How the Imagineers came to create the “Country Bear Christmas Special” show

Jim Hill

13 years ago

Back when I lived in Central Florida in the early-to-mid 1990s, one of my favorite
things to do this time of year was to go into Frontierland at WDW‘s Magic
Kingdom and then catch a performance of “Country Bear Christmas Special.”

There was just something about that version of “The
Christmas Song” (which you can hear starting 3:10 minutes into this YouTube
recording of the show) which Henry & Teddi Barra perform in this theme park
show that always used to give me chills. Made me miss my friends & family
back up in New England.

Nowadays, of course, the reverse is true. I live up in the
cold & the snow of New Hampshire now. And because the “Country Bear
Christmas Special” is no longer presented at any of the stateside Disney Parks …
Well, I find myself really missing that particular rendition of “The Christmas
Song.”

But you want to know something interesting about the “Country Bear Christmas
Special” ? The Imagineers didn’t create a holiday version of the “Country Bear
Jamboree” because they wanted to
celebrate the season. But – rather – because they were looking to give
Disneyland visitors a reason to return to Bear Country.

Strange but true, folks. Though Walt Disney Productions spent
$8 million and relocated more than 250 trees in an effort to make this theme
park’s old Indian Village area look more like the Great Northwest, Southern
Californians obviously weren’t all that impressed with this new addition to
Disneyland.

By that I mean: The crowds initially came out to this part
of the theme park to catch a performance of “Country Bear Jamboree” when Bear
Country first opened in March of 1972. But as Bruce Gordon & David Mumford
explained in their most-excellent history of The Happiest Place on Earth, “Disneyland the Nickel Tour,” at least from an attendance point-of-view, the park’s newest
addition ” … turned out to be a major letdown.”

“And why was that?,” you ask. Mumford & Gordon had their theories:

This new land’s main attraction – Country Bear Jamboree – turned out to be its
only attraction. The rest of Bear Country consisted of nothing more than a row
of Western-styled buildings circling a dead-end street.

The largest building in this new “land” (outside of Country
Bear Playhouse) housed the Bear Country restrooms. The porch right in front of
the men’s room was often used as a stage for Bear Country’s singin’ cowboys and
square dancin’ gals. But the real entertainment was watching the startled faces
of the guys comin’ out of that men’s room, still busy hitchin’ up their jeans …
suddenly findin’ themselves on stage, smack dab in the middle of a show!

Over the years, [whatever the real cause was of the attendance
erosion that this part of Disneyland experienced] the problem would reveal
itself in the most concrete of terms: the guests simply stopped going to Bear
Country. By the end of the decade, it was obvious that something would have to
be done.

As earlier as June 1976, the folks who were in charge of Disneyland’s
long-range masterplan were discussing what could be done to compel Guests to
once again visit the Northwestern corner of this theme park. Among the ideas
that were discussed at this time was …

… the Keel Boats could be moved from their existing location
to the Bear Country expansion area removing some of the crowded conditions that
presently exist on the river at the Tom Sawyer-Fowler’s area. All of this could
be (done in a way to compliment) the general woodsy atmosphere of the existing
Bear County.

But in the end, relocating the Keel Boats (which was – after
all — a low capacity attraction) didn’t seem like it would drive nearly enough
Disneyland Guests back into Bear Country
to turn around this part of the Park’s low attendance problem. Which was why –
in January of 1982 – the Disneyland expansion committee began talking about
broadening and/or changing the overall theme of this “land” because …

… Bear Country (remains) a weak draw due to (its) limiting
theme and potential attractions based around it. A broader theme would balance
it more with Adventureland, Fantasyland, etc.

Which is why the Disneyland expansion committee began talking
about shifting Bear Country’s storyline, making this part of the Park a
celebration of …

… the deep South, Dixie, Kentucky home, Mark Twain.

Which – at first glance – may seem like a weird idea. But
let’s remember that Bear Country abutted The Haunted Mansion. Which – in turn –
was at the outer most edge of Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. So by turning Bear
Country into a nostalgic recreation of the rural south … Well, that would then
make this “land” …

… a logical outgrowth from the city and plantations (New
Orleans Square and The Haunted Mansion).

So with Tony Baxter helping to guide the development of this
Bear Country retheming, among the attractions that were proposed for this
Disneyland enhancement were a …

Song of the South log flume adventure utilizing many of the America
Sings critters as well as star characters from Mickey Mouse Revue.
(a theme park version of Hal Holbrook‘s acclaimed one-man-show) Mark Twain Tonight
using the front Country Bear Theatre. A Town Hall façade could
be added to the berm, where the overflow queue is. Thus two attractions could
be operated (inside of the) existing (structure).
(An) Aunt Polly’s (restaurant which would serve) country dinners
(out) on Polly’s porch. (This would involve a) complete restyle on the Hungry
Bear Restaurant.
Tom Sawyer’s Island rafts – new location in the woods at the
foot of Aunt Polly’s (replaces canoes)

By the time the Disneyland expansion committee reconvened
in February of 1982, Baxter and his team had further refined their ideas for
this proposed Bear Country redo. Among the ideas that were talked about at this
particular meeting was:

Transforming the ground-floor level of the Hungry Bear into a dinner /
entertainment venue like Pioneer Hall at WDW’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground.
Creating a “Fox and the Hound” -themed ride-through attraction where Guests
would board cars similar to the Model T that Amos Slade drove and then roll
past recreations of scenes from this 1981 Walt Disney Animation Studios production.

