Movie Musings: Disney and More

James Earl Jones: 

The one with whom the Force has always been strong!

When George Lucas was developing the character of Darth Vader for Star Wars: Episode 4-A New Hope (1977), from the beginning he envisioned the character portrayed by two different actors, one to wear the costume and the other to provide the voice. Lucas first cast British actor David Prowse to wear the costume and when it came to who would supply the voice, he originally considered Orson Welles. Fearing that Welles’ voice might be too recognizable, Lucas cast another actor-One who would gain “career immortality” as a result. James Earl Jones had been in movies before, but prior to “Star Wars,” he hadn’t quite found his niche. It’s rare for an actor to gain such fame in the entertainment industry for a voice-over performance, and this blog will explore the uniqueness of that, as well as the rest of his career prior- and post- “Star Wars.”

James Earl Jones was born in Arkabutla, Mississippi on January 17th, 1931. As a child, Jones had a stutter which he was immensely embarrassed about, making him shy and functionally mute for most of childhood. By the time he got to high school, he had a helpful English teacher, by the name of Donald Crouch, who encouraged him to overcome his fear of speaking and use his unique voice. That ended his silence, and Jones began applying his voice to poetry writing and acting in the mid-1950’s. After a brief service in the Korean War and graduating the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance in 1955, Jones began devoting himself to acting.

He first performed in William Shakespeare’s Othello at the Ramsdell Theatre in Mainstee, Michigan in 1955. He made his television debut in an episode of the series Guiding Light (1952-2009) in 1952 and his film debut in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). He originated the role of boxer Jack Johnson in the play The Great White Hope on Broadway in 1969, which one him his first Tony Award. He reprised that role for a film version of the same name The Great White Hope in 1970. The film reunited him with Broadway co-star Jane Alexander, who also won a Tony for her performance as Eleanor Backman. Both she and Jones received Best Acting Oscar Nominations for their performances in the film as well. In 1987, Jones won his second Tony Award for originating the role of Troy Maxson in the Broadway play Fences. (The role was recreated by Denzel Washington in a revival of the play in 2010. Washington also won a Tony for his performance as Troy.)  

When James Earl Jones was cast as the voice of Darth Vader, he requested that George Lucas exclude his name from the end credits of both “A New Hope,” and The Empire Strikes Back (1980), believing that his work on each film didn’t necessarily deserve to be credited. Lucas obliged the request, but Jones did give Lucas permission to include his name in the end credits of Return of the Jedi (1983), and his name was restored to the end credits of “A New Hope,” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” when the original “Star Wars Trilogy,” was released in Special Edition form in 1997. His name, however, was excluded again in Revenge of the Sith (2005). Since then, Jones reprised his role as Vader for every “Star Wars,” spin-off, including the Disney XD Series Star Wars Rebels (2014), the Disney film Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2015), as well as the Disneyland/Disney World Attraction, Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. Jones also reunited with “Star Wars,” co-star, Carrie Fisher for an episode of CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (2007-present).

In the early 1990’s, Twentieth Century Fox hired Jones to portray Mr. Mertle in the sports cult classic, The Sandlot (1993), a role which he reprised in the direct-to-video sequel The Sandlot 2 (2005), released to video the same year “Revenge of the Sith” came to theaters. The very next year, Disney hired Jones to voice Mufasa the King, father of Simba in The Lion King (1994). Madge Sinclair was cast opposite Jones as Simba’s mother, Sarabi the Queen. Ironically, Jones and Sinclair had previously played the King and Queen/mother and father of Eddie Murphy in Coming to America (1988) six years earlier. In “Coming to America,” both their characters wore costumes made of lion fur. Jones reprised his role of Mufasa for the “Lion King,” direct-to-video sequel, The Lion King 2: Simba’s Pride (1998).

James Earl Jones has also portrayed himself in a number of other projects for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of the international hosts in Fantasia 2000 (1999). In 2001, he was a host for the direct-to-video Disney series American Legends (2001), and he was a part of “The Story Behind the Story,” special feature on the 2-Disc Special Edition DVD narrating the segment about “The Lion King.” He also narrated DisneyNature’s Earth (2007). He is currently set to reprise his role as Mufasa in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of “The Lion King,” which will be directed by The Jungle Book (2016) director, Jon Favreau.

James Earl Jones’s career spans 64 years. He will forever be remembered as the man who not only gained, but gave immortality as the voice of the ruthless Darth Vader. It is extraordinary that thanks to the “force” of encouragement he had from his high school teacher, he managed to conquer the likes of Broadway, Television, and Film. And that Force continues to be strong with him at 86 years of age with his upcoming roles in the live-action “Lion King,” and a role in 2017’s Suspense/Thriller Warning Shot.