Kids who have seen the "Country Bear Jamboree" at Walt Disney World will love this movie. There's plenty of singing and good fun. Even the villains aren't too mean, just a little grouchy.

After making their farewell Hiber Nation Tour in 1991, The Country Bears have hung up their spurs and gone on to do different things. One is a wedding singer, another is a security guard, one's a marriage counselor and the final member is singing in a place that you usually begin rather than end your career.

Beary Barrington (Haley Joel Osment) is a bit like "Stuart Little." Instead of a mouse in a house with humans, we have a four-foot bear that walks upright like a man. He's adopted but his parents pretend that is not the case and his brother takes every opportunity to point out the fact that he is different. Beary runs away from home and soon decides that his mission in life is to help save Country Bear Hall from the demolition ball. Rent is six years behind, to the tune of $20,000. If Beary can get the old group back together again, they can raise the money to save the hall. And of course, along the way, we somehow know that Beary's brother Dex (Eli Marienthal) will come around to accepting him just like Stuart Little is loved by all members of his family.

The police believe that Beary has been kidnapped. Two goofy cops chase The Country Bears tour bus that has been taken out of mothballs, eight-track recorder and all. The bus makes all the stops along the way to convince and pick up the various old band members. The cops have a very funny scene going through a car wash that gives the adults as well as the kids something to connect to.

Riding toward a successful concert (if that is a spoiler for this type of film, you need to see more movies) we have lots of fun along the way with a duet that rivals Diana Ross and Lionel Richie, and some nice youthful singing that is fresher than Britney Spears. Also enjoyable are the many cameos by well-known singers such as Bonnie Raitt, Elton John and Queen Latifah.

If you don't have the time or can't afford a trip to Disney World, maybe a trip to see The Country Bears at your local multiplex is a good alternative. Have fun!