I’m not much into modern Disney animation outside the canonical feature films, so I typically haven’t done much to pursue many of the voice artists who provide the dialogue for the current TV and movies featuring the classic characters. Case in point: you might recall my great autographed Winnie the Pooh photo that had been signed by many of the earlier set of voice actors. But even so, voice actor Jim Cummings is a bit hard to pass up, especially when you take a glance at his voice characterization resume.
For starters, he’s both the voice of Tigger AND Pooh. I find this rather remarkable, as the two actors – Sterling Holloway and Paul Winchell – who originally portrayed these characters had such completely different sounding. Jim Cummings has been doing Winnie the Pooh’s voice since 1988, and Tigger, for the most part, since 1990. So for those other Disneyland/Disney World fans like me, that’s his voice that you hear in the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh rides. Additionally he did the voices of both characters in the 2011 Winnie the Pooh feature film, which is part of the classic Disney animation canon. Incidentally he’s also the current voice of Pegleg Pete for Disney.
But Jim Cummings hasn’t stopped there. He’s crossed worlds into Warner Bros. animation and voices the Tasmanian Devil in the animated series Taz-Mania. More? How about providing voices for The Addams Family animated series, The Batman, Curious George, Dexter’s Laboratory, DuckTales, Phineas and Ferb, The Powderpuff Girls, Saturday Night Live, The Simpsons, Spider-Man: The Animated Series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Tales from the Crypt, and What’s New, Scooby Doo?
Talk about diversity… and this just scratches the surface. And to me, he sounded like a normal guy.
I got the chance to meet Jim Cummings at the Nashville Wizard World Comic Con on September 26, 2015. Unlike my friend Dean, I wasn’t overly gung-ho to get any autographs, still considering despite the amazing resume that he hadn’t really done much ‘classic’ in my estimation. I had hoped that he would simply be selling signed photos and offer a free picture with him, but at Wizard Worlds, this is almost never the case anymore. So I simply shelled out the $20 to get a photo with him and nixed the autographs. Dean went the opposite direction and bought two photos and skipped the photo op. I’m still teaching Dean about the importance of photo ops.
Cummings was a nice guy and since we went through the line twice thanks to Dean’s adding a second autograph to his collection, we has some time to chat with him about his career, taking over the iconic roles from iconic actors, the Disneyland ride, and the classic Pegleg Pete.
It was fun meeting this Ohio native, and now I feel that my Disney horizon is a little bit widened. It wouldn’t be long before I’d be adding another voice actor from the ‘modern era.’
Celebrities of the 2015 Nashville Wizard World will continue…
What a great trip! And yes, I need on guard for autograph authenticity. Thanks for looking out for me. LOL. I was also admiring what a great photographer you have!
Dean
November 24th, 2015