What is up with Country Bears?

[lucygrace603]

I never said I was offended. I said I was shocked, as in surprised and unexpected. As I'd never been to the "show" before I never expected a song about blood or bears being turned on at a animatronic show at Disney, call me crazy. If we ever go again, and my daughter wanted to see it, of course I'd take her. She enjoyed it as I'm sure many little kids do.

 

[palavra]

Now, for some reason, POTC never bothers me. I guess the wenchin', swigin', and pig wallowin' seems more a fictionalized history whereas the Country Bears is an interpretation of a region of the US. Not sure why one bothers me and the other doesn't, but it does.

In actuality, the POTC storyline is not very fictionalized at all. For the record, I don't know of any region of the U.S. where Country Bears live

 

[goofyernmost]

Or at the very least...singing Country Bears. They are pretty scarce.

 

[a1tinkfans]

This was our first time going to the "show" and was shocked at some of the songs the bears sang. There's one w/the 3 girl bears and they sing how "every guy that turns them on, turns them down" then the bear on the left singing about blood. "Blood on the saddles, great big puddle of blood" What the heck?
Isn't this Disney? and a kids show? These things went over my 5 year olds head, but really what were they thinking?

I LOVE thjs attraction for this very reason, it is a classic and has not been "politically corrected" at least, not yet..............
I do understand what you mean about a young child, thankfully, it goes over their heads as they are so attracted by the "animals"

 

[sassyredhead]

In actuality, the POTC storyline is not very fictionalized at all. For the record, I don't know of any region of the U.S. where Country Bears live

Ha, ha! Maybe because I grew up going to Silver Dollar City and was forced to watch Yee Haw, I had no trouble picturing the "real" life inspirations for da Bears.

 

[dmccarty]

No offense, but I'm sure we are talking about little kids, not middle schoolers.

Any middle schooler who is offended by "Blood on the Saddle" or Country Bears in general must not get out much.

If they are young kids then they would not even remotely get the lyrics....

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

I'm convinced that if you try hard enough, you can probably find something to be offended about everywhere you go. If you're offended by the thought of a big, fat, robot bear....sorry -- an audio-animatronic bruin with a glandular disease -- singing a song about blood on a saddle, you'll probably want to skip the Aerosmith pre-show at RnRC.

I think you have to a certain younger age to get the RnRC gesture. That gesture seems to be from a generation younger than mine.

Tain't no way that gesture was an accident either.

Later,
Dan

 

[YodaGirl]

I think you have to a certain younger age to get the RnRC gesture. That gesture seems to be from a generation younger than mine.

Tain't no way that gesture was an accident either.

Later,
Dan

I haven't ridden RnRC since 04. I guess I missed the gesture.

So, now I've got to know...what is it?

 

[JoshuaShaw]

IDK this is mild compared to movies these days, first I thought the movie Ants was bad but Rango was horrible! A part in the movie a kid gets given a gun, he looked don the barrel says yep it's got a bullet and then points it at his head, then the mom and then puts it into his mouth! It was riddled with junk kids shouldn't see yet it was marketed towards them!

Rango is PG. What, exactly, about it necessitated a more severe rating?

Here's a handy guide to the Magic Kingdom for the more sensitive:

Main Street USA: Watch out, there are horse drawn carriages and horses tend to poop. You may see an anus when they lift their tail.

Adventureland: The Jungle Cruise makes light of cannibalism.
Pirates of the Carribean glorifies murderers and rapists, as well as showing depictions of torture and wenching.

Frontierland: Country Bear Jamboree is obviously little more than a carousing cabaret show. Also, there are mounted animal heads which allude to the killing of animals.
Splash Mountain is based on a Disney movie about a SLAVE. Slavery is awful and should never be acknowledged. Also, there are multiple shots of B'rer Bear's bare bottom.

Liberty Square: The Haunted Mansion depicts the occult without the grave implications such matters entail. It also makes light of murder.

