’ve at least played backup for some of the other bears like they did with Ernest in the OG show

Steamboat71Nov 13, 2024

The Five Bear Rugs were done dirty in this new show. Bear-ly any showtime.

Charlie The Chatbox GhostNov 13, 2024

From what I've heard, they tried to keep Sammy as a hat, but couldn't get it to work with Henry's new cowboy hat. Having him behind the amp was a compromise to keep him in the show instead of cutting him altogether.