Famous Disney Bears

In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, Disneynature is releasing another new documentary, Bears. This new movie will follow a bear family for a year as the young cubs learn life lessons. Seeing the commercials for this movie got me thinking about all of the bears in the Disney family.

Disneynature Bears
Disneynature Bears

Winnie the Pooh
Let’s start with probably the most famous Disney bear of all. Coming from the books by A. A. Milne, Pooh and his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood are a childhood staple. He may be “stuffed with fluff,” but he can be quite courageous when needed. We’ve all joined in on their adventures (often in search of “hunny”) and learned about friendship along the way. Pooh and Piglet’s friendship in particular, never fails to warm my heart.

Pooh
Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore

Baloo 

Carefree and fun-loving Baloo is Mowgli’s best friend in The Jungle Book and he taught us all about the Bare Necessities (which, thanks to writing this blog post, I have had stuck in my head for three days). For the most part, Baloo is playful, but he can be very protective of Mowgli. He is probably the most popular character from the movie and in fact, became the star of his own TV series: TaleSpin.

Baloo and Mowgli float
Baloo and Mowgli float

Koda and Kenai

These two bears from Brother Bear started out with quite the complicated relationship, but eventually became as close as brothers. Koda is the playful and talkative one, while Kenai is moody and serious. I think they both learn a lot from each other.

Koda and Kenai
Koda and Kenai

Harris, Hamish, and Hubert

Oh the triplet brothers from Brave. Definitely can’t forget them. Merida’s young brothers are always up to some sort of mischief, which is what caused them to become bears to begin with. Although they don’t stay that way forever, you can still see the brothers as bears in the Festival of Fantasy parade.

Brave triplets
Brave triplets

Br’er Bear 

Betsy mentioned Br’er Bear in her post about bunnies and rabbits as the antagonist to Br’er Rabbit in The Song of the South. Teamed up with Br’er Fox, the two keep getting outwitted by Br’er Rabbit and you can see a lot of their foiled plans in the Splash Mountain ride at the theme parks.

Br'er Bear and Br'er Fox plotting
Br’er Bear and Br’er Fox plotting

Country Bears

Big Al, Liver Lips, Wendell, Trixie, Terrence, Henry, and the rest of this musical gang have been entertaining guests at the Magic Kingdom since the park opened. There was also a version at Disneyland up until 2001. The popularity inspired a movie in 2002, but that wasn’t very successful. They remain pretty popular in the Magic Kingdom though, especially with fans who grew up with the show.

Country Bear Jamboree
Country Bear Jamboree

Fozzie Bear

This jokester of the Muppets is Kermit’s best friend. He’s very often the target of Statler and Waldorf’s heckling, but he keeps trying with his “wocka wocka” tagline! Fozzie always struck me as very loyal, especially to Kermit and though he may be slow to catch on most of them time, I think he is a friend you can count on.

Fozzie Bear
Fozzie Bear

Humphrey the Bear

Humphrey was created in 1950 and appeared in several Disney Animation cartoons at that time. Humphrey is kind of a big and goofy bear that lives in a national park and tries to steal food from the visitors. He doesn’t speak, but he does make different grunts to express emotions. His shenanigans are usually spoiled by Donald Duck or the park ranger. He got to be so popular that the animation studio created a series just for him, but unfortunately the studio stopped producing the short films soon after that. He later appeared in other shows like Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers and House of Mouse. If you’re looking for him these days, you might want to check out the Wilderness Lodge.

Humphrey
Humphrey

Honorable Mentions: Little John from Robin Hood, Gummi Bears, Duffy, Lotso, Bear in the Big Blue House

When I first started writing this post, I was surprised by how many bears would be on this list. It was fun to rediscover some old favorites like Humphrey! Did I forget any of your favorite bears?

 

 

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Pick Six: Favorite Disney Movie Songs

Last night as we were watching Idina Menzel perform ‘Let it Go’ during last night’s Academy Awards, Congratulations to Frozen for two Oscars and to Robert Lopez for being the youngest EGOT, a few of us got into a discussion about what our favorite songs were from Disney Movies.

I thought I would take a break from the theme parks to share with you a personal post on my Pick Six of favorite Disney Songs.

Favorite Disney Movie Songs

Pick Six: Favorite Disney Movie Songs (In no particular order)

1. A Dream Is A Wish – Cinderella

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9H_1PiRg2H4

I will tell you in all fairness that Cinderella is both my favorite Disney Movie and Princess, so I fully admit to bias here! I adore this song with all of my heart! It’s haunting melody, beautiful message, and I feel the same way every morning when I hear my alarm. Also, I really wish I had birds that would help be make my bed!

2. Jolly Holiday – Mary Poppins

httpv://youtu.be/kw4gpy1BweM

When I was growing up, during the summer my brother and I were each able to pick out a VHS to rent from the local video store to watch for the week (I am REALLY showing my age here…), and while we would often choose different movies we always agreed on Mary Poppins when it was available. We would watch it over and over again, my Mom warned us we would break both the rewind button and the tape, and we sing and dance around our den like we were penguins or chimney sweeps.

Jolly Holiday was always our favorite, because it was just so fun and whimsical that you couldn’t help but sing a little louder or dance a little crazier. We would always get in trouble, but it was soooooo worth it!!!

3. Part of Your World – The Little Mermaid

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2TT7sN5iKU&feature=share&list=PL-muvh_380IZ0sptF1gJve_HVC95y3PJd&index=4

Little Mermaid came out when I was in Middle School, and we are all awkward and looking for our place in the world so Part of Your World really spoke to me.

I will also admit that I cannot help myself, and no matter where I am or what I am doing I will ALWAYS sing this song at the top of my lungs. It’s really involuntary, and I apologize in advance if you ever have to witness this!

4.  I Wanna Be Like You – The Jungle Book

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKnQoWWySm8&feature=share&list=PL-muvh_380IZFvEqlrEjQuuO2pou730Os

My husband, Dave, loves The Jungle Book, and as a result it has become a family favorite and go-to movie. There is nothing quite like watching your husband and you daughter dance around the house as they sing ‘I Wanna Be Like You’! The giggles, the shaking, the funny conversations about ‘What is he saying, Daddy?’…nope…It will never ever stop making me smile.

5. Reflection – Mulan

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgWiMm_Nffc&feature=share&list=PL-muvh_380IafMMO3fC55frFmfTG0tiyX&index=5

I seriously cannot see, sing, watch, or think about ‘Reflection’ from Mulan without welling up with tears.

We all struggle with finding our place in this world, balancing family and their expectations of us, and accepting & embracing that we are the way we are, and this song beautifully sums up these battles in a way that makes you feel like you are not alone. The no one is really who you think they are, because we all have our issues and insecurities.

It’s just perfect!

6. Whistle While You Work – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney’s On The Record Version)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm-BILfr5js&list=PL71E8503E3E194BD9&feature=share&index=1

If you haven’t given Disney’s On The Record a listen, you are doing yourself a disservice! It is a glorious and wonderful arrangement of Disney songs from movies, shorts, attractions, and more. Seriously, GO LISTEN!

The Whistle While You Work mash-up featured is incredibly infectious, and I dare you not to move to the beat!

I’d love to hear what you think of my Favorite Disney Movie Song choices and what your favorites are!!!

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