What is up with Country Bears?

[doconeill]

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.

See my post a couple of posts later... Yes, it was designed originally for the ski resort, but it was built for WDW. Thus, making it a WDW original.

 

[JimmyV]

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. Don't forget about the hero worship of a sexually androgenous main character.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.

A good start, but you missed a few:
Dumbo-Wild animals are captured and forced to live in captivity, exploited for the amusement of humans. Come and board one of these tortured animals for the ride of your life.

Mad Tea Party Politically incorrect use of a derogatory term for those with bi-polar disorder. And the entire attraction derives from the drug induced dream of the main character. Take a spin and you too can feel the effects of a halucinogen.

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad White Americans wreak environmental havoc on sacred Native American territory, strip mining it and abandoning the site without implementing proper mine closure procedures. Come and ride what the miners have left behind.

Stitch's Great Escape Come watch as scientists conduct mortifying experiments on helpless animals and aliens. Make sure that the mascara you are wearing was tested on rabbits!

 

[southern_belle21]

I was at MK for EMH. The last Country Bears show was shortly before Midnight. I went in, and it was only me. No one else. I told the CM I would leave and he could shut it down early. He insisted I stay and he put me front and center, and told me I could take all the pictures I wanted. He sat next to me and we talked in-depth about the show and the characters. It was pretty cool to have a showing just for me. Like a VIP!

This is so cool! I'd love to have this experience! As to the topic at hand: Well I've grown up seeing the show both at Disneyland as a child, and at WDW. I remember the first time I was old enough to realize what was going on, and when Big Al came out singing "Blood on the Saddle" by bff and I almost died laughing! We thought it was the funniest thing we'd ever heard! That they were making fun of old country western songs and such. Since then I've taken other people with me to see it, including a good friend and her two young children (ages 2 and 5) and they thought it was silly too. I guess I've never once thought that anything at Disney parks could be offensive, since Disney does SUCH a tedious job of trying to appeal to everyone's expectations, and does such a great job of keeping everything as family friendly as possible. Actually, myself, and many of my family and friends who remember seeing Alien Encounter (when I was a senior in HS) are so very disappointed that it was re-done that we still talk about it! That ride scared the CRAP out of us!!! (oh sorry, I didn't mean to say crap on here) but we LOVED IT!!! It was so amazing! We've done Stitch's Great Escape once and said it was so lame we were never doing it again. It's so very sad to me that things like that change when they were some of the most imaginative concepts out there. As for whenever my DH and I have kids...let's just say that after reading though some of the posts on this thread, I'm terrified to be a parent lol. How in the world do you know what is considered 'good parenting' today? I mean, there's so much that you have to be so careful of that I don't think there is ANY possible way that I ever will be able to! It makes me shudder to think of all the 'dos' and 'don'ts' that I'll have to face whenever we do become parents. Pretty frightening! But I WILL definitely be taking my kids to see EVERY LAST THING in MK and all the other Disney parks possible. I'd much rather have them there listening and watching shows and such, than all the other places they could be, watching who know's what.

 

[southern_belle21]

Oh and btw, I wish there was a 'like' button on here for posts. Yeah, guess I'm a facebook junkie lol But it would be great!

 

[Giddychilde]

No one's mentioned the anti-feminist nature of many Disney films either! If your going to go, go all out.

 

[k5thbeatle]

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?

"Shocked", really shocked?
You're kidding right? Please tell me you are kidding.

 

[PaulalovesDisney]

OK, so I'm revealing my age here, but I love the Country Bears! When I was a kid my parents got me a Disneyland album with all of the songs on it and my favorite one was Blood on the Saddle. I sang it all the time and I still sing the songs to myself when we're at WDW. I miss it at DL - we go there more often b/c we're so much closer. Can't wait to see Country Bears in a couple of weeks, LOL!

 

[goofyernmost]

As for whenever my DH and I have kids...let's just say that after reading though some of the posts on this thread, I'm terrified to be a parent lol. How in the world do you know what is considered 'good parenting' today? I mean, there's so much that you have to be so careful of that I don't think there is ANY possible way that I ever will be able to! It makes me shudder to think of all the 'dos' and 'don'ts' that I'll have to face whenever we do become parents. Pretty frightening! But I WILL definitely be taking my kids to see EVERY LAST THING in MK and all the other Disney parks possible. I'd much rather have them there listening and watching shows and such, than all the other places they could be, watching who know's what.

To be honest here...parenting isn't all that hard. One just has to realize that the world is out there and they cannot be sheltered from it no matter how hard one tries. All you can do is set the example. If you see, for example, that Country Bears is funny and not offensive...that is what they will see. They will not be scarred or traumatized by it. They will not turn into loose women or violent men because of it. They will learn to differentiate real life from showmanship. All it takes is level headed guidance. Alarmist, righteous reactions are what will do them harm. If they cannot see the difference between make believe or reality, it will be a tough life for sure.

