The Country Bears
by Peter Hastings
List Price:
Our Price: $2.97
You Save: $12.02 (80%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.76 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Brad Garrett, Candy Ford, Diedrich Bader, Haley Joel Osment, James GammonDirector: Peter Hastings
Brand: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Cinematographer: Mitchell Amundsen
Editor: George Bowers
Editor: Seth Flaum
Producer: Andrew Gunn
Producer: Jeffrey Chernov
Producer: John G. Scotti
Writer: Mark Perez
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Live, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 88 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-12-17
Audience Rating: G (General Audience)
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Closed-captioned; Color; Dolby; DVD; Full Screen; Live; NTSC
DVD Reviews of The Country Bears
DVD Review: More "Blues Brothers" than "Frontierland"
Summary: 2 Stars
When Beary Barrington, a 4th Grader who also happens to be a bear cub, discovers the humans he lives with are not his biological family but instead adopted him when he was small, he decides to go out and find his place in the world. Beary also happens to be the biggest fan ever of the legendary `70s rock band, "The Country Bears," and his pilgrimage to find a place where he fits in leads him right to "Country Bear Hall," a down-home music hall where the Bears first got their start. When Beary arrives, he quickly finds that Country Bear Hall is in dire straits. The bear that runs the place, Henry, is in the midst of chasing off the dastardly Reed Thimple (Christopher Walken), who is planning to foreclose on and tear down Country Bear Hall if Henry and caretaker Big Al can't raise some big money fast. After getting the grand tour from Henry for 25 cents, Beary suggests they work together to reunite the broken up Country Bears band for a concert to save Country Bear Hall. With no other options, Henry agrees, and he and Beary, along with their human friend Roadie and his sidekick, Mr. Chicken, pile into the Country Bears tour bus and hit the road to find their estranged friends. Reuniting a legendary rock band is no simple task, however, as Beary and Henry quickly learn, and the two dimwitted cops Beary's distressed human parents have sent searching for the little runaway don't make things any easier!
Disney's 2002 theatrical flop, "The Country Bears," is supposedly based on Walt Disney World's beloved "Country Bear Jamboree" animatronic stage show attraction. I say "supposedly" because the film has so very little in common with the stage show. The two could practically be considered unrelated if it weren't for the title and the names of the bears involved, along with the use of the Country Bear Hall. Many characters from the stage show aren't even in the film, the ones that are there are barely recognizable, and the music style (not to mention the myriad of cameo appearances) is all wrong! Anyone seeing this movie because they are a fan of the theme park attraction will likely be very disappointed. In the show, the bears are animatronic, have cartoonish features but are very "alive" looking, and most aren't that large. In the film they are people in massive suits with the same Jim Henson technology seen in the "Dinosaurs" TV series and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle films. Fine technology, but why change things so much? The look of the bears in the show is much more appealing and could easily have been done with animatronics, CGI, or an entirely traditionally animated film. Also, the original Country Bears show is a down-home musical revue type show, it's very much old-fashioned country music, and it's very "hillbilly." It is most definitely not 70's rock. As much as I love '70's rock, it is NOT what the Country Bears are known for.
Is this a good movie? Well, not really, though it's still possible to enjoy it. As I said, it's supposed to be based on the theme park attraction, but in that regard it fails miserably. It's also supposed to be a satire on `70's country-sounding rock bands like "The Eagles" (MY favorite band) and movies about getting such bands back together. It does a decent job on the first part, but just seems like a carbon copy in the latter. Similarities between "The Country Bears" and the two "Blues Brothers" movies are striking. And since there aren't enough strong jokes, it seems more like a rip-off than a satire/spoof. What's worse, the musical numbers by two female stars are such bad choices that they make "Country Bears" look like an EXTREMELY low-budget rip-off. Where "Blues Brothers" had performances by Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, "Country Bears" had performances by two female singers I'd never even heard of (and still haven't), and the first was a song totally mismatched with the movie. Surprisingly, Don Henley and Bonnie Raitt actually perform one song, but only as the singing voices of two of the bears. They then appear in cameos as two bar patrons watching the duet. These are the folks that should be performing WITH the bears, a la "The Blues Brothers," not folks we've never even heard of! In the musical highlight of the film, we at least do get to see a great musical duel between a bear named Zeb and the great Brian Setzer. Other appearances were from the likes of Queen Latifah, Elton John, and random celebs like that. Still, I was left wondering why this "Country Bears" movie didn't have many big names from the world of country music. Willie Nelson, the type of celeb that should have been filling up this flick, had a cameo that lasted like 2 seconds. This movie should have had appearances from the likes of Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Randy Travis, anybody from HeeHaw that might still be alive, and the Blue Collar Comedy guys. I guess I just can't shake the knowledge that a true "Country Bears" movie should be more Li'l Abner than "The Muppet Blues Brothers."
