Walt Disney World And The Christmas Moose

Melvin the Moose loves Christmas at Walt Disney World in Florida.  It is the one time of year that he is not just a disembodied head.

In the Country Bear Jamboree, Melvin is an animatronic Moose head mounted on the wall.  For Miss Minnie's Country Christmas, Melvin gets his Christmas wish granted: he gets a body!

Fans of Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC may remember a very similar looking female character (without antlers) named Miss Moose.  She and Melvin should get together.

Vat vill ve get Moose and Squirrel---I mean Moose and Mouse---for Christmas?  Starring roles in a live show at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom during the holidays.

This show played at the Diamond Horseshoe in Frontierland in the late 1990s, not far from The Country Bear Jamboree.  Melvin previously headlined the Melvin the Moose Breakfast Show (as a head on the wall) at Pioneer Hall in Fort Wilderness (Walt Disney World's camping resort) in the late 1980s (the show later became "Chip and Dale's Country Morning Jamboree).

Walt Disney World is also famous for having a team of reindeer at Christmas, too.

These goofy characters are a holiday favorite.  At Disneyland in California, the reindeer got a makeover years ago, and they don't look as silly (they look more like Bambi now).

For more fun, check out Walt Disney World and Disneyland Christmas Characters.

Disney's Country Bear Jamboree At McDonald's

Back in 2002, Disney's Country Bears got stuffed at McDonald's all over the United States. They were part of a collection of eight Teddy Bears (including Ted Bedderhead, #7 in the series) used to promote the live action Country Bears movie.

The movie was loosely based on the long-running Country Bear Jamboree attraction that debuted in Frontierland at Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971. A new super-fan character named Beary Barrinson was introduced in the film.

With his tie-dyed t-shirt, you'd think that Beary would be more likely to follow the Grateful Dead Bears.

The most popular character from the Country Bear Jamboree is Big Al.

Like the plush Big Al that was sold for many years at Walt Disney World, the Happy Meal Toy Big Al (and all the other characters in the series) is a stuffed toy with a vinyl face.

I have to admit that I've never seen the Country Bears movie.

The Country Bears Happy Meal really stands out because the bears have some nice detail work and costumes for a fast-food premium.

In the Country Bear Jamboree, Henry is the host of the show, which stars Audio Animatronic (robotic) Bears.

In the movie, the Bears were actors in suits with animatronic faces, created by the Jim Henson puppet wizards.

The Country Bear Jamboree was so popular in Florida that a version was created for Disneyland in California (it opened in 1972 in a land called Bear Country, which became Critter Country when Splash Mountain opened in 1989). The Disneyland version closed down (it was replaced by a Winnie the Pooh ride) before the Country Bears movie hit theaters.

The Country Bear Jamboree also opened in Westernland at Tokyo Disneyland in 1983, and is still playing today (and in Japan, audiences get to see more than one show, including a Christmas Special during the holidays).

Trixie is one of the diva stars of the Country Bear Jamboree.

The show also stars a Mae West-type character named Teddi Berra. At Disneyland in California, visitors could visit "Teddi Berra's Swingin' Arcade," which featured unique games starring the Country Bears (like the show, the arcade is long gone).

The Country Bear Jamboree had cutting-edge technology when it debuted. However, even Disney has made fun of the show. Nobody can forget the "Lester's Possum Park" sequence of Disney's "A Goofy Movie" (1995).

Characters like Fred Bedderhead still have fans because bears, especially teddy bears, are extremely popular with collectors.

The Country Bear Jamboree characters were originally designed by Disney animation legend Marc Davis.

When the Country Bears movie was in theaters, I thought it could have been much more popular if it had been a computer animated film that used the original Marc Davis character designs---essentially bringing the robotic bears to life on the big screen.

The Country Bears have a groovy tour bus.

The Bus used to belong to The Partridge Family, until the Bears ate them.

The Country Bears tour was sponsored by Charmin, the company that shows us that bears do go in the woods.

The Country Bears refused to perform at Chuck E. Cheese.

Beary would like to see more of the Country Bears.

I bet Beary has a Country Bears website with fan art and fan fiction.

The Country Bears have also appeared in comic books, and I believe an animated series was planned at some point.

