In part two of a five-part series looking back at the Country Bear Christmas Special, Walt Disney Archives’ Kevin Kern remembers the magic and spirit of Magic Kingdom’s “beary” merry holiday attraction overlay.
When The Country Bear Christmas Special Made the Holidays “Beary” Merry ►
Designers and Imagineers Dave Feiten and Mike Sprout sought to bring about “a festive variety show featuring traditional yuletide tunes and original songs,” as an early press release elucidates. The show was conceived and executed during the course of about two years.
“What we’ve created is a new and exciting family Christmas show . . .
. . .in the foot-stompin’, hand-clapping style of the Country Bears,” Dave said in similar press materials.
New music was written for the bears by Disney arranger and composer George Wilkins, who wrote and adapted popular holiday music to align with the classic, twangy “Country Bear sound” established in the first show.
See Swingin’ Teddi Barra’s Country Bear Skis in the Walt Disney Archives ►
Mike and Dave worked closely with George, resulting in an effective musical collaboration that produced candy-cane-sweet tunes for visitors’ ears. Let’s take a listen:
“Bear” with us as we take a deeper look at this attraction during the coming weeks, leading up to the Christmas holiday!