Un Bearable Weight.

On Thanksgiving morning, 11-26-2020, I had a scary dream in which a big, bear-like animal was briefly glimpsed and that scared the characters in the dream. It scared me enough that when I woke up from that dream I didn't want to go back to sleep and maybe continue it. It didn't help that while going back to sleep I happened to think about the "Big Ghost Basin" episode of Cheyenne, which is something else I don't want to think about when trying to go to sleep.

https://moviechat.org/tt0047720/Cheyenne/58c721e55ec57f0478eb5eb8/killer-grizzly-episode-question

Anyway, the characters in the dream ran past a house and then stopped where one or two cars were parked and discussed what to do, without getting into the cars. And I thought that was foolish. A car is probably not as safe as a building to hide in from a bear. Especially when the car is not moving. Especially when you are outside the car and not in it!

One reason the characters in the dream didn't jump in the cars and drive away could be that the cars were parked on a dead end road or driveway, and the only way out might be back towards where the bear was seen. But thinking about the dream later, I decided bear troubles was a good reason to use an ordinary car as an off road vehicle to get out of the area. And if the cops stopped you for driving off the road and over other peoples's property you could just gasp out "Bear! Big bear!" and that ought to be sufficient justification.

And that reminded me of The Great Outdoors and when Chet gasped out "Bear! Big Bear!" as he closed the cabin door and held it closed with his body.

And then the bear knocked the cabin door down on top of Chet and stood on the door before entering the cabin.

It's been a long time since I saw The Great Outdoors and I can't clearly visualize that scene.

So I wonder whether a stuntman in a bear suit was standing on the door on top of John Candy or a double, or whether it was Bart the Bear, Hollywood's biggest actor, himself. Since Bart weighed about 1,500 pounds when full grown he could hardly have weighed much less than a thousand pounds when The Great Outdoors was filmed.

So if some poor soul had to lie under the door while Bart stood on the door, that guy really earned his pay that day. And no doubt he would always remember that experience as an example of the "glamour" of working in entertainment!

So does anyone know whether the "bear" standing on top of the door in that scene looks like a man in a bear suit or like Bart the Bear?

I just saw the scene on youtube and it certainly looked like Bart was standing on the door on top of someone for at least a few seconds of the scene. If that is correct it would truely be an "un bearable" weight.