The Country Bears

"They’re legends. Bearly."

2002 1h 28m EN

💀

4.7

SKIP

🥫

29%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

4.2

IMDB

★4.7TMDB · 137🥫29%Rotten Tomatoes●37Metacritic★4.2IMDB · 6,405

AdventureComedyFamily

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

For Beary Barrington, The Country Bears' young #1 fan, fitting in with his all-too-human family is proving im-paws-ible. When he runs away to find Country Bear Hall and his heroes, he discovers the venue that made them famous is near foreclosure. Beary hightails it over the river and through the woods to get the Bears in the Band back together for an all-out reunion concert to save Country Bear Hall.

“They’re legends. Bearly.”

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Cast

Haley Joel Osment
Beary Barrington (voice)
James Gammon
Big Al (voice)
Christopher Walken
Reed Thimple
Diedrich Bader
Officer Cheets / Ted (voice)
Brad Garrett
Fred (voice)
Stephen Tobolowsky
Norbert Barrington
Toby Huss
Tennessee (voice)
Kevin Michael Richardson
Henry (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Peter Hastings
Writers: Mark Perez, Gary Damian Thomas
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Earned back only 51% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 24 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Peter Hastings, shot by Mitchell Amundsen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Seth Flaum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Haley Joel Osment and James Gammon and Christopher Walken carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "They’re legends. Bearly.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Peter Hastings directs. Mitchell Amundsen behind the camera. Christopher Young scores. Seth Flaum cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. A commercial under-performer on release. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Earned back only 51% of its budget on initial theatrical — a commercial disappointment on release.
3Released 24 years ago.
4Directed by Peter Hastings, shot by Mitchell Amundsen. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Christopher Young. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Seth Flaum shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Haley Joel Osment and James Gammon and Christopher Walken carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "They’re legends. Bearly.".
9IMDB entry: tt0276033 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

The technical file

Cinematography: Mitchell Amundsen
Original score: Christopher Young
Editing: Seth Flaum
Production design: Dan Bishop
Costume design: Genevieve Tyrrell
Makeup / hair: Janice Zoladz
Sound: Christopher Boyes
Stunt coordinator: Tim A. Davison
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $35,000,000
Box office: $18,012,097
Return: 51% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: The Country Bears (2002)
Rotten Tomatoes: 29% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 37/100
IMDB rating: 4.2/10 · 6,405 votes
MPAA: G

Awards

4 nominations total

Also by

Peter Hastings

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2020-10-14
★ 1/10
Wow, that was an excruciating watch. From literally the first few seconds you know where <em>'The Country Bears'</em> is going, both with the plot but also with the concept of the bears themselves. That's if you didn't already guess from the poster. As always I try to find the positive parts: ... ... Yeah. If I was forced to pick something, it would be one or two of the songs which are not horrid; there's also a notable cameo from an English musician, I guess that's one? As you can tell, it's not good at all. On the contrary, where to start with the negatives?! The bears. Having people in costumes is always a bad idea, it cheapens everything else around it. They have little or no emotion, so it's impossible to feel attached to the characters. The dub-like audio for them, and other parts of film, is very poor. No-one stands out in the cast, with the exception of Christopher Walken (Reed) - but that's only because of Walken's fame, not his role in this. The premise is so predictable and lazy, they don't even attempt to throw you off the scent - instead trying to force a heartwarming story, which doesn't land whatsoever. I, no matter what, always feel 1* is harsh, but this deserves it. Of the 1,106 films I've currently seen, this is just the fifth time a film has scored this low with me. Truly dreadful.

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