Changes: The Country Bears

Released	2002
Duration	88 min.
Director	Peter Hastings
Written by	Mark Perez
Music	Christopher Young
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures
Rated	G

Revision as of 03:31, 25 February 2019

Brian Henson Country Bear exhibit — Brian Henson at an exhibit.

The Country Bears is a 2002 feature film from Walt Disney Pictures. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the animatronic Bears used for the film, which were performed by Henson puppeteers/suit performers.

Based on an attraction at Walt Disney World (and formerly Disneyland), the Country Bear Jamboree, The Country Bears was the first in a series of attraction-based movies which include The Haunted Mansion, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. It is also one in a long line of live action Disney family films. The movie is a satire of Behind the Music rock & roll bands. Beary, a young bear raised by a human family in a world where humans and talking bears coexist, attempts to trace his roots. He meets up with the Country Bears, a long-since broken-up band, a parody of bands like the Eagles. Beary helps the Country Bears reunite for one final concert, while searching for who he truly is.

Unlike Disney animation, where the stars' voices are recorded first, it was the puppeteers who worked closely with the director and it was their voices that were captured during the entire shoot as they operated the animatronic heads. This gave the Bears the ability to improv and be directed as on-set performers. The stars' voices were recorded later.

For the movie's premiere at the El Capitan in Hollywood, the Bears performed a live rock concert (The Country Bears Live). And for a limited run, they performed before showings of the film. This was done to a pre-recorded track, with animatronic puppeteers operating the faces on the side of the stage.

A few of the puppeteers had cameos in this film. Julianne Buescher, Jodi St. Michael, and Terri Hardin were in the Swarmin Hive Honey Bar (Buescher was a waitress and St. Michael had a tattoo of Tennessee on his arm, painted by Buescher). Brian La Rosa, along with his wife Bess, were a patrons at Trixie's nightclub.

Cast

Beary Barrington

Alice Dinnean - Puppeteer
Misty Rosas - Suit Performer
Haley Joel Osment - Voice
E.G. Daily - Singing voice

Tennessee O'Neal

Julianne Buescher - Puppeteer
Jodi St. Michael - Suit Performer
Toby Huss - Voice
Don Henley - Singing voice (and as himself)

Ted Bedderhead

Michelan Sisti - Puppeteer
Brian La Rosa - Suit Performer
Diedrich Bader - Voice (and as Officer Cheets)

Zeb Zoober

John Kennedy - Puppeteer
Tony Sabin Prince - Suit Performer
Stephen Root - Voice

Fred Bedderhead

Allan Trautman - Puppeteer
Kaepan Shaw - Suit Performer
Brad Garrett - Voice

Henry Dixon Taylor

Bruce Lanoil - Puppeteer
Tom Fisher - Suit Performer
Kevin Michael Richardson - Voice

Trixie St. Clair

Terri Hardin - Puppeteer
Candy Ford - Voice
Bonnie Raitt - Singing voice (and as herself)

Big Al

Terri Hardin - Puppeteer
John Alexander - Suit Performer
James Gammon - Voice

Additional Cast

Christopher Walken - Reed Thimple
Stephen Tobolowsky - Norbert Barrington
Daryl Mitchell - Officer Hamm
M.C. Gainey - Roadie
Alex Rocco - Rip Holland
Meagen Fay - Mrs. Barrington
Eli Marienthal - Dex Barrington
Elton John - Himself
Willie Nelson - Himself
Queen Latifah - Cha Cha
Brian Setzer - Himself

Crew

Director: Peter Hastings
Writter: Mark Perez
Producers: Jeffrey Chernov, Andrew Gunn and John G. Scotti
Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen
Film Editing: George Bowers, Seth Flaum and Dean Holland
Casting: Ruth Lambert
Production Design: Dan Bishop
Art Direction: Maria L. Baker
Set Decoration: Kathe Klopp
Costume Design: Genevieve Tyrrell

