Jim Cummings: The Mel Blanc of Today!
When you hear the name Mel Blanc, you might remember that he voiced all the cartoon characters produced by the Warner Bros. Studios, i.e. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, etc., and as a result of that, he earned the nickname “The Man of 1000 Voices.” Do you ever wonder if Disney has a name that falls under the category also? The answer to that question is an emphatic yes! Since the early 1980’s, Jim Cummings has done the voice for many of Disney’s most beloved characters in film, television, and even video games. And he has several well-known non-Disney voice-over credits as well.
Jim Cummings was born on November 3rd 1952 in Youngstown, Ohio. He later moved to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he worked on Mardi Gras floats and as a door-to-door salesman. He ultimately moved to California where he got involved with voice acting. His first job at Disney was in 1988, taking over the role of Winnie the Pooh from Hal Smith, who had voiced the character from ’81-’88, succeeding the role from Sterling Holloway, the originator. The very next year, Cummings also took over the role of Tigger from Paul Winchell, whom had originated the part since the mid-1960’s. For the last 30 years now, Cummings has been the voices of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in all of their appearances on film, video and television, i.e.: The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1988-1991), Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh (1996), The Tigger Movie (2000), The Book of Pooh (2001-2003), Piglet’s Big Movie (2003), Pooh’s Heffalump Movie (2005) and Winnie the Pooh (2011). He will reprise the role of Pooh for Disney’s upcoming live-action film Christopher Robin (2018), though at this point he has turned over the “Tigger” reins to Chris O’Dowd.
Beyond Pooh and Tigger, Jim Cummings also provided the voices of the Evil Clown in The Brave Little Toaster (1987), Bullet #2 and the Lion in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Razoul and Farouk the Palace Guards in Aladdin (1992), Ed the Hyena and the singing voice of Scar in The Lion King (1994) (he and Jeremy Irons both shared singing credits), the singing voices of Chief Powhatan and Kekata in Pocahontas (1995), Nessus the River Centaur, the Tall and Elderly Thebians, and the Lava Titan in Hercules (1997), Kaa the Snake and Colonel Hathai the Elephant in The Jungle Book 2 (2003) and Raymond the Firefly in The Princess and the Frog (2009). Besides these theatrical films, Jim Cummings has also lent his voice to many direct-to-video sequels and original films, including The Return of Jafar (1994), Pocahontas 2: Journey to a New World (1998), Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas (1999), Brother Bear 2 (2006), and The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning (2008).
For Disney television, Jim Cummings was the voices of the title character in the series Darkwing Duck (1991-1993), El Capitan in DuckTales (1987-1990) numerous different roles in both Chip ’n Dale Rescue Rangers (1988-1990) and TaleSpin (1990-1991), and Bonkers D. Bobcat in Bonkers (1993-1995). He also provided the voice of Pete on the series Goof Troop (1991-1992), a role which he reprised for A Goofy Movie (1995), it’s direct-to-video sequel An Extremely Goofy Movie (2000), and many other times. More recently, for the Disney Junior channel, Cummings voiced Wormwood the Raven and Goodwin the Great in Sofia the First (2012-present) and reprised his roles as Pooh and Tigger in Doc McStuffins (2012-present). He is also the narrator of the IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth attraction at EPCOT at Walt Disney World and the voice of Baby Herman at the Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin attraction at Disneyland.
Beyond Disney, Cummings was the voice of Dr. Robotnik in the series Sonic the Hedgehog (1993-1994), Steele the bulldog in Balto (1995), the singing voice of Rasputin in Anastasia (1997), the Pelican in Babe: Pig in the City (1998) (the direct-to-video sequel to Babe (1995)), and Ultra Lord and Mission Control and the General in Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001). He was the voices of King Allfire and the Chancellor in the video game Blazing Dragons (1996), Totec, Lara’s partner in Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (2010), and Conrad Marburg in Alpha Protocol (2010).
From Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, to Pete, Goofy’s “frienemie,” to Darkwing Duck, Jim Cummings never ceases to entertain with his unique voice. His voice has an incredible range that has given life to all kinds of characters both good and bad. And even at 65 years of age, he’s showing no signs of slowing down with his upcoming roles in “Christopher Robin,” the upcoming indie film Charming (2018) and the television series Goblins Animated (2019). Though he will probably be best remembered for being the longest person ever to voice Winnie, the “Pooh bear.”
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