Photo Finds: Pirates of the Caribbean and Country Bear Jamboree upgrades – Oct. 24, 2012

By Kevin Yee

Last week the Magic Kingdom quietly upgraded two attractions: mermaids were added to Pirates of the Caribbean in the form of a skeleton on the beach and some projections in the water, and the Country Bear Jamboree reopened after a refurbishment that saw new costumes, new “skin” on the animatronics, and a shortened show that cut out a few numbers. We take our customary closer look!

Photo Finds: Pirates of the Caribbean and Country Bear Jamboree upgrades - Oct. 24, 2012
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5 Comments

  1. As Mark Davis once said, “every time they change it, it’s not as good.” To me, that Murmaid skelleton has two problems. First, the anatomy – a tail bone does not have ribs, and second, it ruined the composition of the scene and makes it look cluttered, not to mention stupid.

    For all who may not know, Mark Davis is a Disney Legend and the man who drew all the concept art for the Pirates of the Caribbean many years ago. He also animated Cinderella, Flower (from Bambi) and many, many other beloved Disney characters. Mark Davis was 100 times the imagineer that any imagineers pulling this kind of stuff are.

  2. P.S. The Country Bear Jamboree was great the way it was. There was no need to remove any of the songs, and I’m sure it now seems like there’s something missing.

    The Tiki Birds “Under New Management” was another example of the present day imagineers arrogance. No one who knew about the previous show liked it and everyone was was thrilled when they brought back the old show, yet Disney took years to admit that “Under New Management” was a failure.

  3. First off, yea i agree that the shows/rides should stay the same as originally done. However, its always good for change even if they were mistakes or big dissapointments. Starting with country bears, i loved origianl and now love re-done version even more because its shorter and not insulting to fat people ( the scene where the heads used to make fun of the bear with the win glass-cant remember her name). Second, the show was boring after away of sitting and listening to samething for 29minutes long(especially if u have a short attention span). Thirdly, pirates mermaid scene is another way to get girls interested with pirates ride if u think about it. Yes it takes away from original concept but as Disney himself used to say “change is good and keeps world growing”.

  4. I concur with Anthony.

    Sorry, Joe, but you’re completely wrong and need to stop being hateful and overly-negative and drop the false accusations. Modern Imagineers are NOT arrogant in any way, for instance!