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Country Bear Vacation Hoedown

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The Country Bear Vacation Hoedown was an attraction created due to the overwhelming popularity of The Country Bear Jamboree. In Disneyland, it opened in February 1986 replacing the original show. That May, the Disney World version followed suit. It remained at Disney World until February 1992 when the original show returned. At Disneyland however, the Hoedown remained until the Country Bear Playhouse closed forever on September 9th, 2001.

On July 15th, 1994, the show opened at Tokyo Disneyland as Vacation Jamboree. Out of the three shows, it features the most differences between the US and Japanese versions. Several of the songs are different, and there is more dialog from Henry.

Characters

Because the show was a Vacation Hoedown, the characters in the show were put into vacation outfits for their various acts.

Note: This page describes ONLY the special vacation costumes of the characters. For information on how the characters appear in their normal show and the many voice actors that bring them to life, please consult the Country Bear Jamboree page.

The Bears

Henry- The "ringmaster" of the show, Henry is a welcoming and friendly brown bear. He wears his old "Camp Grizzly" t-shirt (which barely fits him) and a scout master's hat. In some part of the show, he plays a yellow guitar. Like in the original show, he is voiced by Pete Renaday.

Liver Lips McGrowl- He's perhaps the funniest-looking bear. He's a brown bear who gets his name from his very large lips. He becomes an Elvis impersonator in this show, appearing as a mountain climber wearing an Elvis-style shirt with a blue lederhosen. He plays a Fender stratocaster guitar with a strap and a portable amplifier. In this show, he is voiced by Dave Durham.

Wendell- He's a brown bear with a massive overbite and buck teeth. He wears a vacation shirt and hat and carries a camera, which he takes a couple of flash pictures with. In this show, he is voiced by Dave Durham.

Teddi Berra- She's a unique bear because she never appears onstage. Instead, she descends from a hole in the ceiling on her swing. She's a brown bear who wears a yellow raincoat and galoshes and holds an umbrella. She is voiced by Genia Fuller.

Ernest- He's a brown bear who plays the fiddle. He wears his old derby from the original show and a stripped shirt. He even uses a fly swatter as a bow for his fiddle. He's voiced by Mike Weston.

Terrence- He's a tall bear with tan fur who plays a guitar. In this show, he wears a blue scuba mask and snorkel and blue trunks. Seaweed is around him. He's also accompanied by his octopus "girlfriend," Delores. He's voiced by Harry Middlebrooks.

Trixie- She's a very large brown bear who holds a napkin in one hand and a sandwich in the other. She wears a pink skirt with butterflies on it and a hat. She is voiced by Suzanne Sherwin.

Big Al- He's the fattest bear. He's grey with a light grey belly and plays a guitar with his name on it. In this show, he wears a plaid flannel shirt with a miner's hat and camping gear. His voice is provided by Peter Klimes.

The Sun Bonnet Trio

  • Bunny- She stands in the center of the stage. Because she and her sisters are triplets, they all have brown fur. She wears a two-piece sailor-inspired swimsuit. She's voiced by Dianne Michelle.
  • Bubbles- She stands to the audience's left, between Gomer and Bunny. She wears a one-piece, white swimsuit covered in red hearts, a red towel and heart-shaped sunglasses. She's voiced by Lori Johnson.
  • Beulah- She stands to the audience's right. She wears a pink floral bikini. She's voiced by Holaday Mason.

Gomer- He never sings, but instead plays his piano, which has a clam and a pineapple on top of it and fishing net thrown over it. He is considered as Henry's right-hand bear. He's tall, brown and wears a pink Hawaiian shirt, a lei and a straw hat.

The Five Bear Rugs

  • Zeke- Considered the leader of The Five Bear Rugs, he plays a banjo and taps on a dishpan with "a real ol' country beat". He is a gray bear with glasses who wears a fishing vest and hat. He's voiced by Harry Middlebrooks.
  • Zeb- He's a brown bear with a light brown stomach who plays the fiddle. He wears a fishing hat, brown boots and a white t-shirt with Binoculars. He is voiced by Curt Wilson (speaking) and Rod Burton (singing).
  • Ted- He's a tall, skinny brown bear who blows on the corn jug and plays the washboard. He's completely naked in this show, wearing only a raccoon hat and camping gear.
  • Fred- The biggest of The Five Bear Rugs, he ironically plays the smallest instrument: the mouth harp. He has brown fur and wears a green bandanna, a raccoon hat, blue jeans with suspenders and camping gear.
  • Tennessee- He plays the "thang", which has only one string. He has brown fur and wears a fishing hat and a Hawaiian vest. His now-deep voice is provided by Lee Dresser.

Baby Oscar- He's a brown bear who appears with The Five Bear Rugs, but plays no instrument. He wears a Boy Scout uniform and always has his teddy bear to keep him company.

Rufus- Rufus is never seen, but only heard in the projection booth as he runs here and there to fix light bulbs, change projections, alter backdrops, etc. He can be heard from time to time running backstage, constantly out of breath.

Other Animals

Buff-Buff is considered the leader of the animal heads and is also the largest. He is the head portion of a buffalo, wears a fisherman's hat and is voiced by Disney legend Thurl Ravenscroft.

Max-Max is the head portion of a stag. In this show, he wears a green baseball cap. He's voiced by Mike West.

Melvin-Melvin, a moose head, is the Dopey of the animal head trio. He often makes good-natured jokes and, in this show, he has lots of assorted hats, most of which are hanging on his antlers as if they were hat racks. He's voiced by Frank Welker.

Randy-Randy, a skunk who loves to sing and tap dance, appears in this version of the show in place of Sammy the Raccoon. He keeps breaking into the backstage. At various times throughout the show, the bears can be heard offstage running here and there, trying to get away from him. In the finale, he manages to get on to the top of Henry's hat and finally reveals that he only wanted to break into show business with the bears. He's voiced by Frank Welker.

The Show

This special variation of the classic show features the Country Bears celebrating the many joys of summer and the great outdoors. Its opening is different from the other shows because Max, Buff, and Melvin do not talk at the beginning Instead, the 5 Bear Rugs can be heard tuning up their instruments. Zeke calls for Rufus to turn on the lights, and then the show begins with "The Great Outdoors". In the Japanese Version however, instead of hearing the 5 Bear Rugs tune up, Max, Buff & Melvin continue the trend of having the first bit of dialogue (although it's in Japanese)

The Songs

Disneyland/Disney World Versions:

Tokyo Disneyland Version:

  • "The Great Outdoors" - The 5 Bear Rugs and Henry (sung in Japanese)
  • "On the Road Again" - Wendell (sung in Japanese)
  • "Achy Breaky Heart" - Trixie (Verses 1 &3 in Japanese and verse 2 in English)
  • "Over My Head Over You" - Terrence (with Dolores the octopus)(sung in Japanese) Note: This song was originally going to be used in the US version, before "Two Different Worlds" was decided upon.
  • "California Bears" - The Sun Bonnets, Gomer, Max, Buff, and Melvin (sung in English but abbreviated from the U.S. version)
  • "We Can Make It To the Top" - Liver Lips McGrowl and The Sun Bonnets (sung in English)
  • "Singin' In the Rain" - Teddi Barra and Henry (sung in English)
  • "Mountain Music" - Ernest the Dude, Henry and The 5 Bear Rugs (sung in Japanese)
  • "I've Been Working on the Railroad" - Big Al (sung in Japanese)
  • "Camptown Races / She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain / Vacation" - Cast (sung in Japanese)

References

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