This family musical enjoys the dubious distinction of being the first film ever based on a theme park attraction, the "Country Bears Jamboree" at Disneyworld. Beary Barrington (voice of
Haley Joel Osment) is an adolescent bruin raised by a human family after he was found by a park ranger, abandoned in the forest. Curious about his biological roots, Beary travels to Tennessee to seek out his birth parents while attempting to locate the members of his favorite musical group -- a defunct country music act called the Country Bears -- along the way. Country Bear Hall, the famed venue where the band was launched, is facing imminent destruction at the hands of greedy banker Reed Thimple (
Christopher Walken), but young Beary has a plan to save the hall by staging a reunion benefit concert. Beary's path takes him through a guitar duel, a vintage coffee house, and a car wash, as he's pursued by a pair of bumbling cops (
Diedrich Bader and Daryl "Chill" Mitchell) trying to reunite him with his adoptive parents. Meanwhile, a panoply of musical legends including
Willie Nelson,
Bonnie Raitt,
Elton John, and
Queen Latifah appear
Behind the Music-style to comment on the Country Bears' alleged artistic influence on their work. The Country Bears, the first in a pair of planned Disney projects based on the company's theme park rides (the second is slated to be based on "Pirates of the Caribbean"), co-stars
Stephen Tobolowsky,
Brad Garrett,
Alex Rocco, and
Stephen Root. ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide