NEWS: ‘The Country Bears’ Screenwriter Speaks

[Another Voice]

The current issue of Creative Screenwriter magazine (a glossy “trade” magazine for writers) has an interview with Mark Perez, the credited screenwriter for ‘Disney’s The Country Bears'. There are several answers he gave that very telling about the current state of Disney and about the upcoming highly-anticipated movie.

“I was selected for a one-year deal at Disney, and I had one month left on my contract. Disney had this idea about making a movie out of the Country Jamboree ride. There were two other writers under contract at the time, and neither of them could think of anything, so Disney came to me. I couldn’t say no, because I was the last guy. So real quick I came up with a take on the movie – a mix of ‘The Jerk’ and ‘The Blues Brothers’ – and Disney went for it. I literally wrote the first draft in a week, and before I knew it, it was greenlighted.”

“That was my goal: why can’t PG movies be really funny? Even G movies, which is what ‘Country Bears’ is. You don’t have to have swearing and drugs to make movies interesting.”

“There’s a whole scene where they go to this bar and find one of the guys and he’s drunk on honey. And in the final cut of the movie you won’t see any of that, because the parents didn’t like it. Even though it’s honey, and even though it’s a bear, anything about being addicted to something….”

“All I used from the ride were two facts: (a) that the Bears play instruments, and (b) four names. It was weird, because we got to go behind the scenes of the ride, and people were so serious about who the characters are, and what they’re about. I felt weird: ‘Oh man, I hope it’s not sacrilege what I did.”

“Remember in ‘The Jerk’ how Steve Martin was a white guy raised in a black family and he doesn’t know it? I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to do that with bears and humans?’ Beary would be asking if he was adopted, which I thought would be ridiculous.”

“The key is to have an idea that you’ve heard before, then twist it a little to make a different version. It’s familiar enough to a studio executive where they know, ‘That movie works,’ and then you say, ‘This is how we’re doing it differently.’ My goal is to make things original inside the confines of what you can make in Hollywood.”

“A lot of times with any movie, when a script comes in and people think it’s good, that’s when the energy gets behind it. Let’s be honest, the bar is low for a script about an attraction at Disney World. I think now, since ‘Bears’, there’s more time and preparation being taken in scripts like ‘The Haunted Mansion’ and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ before anyone starts writing.”


Yes, the glamorous world of Hollywood.

 

[Bob O]

If the coming attractions are any indication not much will be funny about the movie!!!
This just shows a total lack on creativity. yeah, we get a move based on a medicore ride and other companies make blockbusters Like Spiderman/Attack of the Clones and even MIB2.
Whats next, a movie based on the wedway people mover???

 

[Luv2Roam]

Too bad he didn't come up with any Good Ideas.
Looks a bomb in the making to me.
I don't think I would be admitting to anyone it was MY idea if I were him!

But thanks for sharing. It is interesting.

 

[manning]

1940 B films are better than a lot of stuff that is passing today as top notch.

My wife had to convince me to get cable. When I looked at the old tv shows being shown on cable from the 50/60s, boy did I realize how far downhill quality in writing has gone.

 

[*Robin*]

Manning, one point there, we don't have the luxury of one channel digging out the best of the best for our viewing pleasure... Unfortunatly current tv has it's good points, it's just few and far between. My fear is someday our kids will be watching the same stuff we now hate and saying, boy, those were the days when they knew how to make t.v.!



And, while I agree the Country Bears looks like SUCH a bomb (During the preview at L&S I kept saying "I can't believe they actually MADE this movie!!) my 6 year old is rolling on the floor laughing at the commercial...

go figure...

 

[meowthew2]

"Disney had this idea about making a movie out of the Country Jamboree ride."

(a)It's Country Bear Jamboree
(b)It's a theater attraction, not a ride.

This guy doesn't know much about Disney theme parks I take it.

"I literally wrote the first draft in a week"

We can tell that from the previews...

“There’s a whole scene where they go to this bar and find one of the guys and he’s drunk on honey. And in the final cut of the movie you won’t see any of that, because the parents didn’t like it. Even though it’s honey, and even though it’s a bear, anything about being addicted to something….”

