Country Bears, The

New Times (L.A.) Luke Y. Thompson

This film is just too damn weird to pass up, and for the blacklight crowd, way cheaper (and better) than Pink Floyd tickets.

Chicago Reader Bill Stamets

Clever, warmhearted film.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Two stars for adults -- 3 stars for kids. The under-5 set should take to The Country Bears like bears to honey - even if anyone much older will find this broad-as-a-barn-door Disney musical bear-ly tolerable.

Miami Herald Howard Cohen

If the other theme-park movies are as appealing, go ahead, bring 'em on.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Most of the resulting film is downright bizarre. Which, as it turns out, is not entirely to its disadvantage.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

If you're looking to take your children to something harmless, that doesn't embarrass anyone, this light comedy (a gentle parody of those "Behind the Music" specials on cable TV) is your next outing.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

It's hard to figure who the movie is intended for. In shape and purpose, it's like a G-rated version of "This Is Spinal Tap," but will its wee target audience understand the joke?

Film Threat Michael Dequina

It makes no sense, but then again neither does much of anything in The Country Bears.

Los Angeles Times Gene Seymour

After a while, the only way for a reasonably intelligent person to get through The Country Bears is to ponder how a whole segment of pop-music history has been allowed to get wet, fuzzy and sticky.

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

It's sort of an ursine ''The Last Waltz,'' with more costumes and no direction from Martin Scorsese.

Variety Joe Leydon

Toddlers and pre-teens will be entertained, and parents will be pleasantly surprised, by this more-than-just-bearable musical road movie.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Unfortunately, the humans only have scripts to support them. So for every bear triumph, Country Bears also features cliched jokes, corny sentiment, ludicrous shtick and the most flabbergasting set of star cameos since Martha Stewart and Michael Jackson wandered into "Men in Black II."

The New York Times Dana Stevens

Sandwiched between the musical numbers are an eclectic assorment of cameos, including Willie Nelson, Queen Latifa and Elton John. The funniest one comes during the closing credits, when the rapper Xzibit testifies that the Country Bears were a formative influence on hip-hop, certainly something the Eagles could never claim.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

It has the courage to feature some refreshingly lousy bear costumes, but the film seems likely to send most kids tugging at sleeves for the cinematic equivalent of Space Mountain.

Boston Globe Reilly Capps

The music and the stars aren't enough to save the movie.

LA Weekly Dan Fienberg

Kids will probably enjoy the sight of huge, bumbling teddy bears -- Parents will exit wondering why this piece of unnecessary cross-promotion wasn't released straight to video.

San Francisco Chronicle C.W. Nevius

Nearly unbearable.

TV Guide Steve Simels

An unintentionally surreal kid's picture.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

If you're looking for some good family interspecies entertainment, take the little ones to see "Stuart Little 2" again; in the meantime, you might want to crawl into your cave and sleep through this one.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The unaddressed incongruities are as stupefying as the music.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

This is either one of the best “head” films of all time or one of the worst examples of Disneyfied opportunism to come down the pike in years. I'd like to think it was the former, really I would, but somehow I suspect otherwise.