Fantasyland: Snow White's Scary Adventures tells the story of a girl who's step-mother wants to cut her heart out. The protagonist of the ride ends up hanging out with a group of midgets, one of which is retarded and whom everyone makes fun of.
Peter Pan's Flight puts children in danger, as well as has violence and stereotyping of American Indians.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh tell the story of a glutton who eats too much honey and has highly hallucinogenic dreams, possibly induced by drug use.
It's a Small World is one giant tapestry of generalizations and stereotypes. Should possibly be renamed to It's a Small Xenophobic World.
Mickey's Philharmagic features no less than two female characters in very revealing clothing. I'm pretty sure a number of sex riots break out among the five-year-olds on a weekly basis.

Tomorrowland: There are no people of color in any of these attractions. I'm almost sure this is a statement by Disney that a great cleansing will occur and that we will live in a future utopia of white someday.

If any of these things offend you, I'd advise you skip a trip to Walt Disney World and stay home in your bubble.

 

[MommaMouse411]

its funny...I have debated about seeing this show...I never knew who these guys were until they were all out in frontierland and my son was like jamming with them...and I was like those are the ugliest bears I've ever seen...

OAN....alot of shows/movies are not entirely PC or just plain scary or even weird...especially how many of disney's movie the MOTHER IS A VILLAIN!!! or DEAD!!!

Anyone ever remember Tom & Jerry? I watched it as an adult and was like WOW this is racist! but I keep in mind that times were different in those days. JUst like someone said man, you can get offended over alot of things now a days. I just hope that I can teach my children to be respectful of all.

 

[DeluxePrincess]

I haven't ridden RnRC since 04. I guess I missed the gesture.

So, now I've got to know...what is it?

I just googled it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_'n'_Roller_Coaster_Starring_Aerosmith Look under history.

 

[Dayton Flyer]

Tain't no way that gesture was an accident either.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Where's Waldorf and Statler smilies when you need them?

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Any movie that they make toys is marketed for kids. When they get a toy in a happy meal advertising a film it's meant to draw kids into watching it. It's meant to be a family movie.

Wrong. There are movies that are not necessarily meant for kids, but still have merchandising agreements. Robocop, for example, had loads of toys. For a more recent example, just look at the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. Sure, lots of kids end up seeing it, but that doesn't mean it's necessarily for children.

In the case of Rango, I agree that it was marketed as a family movie. Where we differ, however, is that I didn't see anything so objectionable as to keep it from being a family movie. I thought it was a perfectly suitable movie for children to watch under the supervision of a parent.

 

[stargazertechie]

I think you have to a certain younger age to get the RnRC gesture. That gesture seems to be from a generation younger than mine.

Tain't no way that gesture was an accident either.

Later,
Dan

"That Gesture" is the Sign of the Horns/Rock on handsign. In pop culture, it is a symbol of rock music.

Not to be confused with the Shocker, which is, um... NOT family friendly.

 

[doconeill]

"That Gesture" is the Sign of the Horns/Rock on handsign. In pop culture, it is a symbol of rock music.

Not to be confused with the Shocker, which is, um... NOT family friendly.

There has been a lot of debate about what gesture he is making. It looks to me like he is only bending one finger, not two, which means it is not the Horns sign. I'm not sure it counts as a complete Shocker either though (from descriptions, really... )

 

[disneymegs]

Rango is PG. What, exactly, about it necessitated a more severe rating?

Here's a handy guide to the Magic Kingdom for the more sensitive:

Main Street USA: Watch out, there are horse drawn carriages and horses tend to poop. You may see an anus when they lift their tail.

Adventureland: The Jungle Cruise makes light of cannibalism.
Pirates of the Carribean glorifies murderers and rapists, as well as showing depictions of torture and wenching.

Frontierland: Country Bear Jamboree is obviously little more than a carousing cabaret show. Also, there are mounted animal heads which allude to the killing of animals.
Splash Mountain is based on a Disney movie about a SLAVE. Slavery is awful and should never be acknowledged. Also, there are multiple shots of B'rer Bear's bare bottom.

Liberty Square: The Haunted Mansion depicts the occult without the grave implications such matters entail. It also makes light of murder.