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 [[Image:CountryBears.jpg|thumb|300px]]
-{{movie|date=[[2002]]|runtime=88 min.|director=[[Peter Hastings]]|writer= [[Mark Perez]]|composer=[[Christopher Young]]|studio=[[Walt Disney Pictures]]|rating=G}}
+{{movie|date=[[2002]]|runtime=88 min.|director=Peter Hastings|writer=Mark Perez|composer=Christopher Young|studio=[[Walt Disney Pictures]]|rating=G}}
 [[Image:CountryBears2.jpg|thumb|300px]]
+[[Image:TED_B.jpg|thumb|300px|Ted Bedderhead]]
+[[File:Brian Henson Country Bear exhibit.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Brian Henson]] at an exhibit.]]
+[[Image:Country_bears.png|thumb|300px|A maquette of Big Al]]
+[[File:The Country Bears 6788410.jpg|thumb|300px]]
-'''The Country Bears''' was a [[2002]] feature film by Walt Disney Pictures. The [[Jim Henson's Creature Shop]] provided the animatronic Bears used for the film, which were performed by Henson puppeteers/suit performers.
+'''''The Country Bears''''' is a [[2002]] feature film from [[The Walt Disney Company|Walt Disney Pictures]]. [[Jim Henson's Creature Shop]] provided the animatronic Bears used for the film, which were performed by Henson puppeteers/suit performers.
-Based on an attraction at [[Disneyland]], the Country Bear Jamboree, "The Country Bears" was the first in a recent series of attraction-based movies which include "The Haunted Mansion", "Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of The Black Pearl", and "Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest". It is also one in a long line of live action [[Disney]] family films. The movie is a satire of Behind the Music rock & roll bands. [[Beary Barrington|Beary]], a young bear raised by a human family in a world where humans and talking bears coexist, attempts to trace his roots. He meets up with the Country Bears, a long-since broken-up band, a parody of bands like the Eagles. Beary helps the Country Bears reunite for one final concert, while searching for who he truly is.
+Based on an attraction at [[Walt Disney World]] (and formerly [[Disneyland]]), the Country Bear Jamboree, ''The Country Bears'' was the first in a series of attraction-based movies which include ''[[The Haunted Mansion]]'', and the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' movie franchise. It is also one in a long line of live action Disney family films. The movie is a satire of Behind the Music rock & roll bands. [[Beary Barrington|Beary]], a young bear raised by a human family in a world where humans and talking bears coexist, attempts to trace his roots. He meets up with the Country Bears, a long-since broken-up band, a parody of bands like the Eagles. Beary helps the Country Bears reunite for one final concert, while searching for who he truly is.
-Unlike Disney animation, where the stars voices are laid down first, it was the puppeteers who worked closely with the director and it was their voices that were captured during the entire shoot as they operated the animatronic heads. This gave the Bears the ability to improv and be directed as on-set performers. The stars' voices were recorded later.
+Unlike Disney animation, where the stars' voices are recorded first, it was the puppeteers who worked closely with the director and it was their voices that were captured during the entire shoot as they operated the animatronic heads. This gave the Bears the ability to improv and be directed as on-set performers. The stars' voices were recorded later.
-For the movie's premiere at the El Capitan in [[Hollywood]], the Bears performed a live Rock Concert ([[The Country Bears Live]]).  And for a limited run, they performed before showings of the film.  This was done to a pre-recorded track, with animatronic puppeteers operating the faces on the side of the stage.
