BREAKING: Original Country Bear Jamboree Being Replaced by … – WDW News Today

A brand new show will soon be debuting at the Country Bear Jamboree at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. The show will be known as the “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” and will debut in 2024, the company announced at Destination D23 on Saturday.

New Country Bear Jamboree Show Coming

The “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” will be inspired by the musical revues of Nashville and will see the bears reimagine classic Disney songs in “different genres of country music,” according to the Disney Parks Blog. A video showcasing a country-inspired reinterpretation of “The Bare Necessities” from “The Jungle Book” was shown.

Though the content of the show will change, the beloved characters that have become synonymous with the Country Bear Jamboree will not. The Disney Parks Blog wrote that the “same famous characters” will appear in the new version of the attraction, with the “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” poster featuring Henry, Big Al, and Trixie, amongst others.

A version of the Country Bear Jamboree that included classic Disney music was pitched and developed for Tokyo Disneyland some time ago but was never implemented. The show was even briefly planned for implementation into Magic Kingdom but was halted due to the closure of all Walt Disney World Resort parks in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic; it’s possible that the “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” is a version of the show that was developed years ago.

The Country Bear Jamboree

The Country Bear Jamboree was an opening day attraction at Frontierland in Magic Kingdom, with the doors to Grizzly Hall opening on October 1, 1971. The beloved attraction features a number of audio-animatronic bears singing sometimes heartfelt, sometimes humorous, but always entertaining songs such as “How Long Will My Baby Be Gone,” “Blood on the Saddle,” and “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” (these songs figure to be replaced with the upcoming “Country Bear Musical Jamboree” update).

The Country Bear Jamboree proved to be popular with guests, and a version of the attraction opened alongside Critter Country at Disneyland in 1972. The Disneyland edition of the show ran for 29 years, closing in September 2001. A version of the Country Bear Jamboree was also an opening day attraction at Tokyo Disneyland in 1983; it’s still active today.

An attraction synonymous with Disney Parks and general Walt Disney Imagineering, the Country Bear Jamboree was among the first attractions that Walt Disney Pictures looked to when it made a concerted effort to adapt Disney Parks rides and experiences into films in the early 21st century. “The Country Bears” movie released in 2002, the year before “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” and the Eddie Murphy-led “The Haunted Mansion.” “The Country Bears” starred Christopher Walken, Diedrich Bader, and Haley Joel Osment, and was a critical and commercial flop.

Are you excited about the upcoming Disney music-inspired refresh of the Country Bear Jamboree? Let us know in the comments.

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