Fantasyland: Snow White's Scary Adventures tells the story of a girl who's step-mother wants to cut her heart out. The protagonist of the ride ends up hanging out with a group of midgets, one of which is retarded and whom everyone makes fun of.
Peter Pan's Flight puts children in danger, as well as has violence and stereotyping of American Indians.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh tell the story of a glutton who eats too much honey and has highly hallucinogenic dreams, possibly induced by drug use.
It's a Small World is one giant tapestry of generalizations and stereotypes. Should possibly be renamed to It's a Small Xenophobic World.
Mickey's Philharmagic features no less than two female characters in very revealing clothing. I'm pretty sure a number of sex riots break out among the five-year-olds on a weekly basis.

Tomorrowland: There are no people of color in any of these attractions. I'm almost sure this is a statement by Disney that a great cleansing will occur and that we will live in a future utopia of white someday.

If any of these things offend you, I'd advise you skip a trip to Walt Disney World and stay home in your bubble.

This is probably the best post I've ever read on the boards. Seriously, go back and watch every Disney movie you watched when you were little and see if you think the same things about it. I recently watched 101 Dalmations and just realized that Cruella DeVil was planning to skin the puppies alive. Back then it was cute puppies rolling in dirt. Am I offended by it now? Absolutely not.

 

[doconeill]

This is probably the best post I've ever read on the boards. Seriously, go back and watch every Disney movie you watched when you were little and see if you think the same things about it. I recently watched 101 Dalmations and just realized that Cruella DeVil was planning to skin the puppies alive. Back then it was cute puppies rolling in dirt. Am I offended by it now? Absolutely not.

Just to add to this...a lot of Disney movies are based on old fairy tales. The original fairy tales often did not end well...

 

[pumpkin7]

maybe it's because they've finally sorted out the audio in the country bears, and everyone can finally hear what they are singing!! lol.
i really love the country bears. i remember going to see them as a kid. i remember coming home and telling all my family that we'd seen a show of dancing and singing bears, and one of them even came down from the ceiling. it was only this trip that i really thought 'wow, is that what they're singing?' because i'd never paid much attention to it. now i come on these forums and it's bought up quite a lot.
what people need to remember is, what others have said, what things meant in the 1960's does not necesserally mean they have the same meaning today. it's a disney classic. obviously not everyone realises that it's a 40 year old show, but i'd be more interested in the animatronics than anything. can't be an easy task making a cast of bears sing and dance for 15 minutes!

Also, that's how I feel about Hunchback of Notre Dame. I rewatched it as an adult and said... "What?" Esmeralda on a pole... Frodo singing "Hellfire"... all very strange, also dark, for a kids movie. But oh well. The movie was one of my favorites as a kid and I have no bad memories of it. I probably didn't even realize.

i watched the hunchback of notre dame the other day for the first time in 10 years, and that song scared me a bit. it's a really, really dark song. of course i never picked up on it as a kid, but yeah, very deep song.

 

[dmoore22]

The Country Bear Jamboree is a WDW original (later duplicated at Disneyland and Tokyo) and is pretty much unchanged since opening day, October 1st, 1971.

It actually goes back further than that. It was originally intended for Disney's Mineral King Ski Resort that Walt Disney had began planning in the early 1960's. This project did not materialize. Walt gave the go ahead for the Country Bears a few days before he died December 15, 1966. The show was designed by imagineer Marc Davis. The original Mickey Mouse shorts used a great deal of "double meanings" designed for the adults and their children while still maintaining the blessings of the Hayes Code.

 

[pumpkin7]

OAN....alot of shows/movies are not entirely PC or just plain scary or even weird...especially how many of disney's movie the MOTHER IS A VILLAIN!!! or DEAD!!!

i've read in several Walt Disney books that the lack of a mother figure in a lot of his movies is tied in with the fact that he and his brother Roy blamed themselves for the death of their own mother. Walt and Roy bought their parents a house so they could live near to them, but a faulty gas furnace lead to Flora Disney being poisioned in her sleep. thankfully their father survived, but as Walt and Roy owned the house, and sent out several Disney engineers to fix the problem, they blamed themselves.

and it's usually a wicked step mother, not actual mother.