“Howdy, folks, and welcome to this special Christmas celebration at the good old Country Bear Jamboree. The snow's softly falling, the stockings are hung and, coming from the kitchen, there's the sweet smell of turkey and yams.”
―Henry
The Country Bear Christmas Special is a special holiday edition of the Country Bear Jamboree attraction.
The show premiered at Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom in the winter of 1984, making it the first Disney attraction to ever receive a seasonal overlay. The show also debuted at Tokyo Disneyland as Jingle Bell Jamboree in 1988.
Because the show was a Christmas Special, the characters in the show were put into Christmas-themed outfits for their various acts.
Bears[]
Henry - He wears a gray top hat with a red trim and a light green scarf.
Liver-Lips McGrowl - He becomes an Elvis impersonator in this show, playing a Christmas tree-shaped guitar.
Wendell- He carries a squirrel gun, which he accidentally fires a couple of times throughout the show. During the finale, in particular, the gun firing knocks out all the lights in the theater, prompting Henry to tell Rufus to fix the lights. He wears a hunter's hat and jacket.
Teddi Barra - She holds a pair of skis, has a cast on her leg and is dressed in ski gear.
Ernest - He wears a beanie cap and sweater with a trim in the middle with reindeers. There's also a sled next to him.
Shaker - He wears a scarf and earmuffs and has white fur to resemble a polar bear. He is also joined by a penguin.
Trixie - She has a blue bow on her head, a blue tutu around her waist, a pair of skates hanging from her neck and holds a pair of mittens in one hand and a mistletoe in another.
Big Al- He's dressed as Baby New Year (sash and diapers (diapers only used in the U.S.version) and wears an icepack and a party hat on his head. A banner hangs above him.
Zeke - He wears a black hat with snow on top of it and a yellow scarf.
Zeb - He wears a bandana around his neck and a winter hat. His feet are in a hot bucket of water, due to having a cold, and sneezes several times throughout the show.
Ted - He wears a white vest and a red Santa Claus hat.
Fred - He wears blue jeans held up with red suspenders as well as a red Santa Claus hat and a green tie with a candy cane on it.
Tennessee - He wears a hunter's jacket and a red hat.
Baby Oscar - Oscar wears white earmuffs and red boots and holds a candy cane. His teddy bear has a tag with his name on it.
Rufus-Rufus is not a performer, but instead runs the projections and lights. He is never seen, but can be heard from time to time running backstage, constantly out of breath. Sometimes, he can be heard crashing into some offstage props.
Max- He has a small red light bulb sitting on his snout, making him look a bit like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
Melvin - He has lots of Christmas lights hanging on his antlers.
Sammy - He wears a piece of a Christmas leaf next to his right ear.
Penguin - A penguin sitting next to Shaker, he interacts with the bear during his appearances onstage. In the United States versions, the penguin is static and frozen in a block of ice, providing backup for Shaker by jingling some sleigh bells. In Tokyo Disneyland, however, the penguin is a fully animated Audio-Animatronic who talks about heading back to Antarctica for the holidays. He also joins in the finale, singing alongside Shaker and the other animals.
Show[]
The show includes many different traditional Christmas carols, more modern songs and original Christmas "bear-ols" all sung by the bears in a country twang.
The show begins as always with Buff, Max, and Melvin. As the three argue over who gets to sing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", Henry appears onstage and begins the show, welcoming guests to their holiday celebration.
What follows is basically a holiday-themed version of the original show.
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" - Melvin (sung in Japanese)
"Jingle Bells" - Henry and Gomer (sung in Japanese)
"Tracks in the Snow" - The 5 Bear Rugs and Henry (sung in Japanese)
"12 Days of Christmas (Oh What a Christmas)" - Wendell (sung in Japanese)
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Trixie (sung in English)
"Deck the Halls" - The 5 Bear Rugs (sung in Japanese)
"Rock and Roll Santa" - Liver Lips McGrowl and Gomer (sung in English)
"Blue Christmas" - Shaker (with his penguin named Webster) (sung in Japanese)
"Sleigh Ride" - The Sun Bonnets, Melvin, Buff and Max (sung in English)
"Hungry as a Bear" - Ernest and The 5 Bear Rugs (sung in Japanese)
"The Christmas Song" - Teddi Barra and Henry (sung in English)
"Auld Lang Syne" - Big Al (sung in English)
"Santa Claus is Coming to Town/ Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (extended from the American versions)/ Winter Wonderland" - Cast (except Ernest and Trixie) (First two songs sung in Japanese, last in English)
