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{{Infobox attraction
| name = Country Bear Jamboree
| park = [[Magic Kingdom]]
| land = Frontierland
| type = Audio-Animatronic musical show
| opened = October 1, 1971
| designer = WED Enterprises
| status = Operating
}}

'''Country Bear Jamboree''', performed since 2024 as '''Country Bear Musical Jamboree''', is an Audio-Animatronic musical revue in Frontierland at [[Magic Kingdom]] in [[Walt Disney World]], Florida. It opened with the park on October 1, 1971, in a theatre called Grizzly Hall, where a cast of bear figures performs country music under the direction of a bear master of ceremonies named Henry. It was one of only a handful of opening-day Magic Kingdom attractions that had not first appeared at [[Disneyland Park]], and for decades it was presented as a revue of original country-and-western songs before a 2024 reworking rebuilt the programme around Disney songs arranged in country styles.

== History ==
The bears began with a project that was never built. In the mid-1960s Walt Disney was developing a ski resort at Mineral King in California and wanted entertainment for its lodge. Imagineer Marc Davis was assigned to design a show of singing bears, and the character drawings he produced — detailed, funny and individually characterised — kept the idea alive after both Walt's death in 1966 and the collapse of the ski resort scheme. The show was instead placed in the Magic Kingdom, where it could be ready for opening day. Songs for the original programme were written chiefly by X Atencio and musical director George Bruns.

The Jamboree opened on October 1, 1971, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay, and proved popular enough that a second version was built for Disneyland in 1972 — a rare case of a Florida attraction being copied in California. That version closed in 2001, while a further version continues at Tokyo Disneyland.

The Florida show acquired seasonal and alternate editions over the years. A Christmas special ran during the holiday season from the 1980s into the 2000s, and from 1986 the main show was replaced for several years by the '''Country Bear Vacation Hoedown''', a summer-holiday themed programme, before the original revue returned in the early 1990s. In 2012 the show was shortened during a refurbishment, with several songs trimmed or cut.

The original programme gave its last performance on January 26, 2024. Grizzly Hall reopened on July 17, 2024, as Country Bear Musical Jamboree, with the same bear cast in new costumes performing Disney songs in bluegrass, Americana, rockabilly and pop-country arrangements. One character was renamed in the process: the guitar-playing crooner long known as Liver Lips McGrowl became Romeo McGrowl.

== Experience ==
Henry, the host, performs on the main stage with a raccoon named Sammy in his hat, while three mounted animal heads — Buff the buffalo, Max the stag and Melvin the moose — comment from the wall. Performers appear across five stages, rising, swinging or sliding into view. They include Big Al, a large bear whose slow ballads are a fixture of every version of the show; Trixie, who performs with the Sun Bonnet Trio of Bunny, Bubbles and Beulah; the washboard-playing Teddi Barra, who descends from the ceiling on a swing; and Ernest, a fiddle player.

The 2024 programme opens with a new title song and closes with "Come Again", the farewell number carried over from the original show. Between them the bears perform country arrangements of songs from Disney films, among them "Try Everything" from ''Zootopia'', "Kiss the Girl" from ''The Little Mermaid'', "A Whole New World" from ''Aladdin'', "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" from ''Mary Poppins'', "Fixer-Upper" from ''Frozen'', "Remember Me" from ''Coco'', "You've Got a Friend in Me" from ''Toy Story'' and "The Bare Necessities" from ''The Jungle Book'', the last arranged with country musician Mac McAnally. Big Al performs "Remember Me" in place of his signature song from the original show, "Blood on the Saddle", which the new programme omits.

== See also ==
* [[Magic Kingdom]]
* [[Frontierland]]
* [[Walt Disney's Enchanted Tiki Room]]

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Attractions]]
[[Category:Magic Kingdom]]
[[Category:Audio-Animatronic shows]]
[[Category:1971 establishments in Florida]]

Country Bear Jamboree - Revision history

Admin: Imported from text file