Sorry, this movie sucks

One of my all time favorites.

I'll tell you why so serious

The acting in this movie is really good.

Honestly, I really don't get why this movie directed by Peter Hastings was even made!? It's pretty odd that Walt Disney Company would made a movie out of a really old outdated Disneyland attraction where animatronic bears sing country songs. Yes, I know, the show at one time, was once overwhelming popular, but in 2001, 'The Country Bear Jamboree' was nothing, but relic of what it was, was. After all, during that same year, Disneyland closed the Jamboree show, due to poor attendance and replaced it with 'The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh'. While, it's true, that the other Country Bear Jamboree shows in the other Disney theme parks, are still open, as of this writing, however, it didn't help bring the viewers to see this movie. Budgeted at US$35 million, it grossed $16 million in the US and an additional $1 million overseas. The film flopped so badly in the U.S., it was released straight to video in the UK in 2003. That's really, really horrible! I think, one of the biggest reasons, why this movie fail to reach an audience, is because the movie barely use the source material, right. While, the movie use a lot of the original names, none of the bear characters in the film, really matches, their original persona. A good example is how the movie thinks that Big Al (Voiced by James Gammon) is a sluggish and elderly property caretaker for The Country Bear Hall & Henry Dixen Taylor (Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson) is the band's manager, when in truth, both were part of the show, playing the guitar and being the Master of Ceremonies. Also, the main band of the show wasn't call, 'Country Bears'. It was call 'The Five Bear Rugs' which most of the characters in the film, were members of. Also, Ted Bedderhead (Voiced by Diedrich Bader) was never the leader of the band, as that role was for, the very surprising absent, Zeke, whom along with Oscar isn't in the film. Also, Trixie St. Claire (Voiced by Candy Ford) was never part of the original band, nor was dating Tennessee O'Neal (voiced by Toby Huss). In the original show, she had a slight crush on Henry. I was also, somewhat disappointed, with the film, due to the absent of classic characters like the Sun Bonnet Trio and the talking mounted animal heads, Buff, Max, and Melvin. Where the hell, was them!? Instead, the film follows a new bear character named Beary Barrington (Voiced by Haley Joel Osment), whom trying to reunited the long-since broken-up band in an attempt to reunite for one final show to save their own concert hall from the evil banker, Reed Thimble (Christopher Walken). Without spoiling the film, too much, I have to say, I really didn't like how the idea of having the events, take place in a live action world where humans and talking anthropomorphic bears coexist. While, for the most part, the bear suits, designed and constructed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop kinda work, minus the singer, Elton John cameo scene; I think this movie would had work better if this film was a hand-drawn or computer animation cartoon. It comes across, somewhat jarring and creepy to see people interact with men in puppet bear suits. Another thing, I really didn't like, how the voice-acting didn't match up with the singing voices. It's really weird to see, a character with a normal gravelly voice, be able to sing a beautiful power ballad in a few scenes later. The music that came with the film was alright for the most part. Nothing too memorable to note of; but I couldn't stand, on how forced and randomly out of place, some of these musical numbers, come from. Also, the celebrity cameos for this film, was kinda weak. Honestly, I never even heard of singers, Krystal Marie Harris or Jennifer Paige before this, or after. Despite that, I did like the cameos of Jess Harnell, Don Henley, Willie Nelsen and others. Another problem with this film is the humor. It's not really that funny. It was mostly a miss than a hit for me, because of how dumb, some of the jokes, were. Plus, I really didn't like, how they recycle jokes from older films like 1979's 'The Jerk', 1979's 'The Muppet Movie' & 1980's 'The Blues Brothers'. It didn't seem, so creative. It made everybody in the film, look like total idiots. It's sad to see Christopher Walken sink so low. Overall: Disney's third movie based on a ride or attraction, following 1997's 'Tower of Terror' and 2000's 'Mission to Mars' was indeed a failure. Thank God, 2003's 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl', somewhat save the idea. I can only hope, future Disney movies based on their theme rides would be awesome, and not awful like 2003's 'The Haunted Mansion' or this film.

