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Parents' Guide to

The Country Bears

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 6+

A dumb story about a bear adopted by humans.

Movie G 2002 88 minutes
The Country Bears Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

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age 8+

Based on 3 parent reviews

Casey C.
Casey C. Adult
August 16, 2018
age 8+

The Country bear

brilliant Amazing Wonderful Talented

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
Too much consumerism
Carefulaboutmovies
Carefulaboutmovies Adult
July 14, 2012
age 9+

Some concerns

I'm surprised that it wasn't noted in the review that there is a scene with a gun, in which a character is holding it in his hand as he tells the bears which way to go. There is also a bar scene in which it shows characters sitting at the bar drinking what appears to be pints of beer (though supposedly honey). The words stupid and idiot are used several times.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

THE COUNTRY BEARS begins with some wit and style – a wood-burning credit sequence and "Behind the Music"-style clips about the beloved band's rise and fall. Their last series of concerts was called the "Hiber-Nation" tour. In a flashback, we learn the story of Beary (voice of Haley Joel Osment), a bear adopted by humans who runs away from home because he feels different. The Country Bears Hall is about to be torn down by wicked Reed Thimple (Christopher Walken). Beary decides and the only way to raise the money to keep it standing is to get the band back together.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (1 ):

Less story than product placement, The Country Bears is based on a theme park attraction, but Disney World's robot bear performers just may have a better plot than this movie. This is basically "The Blues Brothers" with fur. But then it disintegrates into a dumb "get the band back together" story, as Beary reminds his former band mates about how close they all used to be..

Some surprising guest appearances by Elton John, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Don Henley, and Queen Latifah (Raitt and Henley contribute singing voices) and some lively musical numbers by Disney label artists provide bright spots. But the in-between doses of silliness and syrup just dragged. The kids in the audience loved the scene with the policemen caught in the car wash, though.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how everyone feels different from the rest of the world at times, and how we make connections with those who are and who are not like us.

Movie Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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