Aw, man, that might've actually been funny. Does Disney take any risks these days?

"It was weird, because we got to go behind the scenes of the ride, and people were so serious about who the characters are, and what they’re about. I felt weird: ‘Oh man, I hope it’s not sacrilege what I did.”

Whoa, dude's clueless.

“Remember in ‘The Jerk’ how Steve Martin was a white guy raised in a black family and he doesn’t know it? I thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to do that with bears and humans?’ Beary would be asking if he was adopted, which I thought would be ridiculous.”

It's interesting that there's already people on another board here that are downright offended by this premise.

 

[manning]

Robin, that's the problem. It's getting fewer and farther between.

Some years ago, in Vegas, I saw a comedy show that had everyone in stitches. It was done by two guys who, at the end of the show, said they prided themselves on not using foul language.

It seems that comedians, today, don't know how to use timing, expressions, and play on words. Everything has to be graphic.

Fortunately the spirit of Shakespeare survives. This shows that quality survives. You will be surprised how much he is imitated. I watched an old Bonanza show that was based on "The Taming of the Shrew". I realized the connection half way through and the last line of the show confirmed it. TNT's "King of Texas" is based on "King Lear", and the lead character is named John Lear.

Hope I didn't get off subject here, but I had to say it.

Expose those kids to some of the classics.

Script: step off soap box, pick up same, and exit right.

 

[Planogirl]

My son really enjoys Nick at Night and TV Land. I think that he's learning about TV classics.

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

I have heard even veteran Disney visitors refer to the Jamboree as a "ride". That's how they refer to just about every attraction.

I know that this is not the popular opinion, but I just watched the clips at yahoo and this thing looks very entertaining. The "Blues Brothers" type story line is mixed with the same kind of music pieces that made that movie so much.

I know this sounds weird, but I remember the first time that I saw the Country Band Jamboree as a kid. I was enthralled. When I took my kids a few years ago, they didn't like it at all. (Too many years of Chuck E Cheese?) I was upset because I wanted them to feel the same sense of awe that I did. That's when I realized that the Jamboree must be past its prime.

But when I watched the clips it seemed to bring out the same sense of fun as the original attraction did when I was a kid. Maybe this will work.

"G" rated family films can be very entertaining (We all thought the Princess Diaries was a hoot), and I think require a much more skillful touch by all involved. You can't get lazy and use foul language for attention, so you have to be a bit more creative. Zany story lines work particularly well, and the Muppet Movie was a great example of that.

Just maybe, hopefully, this film will be good, do well, and the synergy will find it's way back to the Jamboree. It would be nice to see that old classic be revitalized for today's audience.

And the bottom line is that I expected to by repulsed by the clips, but ended up liking them very much. They exceeded my expectations, which is exactly what Disney at its best does.

Let's hope!

 

[Another Voice]

More about the honey addiction:

“Initially I wrote it as PG. The director [Peter Hartings] made some changes to the script and certain things were gone. I think PG is pretty obvious with what you can and cannot say. Between G and PG, I really don’t know. I knew when I pitched the studio that Zeb was going to have a honey addiction. They loved it, but when the movie got to testing, the audience loved everything except for the honey addiction. You’ll see in the movie: it goes straight from when Zeb’s addicted to the jam section. An early poster for the movie dealt more with the rock and roll angle, and again, parents were turned off. I guess notions of rock and roll are ‘Sex, drugs, and…’”

From the interview (and dealing with far too many writers) my guess is that this gentleman just doesn’t get it. While he seems to see the substance involved as the problem (honey is okay, alcohol is not), he misses the point that a humorous portrayal of any addiction is not appropriate for a G or PG rated movie. Honey, alcohol, cocaine, or addiction to M&Ms – there are some subjects that can not be used as the basis for comedy or to make a character more “lovable” to children. I have to wonder how many people in the creative department at Disney are thinking these days.

The obvious counter example is Winnie the Pooh and honey. If you look at the stories, his obsession with honey is always shown to be a flaw and a source of trouble for him and the other characters.


P.S. – Stealing from Shakespeare is one thing. But stealing ‘The Jerk’??????