+For the movie's premiere at the El Capitan in [[Hollywood]], the Bears performed a live rock concert ([[The Country Bears Live]]). And for a limited run, they performed before showings of the film. This was done to a pre-recorded track, with animatronic puppeteers operating the faces on the side of the stage.
-A few of the puppeteers had cameos in this film.  [[Julianne Buescher]], [[Jodi St. Michael]], and [[Terri Hardin]] were in the Swarmin Hive Honey Bar (Buescher was a waitress and St. Michael had a tattoo of Tennessee on his arm, painted by Buescher).  [[Brian LaRosa]] was a patron at Trixie's nightclub.
+A few of the puppeteers had cameos in this film. [[Julianne Buescher]], [[Jodi St. Michael]], and [[Terri Hardin]] were in the Swarmin Hive Honey Bar (Buescher was a waitress and St. Michael had a tattoo of Tennessee on his arm, painted by Buescher). [[Brian La Rosa]], along with his wife Bess, were a patrons at Trixie's nightclub.
 ==Cast==
 ====[[Beary Barrington]]====
-*[[Alice Dinnean-Vernon]] - Puppeteer
+*[[Alice Dinnean]] - Puppeteer
 *[[Misty Rosas]] - Suit Performer
 *[[Haley Joel Osment]] - Voice
 *[[E.G. Daily]] - Singing voice
-====[[Tennessee O'Neil]]====
+====[[Tennessee O'Neil|Tennessee O'Neal]]====
 *[[Julianne Buescher]] - Puppeteer
 *[[Jodi St. Michael]] - Suit Performer
-*[[Toby Huss]] -  Voice
+*[[Toby Huss]] - Voice
 *[[Don Henley]] - Singing voice (and as himself)
 ====[[Ted Bedderhead]]====
 *[[Michelan Sisti]] - Puppeteer
-*[[Brian LaRosa]] - Suit Performer
+*[[Brian La Rosa]] - Suit Performer
 *[[Diedrich Bader]] - Voice (and as Officer Cheets)
 ====[[Zeb Zoober]]====
 *[[John Kennedy]] - Puppeteer
 *[[Tony Sabin Prince]] - Suit Performer
-*[[Stephen Root]] -  Voice
+*[[Stephen Root]] - Voice
 ====[[Fred Bedderhead]]====
 *[[Allan Trautman]] - Puppeteer
-*[[Kaepan Shaw]] - Suit Performer
+*[[Kevin Bradshaw|Kaepan Shaw]] - Suit Performer
-*[[Brad Garrett]] -  Voice
+*[[Brad Garrett]] - Voice
-====[[Henry (Country Bears)|Henry]]====
+====Henry Dixon Taylor====
 *[[Bruce Lanoil]] - Puppeteer
 *[[Tom Fisher]] - Suit Performer
-*[[Kevin Michael Richardson]] -  Voice
+*[[Kevin Michael Richardson]] - Voice
 ====[[Trixie St. Clair]]====
 *[[Terri Hardin]] - Puppeteer
-*Candy Ford -  Voice
+*Candy Ford - Voice
 *Bonnie Raitt - Singing voice (and as herself)
 ====[[Big Al]]====
 *[[Terri Hardin]] - Puppeteer
 *[[John Alexander]] - Suit Performer
-*James Gammon - Voice
+*[[James Gammon]] - Voice
 ====Additional Cast====
 *[[Christopher Walken]] - Reed Thimple
 *[[Stephen Tobolowsky]] - Norbert Barrington
 *[[Daryl Mitchell]] - Officer Hamm
 *[[M.C. Gainey]] - Roadie
 *[[Alex Rocco]] - Rip Holland
 *[[Meagen Fay]] - Mrs. Barrington
 *[[Eli Marienthal]] - Dex Barrington
 *[[Elton John]] - Himself
 *[[Willie Nelson]] - Himself
-*[[Queen Latifah]] - Cha cha
+*[[Queen Latifah]] - Cha Cha
 *[[Brian Setzer]] - Himself
 ==Crew==
 * Director: Peter Hastings
 * Writter: Mark Perez
-* Producers: Jeffrey Chernov, Andrew Gunn and John G. Scotti
+* Producers: Jeffrey Chernov, Andrew Gunn and [[John G. Scotti]]
 * Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen
 * Film Editing: George Bowers, Seth Flaum and Dean Holland
 * Casting: Ruth Lambert
 * Production Design: Dan Bishop
 * Art Direction: Maria L. Baker
 * Set Decoration: Kathe Klopp
 * Costume Design: Genevieve Tyrrell
+__NOWYSIWYG__
-[[Category:Creature Shop Movies|Country Bears]]
+{{DEFAULTSORT:Country Bears, The}}
+[[Category:Creature Shop Movies]]

Released	2002
Duration	88 min.
Director	Peter Hastings
Written by	Mark Perez
Music	Christopher Young
Studio	Walt Disney Pictures
Rated	G

Muppet Wiki