Park Mysteries, #1

Oddities & Other Unexplainables

When I was young and in my prime
I thought I never would marry
But I fell in love with a pretty lil' gal
An' sure enough we married! ('Atta boy, Zeke!)
Ring-a-ding-ding Mary
Purtiest gal I ever did see
Her name was Devilish Mary (What a gal!)
Hadn't been married but about two weeks
She got as mean as a devil
And ev'ry time I looked cross-eyed
She hit me on the head with a shovel! (How sad!)
Ring-a-ding-ding Mary
Purtiest gal I ever did see
Her name was Devilish Mary (What a pity!)
Her name was Devilish Mary! Ye-haw!

The above song, written by songwriter Bradley Kincaid and performed by robotic bear Zeke in Walt Disney World's Country Bear Jamboree, has been performed nearly every day for over 35 years now. But something has changed, which would be the recording itself. For the first four years of the Magic Kingdom's operation, guests were treated to a recording by master voice actor Dallas McKennon as Zeke. This is most emphatically not the recording heard today.

According to the Disney Archives, and since they were in operation at this time there's no reason to dispute this, the recording was changed in 1975 for reasons unknown to a lesser version sung by Randy Sparks.

Devilish Mary - perf. Dallas McKennon, 1971 (MP3 format)
Devilish Mary - perf. Randy Sparks, 1975 (MP3 format)

The difference hardly needs comment. What Disney was after here is honestly beyond me, as the McKennon version is infinitely funnier, more nuanced, and importantly not annoying. The voice doesn't seem appropriate either: Zeke is a graying, bespectacled old-timer character who would probably not be especially interested in barking out a song like he's trying to get you to wake up.

Sparks' version loses a lot of steam at the very end: the song comes at the crucial moment in the attraction where things are starting to speed up, McKennon's "Yea-Haw!" just moments before the baby bear's concluding honk-honk has the telltale fingerprints of Davis, Bertino and Bruns' crackerjack timing.

The timing of this change is strange also: in 1975, Disney wasn't preparing to do anything in particular with the Bear Band show; as the opening of the Disneyland version was in the past by three years and the Tokyo version at least seven years away. Although the Disneyland version did have some significant revisions to character branding, appearance and animation, three years later does not seem an opportune time to do anything to the popular revue show. There exists some evidence that Marc Davis did do some further work on the attraction at some point, weather this be in 1975 or not is questionable.

One night I left the wife at home and went out with the boys
I was acting like a Don Juan and makin' a lot of noise (Tell 'em, lover boy!)
A go-go girl caught my hand
I said I can't, I'm a married man!
She said if you ain't gonna steal ya better not prowl (He's a born loser!)
Don't doe-see-doe with the go-go
If ya can't bite, don't growl!
If ya can't bite, don't growl!

If Ya Can't Bite, Don't Growl - perf. Van Stoneman, 1971 (MP3 format)
If Ya Can't Bite, Don't Growl - perf. Randy Sparks, 1975 (MP3 format)

Fiddler Ernest's version of Tommy Collins' 1965 song was also re-recorded to significantly less detrimental effect by Sparks at the same time. The new version has a much more exciting opening more in line with Ernest's character, although the Van Stoneman version can boast a much more charming and interesting delivery. In this case, what the purpose of the re-recording is actually clear: Sparks books through the song with significantly more zest than Stoneman.

Call me a complainer, but I think that at least the McKennon version should be restored to the show. Anybody know why it was removed to begin with?