YMMV / The Country Bears

• Audience-Alienating Premise: Trying to make a tenuously-connected road trip family comedy starring people in creepy bear suits based off a Walt Disney World attraction that hadn't been popular with guests in nearly two decades went over with audiences about as well as you might think. What helps prove this point is that the Disneyland version of the attraction closed ten months before the movie came out, meaning the core concept wasn't popular enough to keep as a ride there, yet they still released a movie based on it.
• Awesome Music: Many of the songs, such as "Straight to the Heart of Love", are surprisingly well-done.
• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment:
  • Christopher Walken dancing around his office in boxer shorts and bunny slippers, while continuously smashing scale models of Country Bear Hall.
  "Aww no! Aww no! Aww no! Country Bear Hall has been crushed!"
  • The majority of the musical numbers have no connection to the plot and suddenly disappear as bizarrely as they start, with "Kick It Into Gear" being the biggest example.
• Bile Fascination: Nobody had particularly high hopes for it at the time, and some have to see if the end result is just as bad as one would expect.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Most people agree that Christopher Walken as the banker is by far the most entertaining part of the film.
• Funny Moments: EVERYTHING with Christopher Walken.
  • When Walken kidnaps the bears, it's shown with a transition of the van in fast forward, with Walken's sped up laughter track.
  • The policemen theorizing that whoever has abducted Beary are probably holding hostage, "in some creepy underground lair, high up in a building somewhere."
• Hilarious in Hindsight: This thread touches upon some of the similarities between this film and another Disney film, The Muppets (2011). Basically, both films have a puppet character raised in an all-human family who feels different, tries to find his purpose, and ends up getting his favorite group back together so they can save a theater from being demolished by a Corrupt Corporate Executive played by a guy named Christopher. While it's not mentioned in the thread, there's also a subplot about a messy breakup, which is resolved when the couple involved in said breakup reunite to perform a duet during the climax of the film. Not to mention that Country Bears also had Henson involvement; namely, the bears were designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Many people willingly watch this movie for Christopher Walken.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • Thanks to The Nostalgia Critic, this line that Christopher Walken's character says toward the end of the film, which the Critic describes as him suddenly remembering there are bears in the movie, became the most memorable thing about it.
  "This is not over! *Beat* BEARS!
  • To a lesser extent, "Oh no! Country Bear Hall has been crushed!"
  • Thanks to Some Jerk with a Camera, this line, which he considers to be the greatest line in cinema history, uttered by Walken’s character:
  "That day... IS TONIGHT!"
• Serial Number Filed Off: The premise is very similar to The Blues Brothers but with country music, not blues/R&B; The band is bears; they aim to put on a show to save a special place; without swearing. Scenes in both movies in the search to gather the band members include a diner with a song and dance number. The wedding band scene is similar to the lounge band scene in The Blues Brothers.
• Special Effects Failure:
  • During a shot of a background building collapsing, one of the bears reacts in surprise by raising his eyebrows and reeling his head back. Unfortunately, both actions occur one after the other rather at the same time, making his reaction look really fake.
  • During Elton John's cameo, the controls for the bears got mixed up so the remote puppeteers were controlling the wrong bears. According to director Peter Hastings in episode 40 of Talkin' Toons with Rob Paulsen (at the 33 minute mark), the result was one of the bears ended up with a creepily crooked jaw, which Elton took one look at and said "Looks just like me after too much blow!"
• Tear Jerker: Tennessee's backstory, as described below under The Woobie. During an interview, puppeteer (but not voice actor) Jennifer Barnhart cites him as one of her favorite characters she's done, mainly for his sensitive side.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Only Christopher Walken can put that much sincerity into a role calling for him to arm fart the 1812 Overture.
• Trailer Joke Decay: Every TV spot included that clip of the policemen's hair getting messed up in the car wash, eventually reaching the point where Disney released a commercial that contained nothing but that clip.
• Unintentional Uncanny Valley: In contrast to the cartoonish cute-looking bears of the Disneyland ride, the bears of this film are more realistically designed, with small eyes and sharp teeth, which causes them to look more frightening than endearing.
• The Woobie: Tennessee O'Neal, whom Muppet Wiki describes as "the most sensitive of the Country Bears band". He was forced to quit the band when his lover left him for a panda, and tried to be a marriage counselor but broke down in stress during sessions. Which makes it all the more satisfying when she returns and they sing their duet.

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