The Country Bears

Beary Barrington is a young bear raised by a human family, and he feels out of place at home. After learning the truth about where he came from, he leaves for Tennessee, hoping to find the Country Bears, the band he has grown up loving. When he reaches Country Bear Hall, he finds the venue that made the group famous is in danger of being lost to a banker named Reed Thimple. Beary sets out to bring the long-broken-up band back together for a reunion concert that could save the hall, though the former members have their own reasons for staying apart.

The film is a Disney family adventure directed by Peter Hastings, marking his first feature. It came out in 2002, and two decades passed before he directed again, with Dog Man arriving in 2025. The screenplay is by Mark Perez, and the cast mixes live action with voice work. Christopher Walken plays the banker, while Haley Joel Osment voices Beary, and James Gammon, Diedrich Bader, Brad Garrett and Stephen Tobolowsky are also among the large ensemble.

Disney released the film, which runs 88 minutes. Against a budget of about 35 million dollars, it took in roughly 18 million worldwide. Audiences did not embrace it: on IMDb it holds a 4.3 from around 6,600 votes, and on TMDB a 4.7 from 135 votes. A critics' score of 4.5 out of 10, based on 84 reviews, is close to the audience ratings, so viewers and reviewers responded to it in much the same way.