This article is on the characters from Tiana's Bayou Adventure. For the characters from Big Grizzly Mountain Runaway Mine Cars, see Rocky, Mother Lode and Nugget.
The Bear Family is the conjectural name for a trio of characters from Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
Description[]
This is a family of Louisiana Black Bears who lived in the bayou outside of New Orleans during the 1920s. The bears all played instruments made of materials from the bayou, and were members of both the band Rara Fauna and the Bayou Community Band.
Members[]
- Bernadette: Bernadette, also known as "Bernadette the Mama Bear", was a bear who was mates with Claude and mother of Sebastián. She played a horn made of bayou materials.
- Claude: Claude the Bear is the mate of Bernadette and the father of Sebastián. He is a "Salt of the mound" tinkerer who created a horn from wood and leaves found in the bayou.
- Sebastián: Sebastián was the bear-cub son of Claude and Bernadette, described as a "Mama's Cub". Sebastián plays a drum kept around his neck, and has an interest in small bayou details like insects and mushrooms.
History[]
Background[]
This was a family of bears in the 1920s. By 1927, they were members of the Bayou Community Band and known to accompany Princess Tiana. Sebastián was friends with Octavia the Bobcat, another member of the Bayou Community Band.
During the Mardi Gras of 1927, Rara Fauna was found in the bayou by Princess Tiana and Louis the Alligator. Tiana recruited the band to join her Bayou Community Band which then performed at a Mardi Gras party at her estate Fleur du Bayou. The bears would regularly perform with the Bayou Community Band after this.
Development history[]
These characters were designed for Tiana's Bayou Adventure by Laura West.
Appearances[]
Critter Co-op[]
The bears appear on art for the Bayou Community Band.
Louis' Critter Club[]
Their dressing room doors are visible inside, they are referenced on posters, and there is a wood carving of them.
Tiana's Bayou Adventure[]
The three are seen playing music in the bayou. In the finale, Claude and Bernadette play music alongside Apollo the Raccoon from the upper-levels of Tiana's estate. Sebastián plays music on the stairs. They appear on some posters around the exit.
Tiana's Bayou General[]
Art of Bernadette and Claude playing music by the falls appears in this store.
Trivia[]
- The bears' presence in Critter Country and a Splash Mountain successor attraction is fitting as Critter Country was previously "Bear Country" with the attraction the Country Bear Jamboree. Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom still featured the Country Bear Jamboree which incidentally was under re-theming and refurbishment the same year as Tiana's Bayou Adventure's creation. Br'er Bear was a bear character who appeared throughout Splash Mountain.
- The design of the family's dressing room door is a gag lifted from the Country Bear Jamboree.
- Claude shares his name with artist Disney Legend Claude Coats, who worked on many classic Disney attractions,
Gallery[]