For more fun, check out Disney's Country Bears At Grizzly River Run In California Adventure.

Disney's Country Bears At Grizzly River Run In California Adventure

When I was a young kid, I was captivated by the advertisements for Grizzly River Rampage, a white water raft ride at the (closed) Opryland theme park in Nashville, Tennessee. Ads for the attraction featured a menacing Grizzly Bear trying to attack the boats. I finally got to visit the park and experience the ride when I was older, and discovered that the bear effect was not what I had imagined at all. It was a static figure in a tunnel. I don't think most people even knew it was there.

In October of 2008, I got to visit Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim. The park opened in 2001, and is located in what used to be Disneyland's massive parking lot. California Adventure's mascot (in the early days) was a Grizzly Bear. Items like this plush toy were available when the park first opened.


This appealing looking character tied in nicely with the park's logo, and Grizzly River Run, California Adventure's white water rapids ride.

Because of my childhood interest in Grizzly River Rampage at Opryland, I was eager to visit Grizzly River Run, even though it was kind of chilly during my October visit (ironically, my Opryland visit was in September of 1985, not the ideal time to go on a raft ride).



As theme park raft rides go, Grizzly River Run is among the nicest I've seen.


Grizzly River Run is lush, with a cool drop and a nice observation area. I also liked the Grizzly Bear statue at the entrance.

Grizzly River Run would have been even nicer if they had some bear figures near the flume. I know there were some animated bears seen on Walt Disney's old Mine Train Through Nature's Wonderland at Disneyland, just as there are animated animals featured in that attraction's replacement, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


Maybe they could have modeled the bears after the California Adventure merchandise.

In 2002, Walt Disney Pictures released a live action movie based on Disney's Country Bear Jamboree attraction. I have to admit that I've never seen this movie, which featured animated bear puppet costumes created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

The Disney Catalog had some great Country Bear movie plush toys that look similar to Disney's California Adventure Grizzly Bear merchandise.

Yes, these are the bears I used for my Country Bears version of Grizzly River Run. The Beary character was created for the movie. Here we see Trixie, too (she looks more like the show's Teddi Barra character here).

Disney's Country Bear Jamboree made its debut at Walt Disney World in Florida in 1971, in Frontierland at the Magic Kingdom.

Many Walt Disney World (and Disneyland) visitors probably remember seeing Big Al plush toys. They stood out because they had plastic faces!


The Country Bear Jamboree proved to be popular in Florida, and was imported to Disneyland in California in 1972 (it also opened at Tokyo Disneyland when that park debuted in 1983).

The Country Bears got their own land in Disneyland called Bear Country.

In 1984, the Bears started performing "The Country Bear Christmas Special" during the holidays.

In 1986, the Bears got a new show with some new characters called "The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown."

When Splash Mountain debuted at Disneyland in 1989, the land was renamed Critter Country, since all sorts of animals could be found on the park's new water flume attraction.


Critter Country also featured the unique Teddi Barra's Swinging Arcade, which had Country Bear themed games. The Hungry Bear Restaurant is one of the most serene eating locations to be found at Disneyland.

Disneyland had some nice Country Bear Jamboree bean bags during the beanie craze of the late 1990s.


Henry is the Master of Ceremonies for the Country Bears. In the original show, a raccoon pops out of his hat. For the Vacation Hoedown, it is a skunk.

I think Zeke is my favorite of this set.


The costumes that Liverlips and Big Al are wearing appear to be from the Vacation Hoedown show.


In 2001, The Country Bears were evicted from Disneyland. Another bear, Winnie the Pooh, got his own dark ride in the former Country Bear Playhouse. Max (a stag head), Melvin (a moose head) and Buff (a buffalo head) from the Country Bear show make a cameo appearance in the Winnie the Pooh ride.

Since the Country Bears are no longer at Disneyland, I think it would be a nice homage to have them at Grizzly River Run in California Adventure. They could be simple, semi-realistic bears wearing clothes. They wouldn't have to talk or sing. They could be atmosphere characters (which would be great at the attraction's observation spots) like the animated figures on The Jungle Cruise or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.


This Big Al Bobblehead from Walt Disney World nods in agreement with me.