When Disney does it right, Disney does it right! Country Bears was a breath of fresh air after that flop Pirates of the Caribbean. All star cast, sick music, awesome bears! The plot is so deep as well. Who knew you could learn so much about family from bears! I can't wait for the Country Bear franchise to take off. There are so many potential sequels that I'm sure Disney will cash in on for years to come. I could even see them making a show at Disney World based on Country Bears just like they did with that Pirate crap.Trust me, see this movie! Thank God I'm a Country Bear! SPOILERS: The bears sing.

The Country Bears is truly a cinematic gem and the film of it's generation. Everything about this movie is amazing. From the acting, to the directing, the writing, the cinematography, EVERYTHING! This movie is the only perfect movie I have ever seen except for The Godfather. Personally I like it more than The Godfather. The movie is hilarious throughout the entire course of the film. It is an extremely smart movie and there is a very powerful ending and it had me crying for almost an hour! It's that good! This film is about life and death and Beary's fate. It is a film for kids but I think adults will enjoy it even more. If you haven't seen this movie yet, I highly recommend that you see it. 10/10

The Country Bears is a truly unique movie, and it can be a very pleasant experience watching it, for those with an open mind. The entire movie is based on the premise that bears co-exist with humans - they are simply like another race of people. From numerous other reviews I have read of this movie, it seems many people are offended by this simple premise. Perhaps it is insulting to them, or maybe they just can't deal with things out of the ordinary such as this. It's definitely a shame, as this movie is actually a rare gem, complete with lovable characters, fun music, and an engaging and heartwarming plot.The movie begins showing us the farewell performance of a group called "The Country Bears". They were once apparently very famous, but have now all but disappeared. Beary Barrington, a huge fan, feeling displaced from his family because he feels 'different', leaves home and travels to Country Bear Hall, hoping to find a place where he fits in. He soon finds Country Bear Hall is soon to be demolished, due to six years of missed payments by it's caretaker, Henry. Beary's solution is to get the band back together to save Country Bear Hall.What follows is an enjoyable romp as we meet each of the 4 unique band members and their interesting circumstances. Fred is big softy who works as a security guard, and takes part in a performance of a very modern song titled "The Kid in You", which perhaps may not appeal to everyone. Zeb is ultimately an alcoholic, although his liquor of choice is honey. To escape from his debt with the bar, he performs in a musical duel, which is a lot of fun. Next we meet Tennessee, who is heartbroken over losing his one love Trixie. He just makes you want to give him a huge hug every time he's on screen. Finally we meet Ted, who's massive ego nearly stops the bears from coming together again. Two bumbling cops provide lots of humour, as does the hilarious bear character Big Al.Characters are definitely the highlight of this film. Each of the bears are different, and watching their behaviour is so refreshing. They make you want to be right there on the tour bus with them. The ending of the movie is perfect, but it is a strangely sad feeling to have to leave the characters and come back to reality.My thoughts of this movie are the complete opposite to the majority of other reviews out there. Ebert's review suggests to me that he barely even paid any attention to the movie - he doesn't seem to understand why Reed Thimple would want to destroy Country Bear Hall, even though it was clearly explained in the movie. He also says that certain artists such as Bonnie Raitt talk about how The Country Bears influenced them, and while this is true for some artists, Bonnie Raitt does no such thing, nor does Elton John. Why critics couldn't appreciate this film is beyond me. It has strong messages of what family is, and that it's OK to be different. It's just fantastic, and deserves much more recognition than it has. We need more movies like this, but unfortunately the poor reception of this movie will mean Disney avoids making movies like this in the future.Do yourself a favour; rent this movie, or even buy it. Don't question why it's about singing bears, otherwise you're missing the point of the movie. Just enjoy the originality, enjoy the great music, laugh at the comedy, and leave the movie with a shining feeling that not many movies these days can give you.