Adding a new show scene featuring Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn
to the Rivers of America which would then reinforce the new rural South theming
of Bear Country.

The only problem with this plan was that it was going to
take at least six months to develop. Plus an additional 15 months to produce
all of the necessary show elements as well as complete the on-site construction
phase. Now when you factor in the estimated costs of this retheming (which was reportedly
north of $30 million) as well as all of the other Disneyland projects that had to
take precedence (EX: New Fantasyland) … It was looking like the earliest that
this revised version of Bear Country could come on line was June of 1991. And
in the meantime, attendance levels for the Disneyland version of the “Country
Bear Jamboree” show continued to steadily erode month after month after month
…

Enter Dave Feiten and Michael Sprout, who – at that time – were newer, younger
members of the staff at WED. More importantly, these two had a very different
idea than Tony Baxter when it came to solving Disneyland’s Bear Country
problem.

As Sprout told Betsy Richman in an interview of the Winter 1985 issue of Disney
News magazine:

“(Dave and I) both really like Country Bear Jamboree, and
talking about it one day, we decided that those poor bears must get tired of
singing those same songs over and over. We decided to try our hand at developing
a concept for a new show that would place the bears in an entirely different
context.”

Feiten then elaborated on the approach that he and Sprout
took while developing their concept for a new Country Bear show:

“We treated the bears
as a repertory company, and wrote a new play for them. Costumes, scenery,
songs, dialogue and movement are the elements of the show, and once we changed
those, we had the equivalent of a skilled troupe of actors cast in a new play.
Each bear fit into his or her role so easily, it wasn’t hard to think of ways
that they’d talk, dress or sing in another environment.”

What happened next? Well, as Randy Bright recounted in “Disneyland Inside Story” …

… WDI creative chief Marty Sklar … reviewed some rough
sketches by two young animation programmers. Each sketch took a specific
Audio-Animatronic Country Bear performers and added new costumes, scenery,
songs and dialogue, all on the theme of Christmas. Could an existing facility
and a familiar set of characters be successfully transformed into an all-new
show? The sketches said yes …

Which is why Sklar put this rethemed Audio-Animatronic show
into production in late 1983. Sprout and Feiten worked very closely with George
Wilkins to create the music to “The Country Bear Special,” and – with the exception
of the traditional songs — the lyrics are the result of a close collaboration between
these three.

“The Country Bear Christmas
Special” opened on November 23, 1984 at Disneyland as well as WDW’s Magic
Kingdom and immediately became a hit with theme park visitors. So much so that
Sklar supposedly ordered Feiten & Sprout to write a second, more-long-lived
show for Grizzly Hall / Country Bear Playhouse. Which is why Dave & Michael reunited with
George to write the “Country Bear Vacation Hoedown” show, which premiered at
both theme parks in February of 1986.

What’s more, Feiten & Sprout also allegedly dummied up concepts
for Halloween & St. Valentine’s Day “Country Bear” shows which WDI was
thinking of putting into production. But then …

Well, the way I heard it, the classic traffic pattern at
Disneyland held. In that Guests would go to the new “Country Bear” show for the
first year or so, but then — after that — the attendance levels for this revamped
Bear Country attraction would steadily erode. That coupled with the fact that
it took the Imagineers three weeks and a reported $50,000 every time they
changed out this show … And you can see why the management team in Anaheim
quickly lost their enthusiasm for WDI’s let’s-seasonally-change-out-the-show-in-the-Country-Bear-Playhouse
idea.

In short, the folks at Disneyland were looking for a bigger, more permanent
solution to their Bear Country problem. Which is where “Splash Mountain” and
Critter Country came in.

Anyway … That’s the story of how the “Country Bear Christmas
Special” came to be. If you – like me – still miss this seasonal show (which
was last presented at Walt Disney World in 2005) … Well, there’s always Tokyo
Disneyland. Which is where the “Jingle Bell Jamboree” (i.e. that’s the name which
this Country Bear holiday show goes by at that theme park) has been presented seasonally
since 1988.

Beyond that … Well, I’m kind of hoping that – as part of the
history-of-the-Country-Bear-Jamboree presentation that he’s scheduled to give on
board the California Zephyr in March of next year as part of Roger Colton’s “Walt’s
Sierra Adventures” train excursion – David Feiten will talk about what the
Halloween & St. Valentine’s Day versions of Country Bear would have been
like.

So does anyone else out there have fond memories of the “Country
Bear Christmas Special?” I mean, I can’t be the only person who smiled whenever
he heard this exchange.

HENRY: I sure do enjoy singin’ with you, Teddi.
TEDDI: Why, thank you, Henry. Y’all
wanna come up and sign my cast?
HENRY: Soon as I can find a pen, I’ll be there.

Your thoughts?