Country Bear Jamboree

The Country Bear Jamboree is an attraction at the Disney Parks that originated at Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom during the fall of 1971. In a format much like the one The Muppet Show would employ several years later, it consists of a large group of animatronic bears who perform country music in a vaudeville theater setting while taxidermied animal heads hanging near the audience heckle them from afar. 
The original voice cast for the attraction included Thurl Ravenscroft and Loulie Jean Norman, as well as veteran country singer Tex Ritter. The musical repertoire ranged from a Buck Owens song and Homer and Jethro songs to "The Ballad of Davy Crockett" and adjustments for seasonal variations (the "Vacation Hoedown" in summer included "Singin' in the Rain" while the bears sang of reindeer at Christmas).
Walk-around versions of mandolin player Wendell and banjo player Liverlips (along with Bongo and Lulubelle from Fun and Fancy Free, and Br'er Bear from Song of the South) appeared in The Muppets at Walt Disney World. After Fozzie Bear spends much of the special attempting to entertain park guests with his comedy act, he doesn't find success until Kermit suggests he's just playing to the wrong audience. The Country Bears love his act so much that they stuff Ma Bear's hat with cash.
In a pre-taped video for the D23 Expo 2009, Fozzie claims to have interstudied "Disneyana" at the Country Bear Jamboree. He then solemnly removes his hat and sighs, "May it rest in peace," referencing the attraction's removal from the Disneyland park (it remains in Walt Disney World). 
Fozzie would later appear during the Destination D23 2023 Parks panel during the announcement of the attraction's 2024 overhaul into the "Country Bear Musical Jamboree", serving as Imagineering's "bear consultant" for the project.
In 2002, the characters appeared in the feature film The Country Bears, courtesy of Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Muppet Specials Actors
Category:Location References