ORLANDO -- The Country Bears Musical Jamboree will reopen at the Walt Disney World Resort on July 17, Disney announced Monday during a media event here.
The classic attraction, which has been part of the Magic Kingdom since its opening day, will feature a variety of new songs and fresh costumes for the audio-animatronic "performers."
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"It's a glow-up 50 years in the making," Ken Ricci, manager of technical show quality for Walt Disney Imagineering, said during a panel about the attraction.
Jake Ellis, principal audio media designer at Walt Disney Imagineering, said Imagineers wanted to keep the ethos of the attraction but rethink the songs delivered so they had a more diverse, multigenerational appeal. Thus, they turned to the catalog of Disney songs.
Brett Swain, senior creative director of music at the Walt Disney Co., and his team reworked those classic Disney songs and turned them into everything from pop country to Americana and bluegrass, he said.
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"We wanted to pay homage to country music," Swain said.
To help with that project, Disney reached out to musical artists like Mac McAnally, Emily Ann Roberts, Allison Russell and Chris Thile.
During the panel, Roberts -- the voice of Trixie, one of the Country Bears -- sang a countrified version of "Try Everything" from "Zootopia."