Toon Zone Talkback - Toon Zone Interviews Voice Acting Legend Jim Cummings on "The Tigger Movie"

[Ed Liu]

This is the talkback thread for Toon Zone Interviews Voice Acting Legend Jim Cummings on "The Tigger Movie" (http://news.toonzone.net/articles/30956/toon-zone-interviews-voice-acting-legend-jim-cummings-on-the-tigger-movie).

http://news.toonzone.net/images/2009-08/TiggerMovie/splash-cummingsint.jpg

Technical issues delayed this one, and we're going to try to add audio clips as soon as possible so you can (hopefully) hear what Jim Cummings sounds like when he's imitating Carol Channing or speaking in Cajun-inflected gibberish.

[DeanBurrito25]

Well, that was a very fun read. It's also pretty cool to read more about Cumming's history and orgins in voice acting
So he almost met Sterling Holloway, huh? And to think he'd being providing Pooh's voice years later. It's nice to see Cumming's position on the controversy surrounding Princess and the Frog. Some people really are taking the movie too seriously, they should really let it go. And his story about Carol Channing....just, wow. :p

[Michael24]

Great interview with one of my favorite voice actors.

His cameo in Comic Book: The Movie always cracks me. Love the little drunk rap he does. "Second verse, same as the first!" :D

[Ishtar]

Interviews and behind the scenes stuff with Jim Cummings are hard to come by, so this was a treat to read. I love his voice over work and he's definitely one of my favorites. I'd say Disney especially has used him more than any other voice actor for the past 30 years or so, and for good reason. I too find it funny he did actually see Sterling Holloway in person several years before he replaced him as the voice of Pooh. Almost like how Tony Anselmo met Clarence Nash before voicing Donald Duck and Wayne Allwine met both Walt Disney and Jimmy MacDonald before voicing Mickey Mouse. Although the difference is they actually communicated with their predecessors and were trained by them.

[Craig Crumpton]

I appreciate your comments. It was by far one of the most entertaining interviews I've ever done. Plus, I've been following Jim's work since the 80's, so it was a very special treat for me.

And my thanks to Ed for passing the opportunity along to me, even if it was on last-minute notice.

If you guys had seen my original list of questions I wanted to ask him -- I kept having to scratch them all off because it was originally scheduled to be only a 10-minute interview.

I hope to have a chance to do a follow-up interview or even a series of interviews at some point in the future, but I'm going to go through his agent rather than Disney since there are a lot of non-Disney questions I'd like to ask him. (I did decide asking him about "Comic Book: The Movie" was justifiably on-topic because it was distributed by a Disney subsidiary: Miramax Home Entertainment.)


Although the difference is they actually communicated with their predecessors and were trained by them.Jim did actually meet and work with Paul Winchell quite a bit before he retired. While it might have been more "on topic" to ask Jim about working with Paul, I decided not to because he has shared those stories in other interviews, and whenever I interview any industry people I try to ask interesting questions they wouldn't normally be asked.

But of all the interviews I've read with Jim, I've never heard/seen anyone ask him if he'd ever met Sterling.

There are still a few photos I've sent Ed to be added to the interview, so hopefully he remembers to give this thread a bump when they're up.

In the meantime, I posted some outtakes from the interview on my Voice Actors in the News blog (http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/jim-cummings-interview-pooh-tigger/), along with some of my archive photos from Jim's 2003 appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con. I also included Jim's bio page that Disney PR included in their press materials, since Ed and I didn't really have a need to use it. (And other media sites have already published it as if it were their own article/interview.)

[Ishtar]

I appreciate your comments. It was by far one of the most entertaining interviews I've ever done. Plus, I've been following Jim's work since the 80's, so it was a very special treat for me.

And my thanks to Ed for passing the opportunity along to me, even if it was on last-minute notice.

If you guys had seen my original list of questions I wanted to ask him -- I kept having to scratch them all off because it was originally scheduled to be only a 10-minute interview.

I hope to have a chance to do a follow-up interview or even a series of interviews at some point in the future, but I'm going to go through his agent rather than Disney since there are a lot of non-Disney questions I'd like to ask him. (I did decide asking him about "Comic Book: The Movie" was justifiably on-topic because it was distributed by a Disney subsidiary: Miramax Home Entertainment.)

Jim did actually meet and work with Paul Winchell quite a bit before he retired. While it might have been more "on topic" to ask Jim about working with Paul, I decided not to because he has shared those stories in other interviews, and whenever I interview any industry people I try to ask interesting questions they wouldn't normally be asked.

But of all the interviews I've read with Jim, I've never heard/seen anyone ask him if he'd ever met Sterling.

There are still a few photos I've sent Ed to be added to the interview, so hopefully he remembers to give this thread a bump when they're up.

In the meantime, I posted some outtakes from the interview on my Voice Actors in the News blog (http://voiceactors.wordpress.com/2009/09/03/jim-cummings-interview-pooh-tigger/), along with some of my archive photos from Jim's 2003 appearance at the San Diego Comic-Con. I also included Jim's bio page that Disney PR included in their press materials, since Ed and I didn't really have a need to use it. (And other media sites have already published it as if it were their own article/interview.)
Actually, I did already know about him actually meeting and working with Paul Winchell. Just didn't think about it, because I was focusing on Jim taking over for Sterling Holloway as Pooh. I'm guessing a lot of questions you wanted to ask about was what it was like for Jim to work for all those Disney Afternoon shows? I'd especially like to know more about his work on Darkwing Duck, which I feel was one of his best performances.

[DarthGonzo]

I'd especially like to know more about his work on Darkwing Duck, which I feel was one of his best performances.

Yeah, I'm always hoping to see references to this show when I see interviews with Jim. He did do an interview about the show in one of the Darkwing Duck comics just as the show started airing. I still have that somewhere.

[DisneyBoy]

JEA-LOUS! You got to interview JIM CUMMINGS...

Sounds like a really awesome guy.

[Rho]

Awesome, he mentioned The Legend Reborn.

[Silly McGooses]

Thanks for another great interview, guys. These have been really interesting and diverse lately.