So, I said it was possible to enjoy this movie, and you are probably wondering, "How?" Well, you will have to cringe through at least one musical number (that first one I warned you about), and probably every time someone mentions "getting the band back together." But, if you are a fan of classic rock bands (especially "The Eagles") and can lose yourself in the film's goofy humor that is sporadically successful, the likes of Christopher Walken, Diedrich Bader, and the very talented voice cast might allow you to have a passably good time. That is, if you can get past the fact that this movie throws almost every aspect of the theme park attraction out the window for the most part. Much of the Bears' music is pretty good, and that helps greatly. Plus, the bears are fun to look at, though not as much as the theme park originals. The film works somewhat as a road-trip movie, though a completely unoriginal one disguised as a rock `n' roll movie satire based on a Magic Kingdom country music show. Bottom-line, it's a fairly bad movie, and not so bad it's good, but it's fair enough to be mildly entertaining. The DVD is nicely accompanied with some meaty extras, such as two television programs made to promote the movie: "The Country Bears: Out of the Woods Mockumentary," and "The Country Bears Concert for America." Both are very good companions to the film, as they add to the illusion that the Country Bears were once a famous, legendary `70's rock band. There's a rather funny commentary track with the director and two of the bears (one is Diedrich Bader's voice, who never fails to crack me up), though this commentary is purely for entertainment purposes only and not truly informative. There's also a music video editing game, a sing along option for the film, and a Krystal music video (though this is mostly seen in the film and is the very musical number I have mentioned as completely out of place in the film). With all those extras, it's surprising the film is currently only available in fullscreen.
Now, I can't recommend this film to the general public. All I can say is that if you like family films, especially Disney ones, then you might be able to squeeze some enjoyment out of this one. This is especially possible if you are a classic rock/southern rock fan and if you can accept that it mostly disregards the theme park attraction it is named for. Some would readily use this film as an example of why movies based on theme park attractions are a bad idea. Ha, a lot of those same people still flock to the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies though. Frankly, I also rather enjoyed "Haunted Mansion" and the made for TV "Tower of Terror," silly as it was. The fact is, it's all in how you make it. A truly great Country Bears film is not impossible; one that truly IS based on the theme park attraction in every way. Disney could have made a wonderful animated film based on the Country Bear Jamboree, sticking to the theme of a group of musical, hillbilly bears that like to put on shows in their woodsy music hall for any tourists that might happen by. They could have used all the characters from the show and designed them to look and sound much as they always have. Perhaps they could have even used some of the songs from the show too. Sadly, that will probably never happen now that the 2002 film has come and gone with only a whimper.
Description of The Country Bears
Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/01/2006 Run time: 88 minutesBestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
The Shaggy DogBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2006-08-01; Published: 2006-08-01; DVD
Best price: $3.25
Price in other shops:
Ice Princess (Full Screen Edition)Buena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2005-07-19; DVD
Best price: $4.47
Price in other shops:
Mighty Joe YoungDIS; Release date: 1999-03-23; DVD
Best price: $5.58
Price in other shops:
Open Season 2Sony Pictures; Release date: 2009-01-27; Published: 2009-01-01; DVD
Best price: $4.24
Price in other shops:
Inspector GadgetBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-06-03; DVD
Best price: $2.85
Price in other shops:
ValiantBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2005-12-13; Published: 2005-12-01; DVD
Best price: $7.99
Price in other shops:
Confessions of a Teenage Drama QueenDisney; Release date: 2004-07-20; DVD
Best price: $3.71
Price in other shops:
Inspector Gadget 2Walt Disney Video; Release date: 2003-03-11; Published: 2003-03-01; DVD
Best price: $2.49
Price in other shops:
The Country BearsRelease date: 2002-07-23; Music CD
Best price: $89.99
Brother Bear (Two-Disc Special Edition)Disney; Release date: 2004-03-30; Published: 2004-03-01; DVD
Best price: $7.98
Price in other shops: