The Country Bears

Template:Attention Jim Henson's Creature Shop made the Bears for this movie, which were performed by Henson puppeteers/suit performers.

Based on an attraction at Disneyland, the Country Bear Jamboree, "The Country Bears" (2002) was the first in a recent series of attraction-based movies which include "Haunted Mansion," "Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" and its sequel, "Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest". The Country Bears was certainly not the most succesful of the three. 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 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.

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 every showing 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 (Julianne was a waitress and Jodi had a tattoo of Tennessee on his arm, painted by Julianne). Brian LaRosa was a patron at Trixie's nightclub.

Cast

Beary Barrington

• Alice Dinnean-Vernon - Puppeteer (Beary Barrington )
• Misty Rosas - Suit Performer
• Haley Joel Osment - (voice)
• E.G. Daily - singing voice

Tennessee O'Neil

• Julianne Buescher - Puppeteer (Tennessee O'Neil)
• Jodi St. Michael - Suit Performer
• Toby Huss - (voice)
• Don Henley - Himself/Tennessee singing voice

Ted Bedderhead

• Michelan Sisti - Puppeteer (Ted Bedderhead)
• Brian LaRosa - Suit Performer
• Diedrich Bader - Officer Cheets/Voice of Ted Bedderhead

Zeb Zoober

• John Kennedy - Puppeteer (Zeb Zoober )
• Tony Sabin Prince - Suit Performer
• Stephen Root - (voice)

Fred Bedderhead

• Allan Trautman - Puppeteer (Fred )
• Kaepan Shaw - Suit Performer
• Brad Garrett - (voice)

Henry

• Bruce Lanoil - Puppeteer (Henry )
• Tom Fisher - Suit Performer (Henry )
• Kevin Michael Richardson - Henry (voice)

Big Al and Trixie St. Clair

• Terri Hardin - Puppeteer (Trixie St. Clair and Big Al )
• Candy Ford - (Trixie) (voice)
• Bonnie Raitt - Herself/Trixie St. Clair singing voice
• John Alexander - Suit Performer (Big Al)
• James Gammon - Big Al (voice)

• 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

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