 

[dilligaf212]

Oh and btw, I wish there was a 'like' button on here for posts. Yeah, guess I'm a facebook junkie lol But it would be great!

 

[PaulalovesDisney]

i was at mk for emh. The last country bears show was shortly before midnight. I went in, and it was only me. No one else. I told the cm i would leave and he could shut it down early. He insisted i stay and he put me front and center, and told me i could take all the pictures i wanted. He sat next to me and we talked in-depth about the show and the characters. It was pretty cool to have a showing just for me. Like a vip! Princess:

so awesome!!!

 

[TexasErin]

We saw it once and didn't care for it.....but I don't think DS-8 has seen it, since we haven't gone to it in so long. I figure we're about due to go back to it, so DS can see it. Hopefully, we'll be good for a few years- not really my favorite, but to each his own, right? The only things that I really remember about it is the blood in the saddle song, which I just thought was kind of gross and depressing for some reason, and the fact that it's not my cup of tea.......

 

[Babbletrish]

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.

Yeah... Okay. (I really didn't want to have this argument tonight, but you've hit one of my buttons.)

Movies, Etc. That Have Toys: "The Punisher", "Ghost Rider", "Blade", "Nightmare on Elm Street", "Friday the Thirteenth" (these last two also have child-sized Halloween costumes, though to be fair I have a problem with this too), "The Dark Knight", "Alien", "Predator", "Robocop", "Rambo", "Starship Troopers" for goodness sake, "Terminator 2", "Austin Powers", "Mortal Kombat", and -uh- "Rango".

In short, just because it has an action figure or cute plushie or whatever does not instantly mean it is meant to be for children. Please stop hyperventilating and let us *adults* enjoy our Johnnie Depp spaghetti western chameleon movie.

/ Is seriously afraid that some of the posters here would get a nosebleed within five feet of the "Adult Animation" section of... OK, my neighborhood Blockbuster is closed down, but you get the idea, I hope.

 

[Babbletrish]

To be honest here...parenting isn't all that hard. One just has to realize that the world is out there and they cannot be sheltered from it no matter how hard one tries. All you can do is set the example. If you see, for example, that Country Bears is funny and not offensive...that is what they will see. They will not be scarred or traumatized by it. They will not turn into loose women or violent men because of it. They will learn to differentiate real life from showmanship. All it takes is level headed guidance. Alarmist, righteous reactions are what will do them harm. If they cannot see the difference between make believe or reality, it will be a tough life for sure.

^^ This. This. A million-billion-trillion times this.

I keep flashing back to one of the greatest "Bloom County" strips of all time. Made in approximately 1983 and (sadly) still relevant (sorry for the tiny scan though):

 

[Babbletrish]

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?

Playing devil's advocate here for a second, as this just hit me.

I'm betting this is the old "hey, this song has a good beat and is popular with the young people, who cares what the words are" train of thought that led to such madness as "Semi-Charmed Life" being used in a trailer for "The Tigger Movie", "Lust for Life" being used to advertise Carnival Cruises, and (my favorite) a baby Emperor Penguin singing Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" in "Happy Feet".

(And, really, ALL of "Happy Feet". All of it. But seriously, where in the world does a baby penguin get the very concept of a jungle, urban or otherwise, anyway?)

/ Argh, third post in a row, I'm sorry.

 

[Kona65]

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 see no problem with the show. Its all in good humor.

 

[DCTooTall]

Come on people, why hasn't anybody realized what the song is really about?


"Every man who turns me on, turns me down...."


Obviously every guy who powers up the show (they ARE audioanimatronics after all), turns them down. nothing dirty about that at all!

 

[Pinocchio #1 Fan]

I love the Country Bears, and find it hard to believe this thread even exists. When I was 6, I had the album to the Country Bear Jamboree, and could do the entire show from memory when we had company. I don't think I'm any worse for singing a song about blood.

 

[Hoopfamily]

I love the show, It's hilarious.

 

[Twirly41]

Come on .... these songs are simply poking fun at country and western songs. The world is getting too PC for their own good. It's funny we worry about simple things like this, but see no harm in our kids watching what they do in the movies and on tv - even commercials are getting to the point they have to use sex to sell toilet paper. If attractions offend you .. don't see them. That's why so many things are being changed - we don't want to offend anyone. If something offends me ... I don't look ... or change the channel. Someone mentioned POTC .... "We wants the redhead." What exactly did you think they meant by that statement???

 

[bluejasmine]

LOL I alway thought it was a bit off..but funny.. I really dont care for the attraction and skip it unless my DS17 is with me, for some reason he loves it!