Acclaimed voice actor and musician Jim Cummings is on his way back down to Australia to meet fans at the Gold Coast and Melbourne Supanova Pop Culture and Gaming Con events from this week!
From classic characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck and Tasmanian Devil to some of the worlds most beloved side characters such as TMNT’s Leatherhead, Hondo Ohnaka in The Clone Wars and Ray in The Princess and the Frog, these are just some of his works that skim the surface of his insane IMDB credits from TV and silver screen.
The Everblack Podcast spoke to voice acting legend JIM CUMMINGS about his return down under for Supanova Pop Culture and Gaming Con, his incredible career and many roles like Darkwing Duck, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Leatherhead, Tasmanian Devil and more, his musical influences, jamming with other vocal masters and upcoming Warner Bros movie with John Cena!
Watch/listen to the interview here :
“Tell the kid he’s got it,” said the legendary Mel Blanc with a smile, after listening to a young man’s first demo tape of cartoon character voices. The year was 1984, “the kid,” was Jim Cummings. Since then, the kid has gone on to give life and voice to some of America’s most beloved animal Characters, even a few of the late Mel Blanc’s, and he was even nominated for an Emmy Award for his work as the lovable Tigger on Disney Channel’s My Friends Tigger and Pooh, in which he also voices everyone’s favorite bear, Winnie the Pooh.
Born and raised in Youngstown Ohio, Cummings spent Saturday mornings riveted to the TV screen as he mimicked the characters in his favorite cartoons, all the while dreaming that one day he would voice them himself. At age 19, he moved to New Orleans, where he performed as a drummer, a singer, a deck hand on riverboats, and even designed and created Mardi Gras floats, all the while absorbing the rich characters and accents that would someday find expression in animation.
Years later, Cummings relocated to Southern California and managed a video store as he pursued his childhood dream. He gave his first demo to a customer who was also a movie producer, and the rest, as they say, is history. In 1984, Cummings landed his first role as Lionel the lion, in Disney Channel’s Dumbo Circus. During his illustrious career, he has worked extensively for the Walt Disney Studios voicing classic characters such as Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, King Louis, Kaa the Snake, Pete (formerly peg legged Pete), and more. His many other credits include Darkwing Duck, Bonkers, Fat Cat, and Monterey Jack on Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, Don Karnage on Talespin, and too many others to mention here.
Cummings has done scores of voices for Warner Bros, as well, including Taz the Tazmanian Devil himself, Steven Spielberg’s Animaniacs, Tiny Toon Adventures, Batman, Pinky and the Brain, Tazmania, Duck Dodgers, and more. Other credits include King of the Hill, Bump in the Night, Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Replacements, The Addams Family, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Simpsons, Sophia the First and Transformers. He was nominated for a Daytime Emmy award for his role of Hondo in Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Not Limited to the small screen, Cummings has acted in several blockbuster feature films for Dreamworks including Shrek, Antz, Kung Fu Panda’s Furious 5, Hook, The Bee Movie, Balto, and more. His credits read like a top-list of animated and live-action films. Credits include Who framed Roger Rabbit, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Tarzan, Pocahontas, The Lion King, Babe: Pig in the City, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Brother Bear 2, The Princess and The Frog to name a few. He was even nominated for an Annie Award for his performance in Gnomeo and Juliet, where he played the amorous garden flamingo, Featherstone.
Cummings’ uncanny ability to sing in character and voice match for stars who are, in his words, “great actors, just not great singers,” has led to many platinum and gold records for soundtracks like Anastasia, The Lion King, Fox and the Hound, Pocahontas, Hercules, and more. He was also AC, the lead singer of the famed California Raisins.
Cummings’ work in voice over includes hundreds of television and radio commercials, movie trailers, promos, and videogames. “Pretty much anything involving microphones, music, noise
in general, and padded walls,“ jokes the affable actor, and “remember, only you can prevent forest fires,” so says Smokey the Bear, aka Jim Cummings. No matter how busy Cummings,
schedule may be, it all stops when Famous Fone Friends of Make a Wish Foundation call on behalf of a very ill child and distraught family in need of a phone call from their favorite cartoon character. “Just bringing a respite, however brief, and perhaps a smile and giggle or two, means so much to the child and their family. I consider it a true blessing to be able to do that.”
Cummings is a proud father of four and resides somewhere in California with his beautiful two younger daughters Grace and Lulu Rose…and their critters.
CONFIRMED SUPA-STAR GUESTS
- Karl Urban(The Boys, Star Trek, Dredd)
- Stephen Amell (The Arrowverse, Heels, Code 8)
- Katie Cassidy (The Arrowverse, Gossip Girl, Supernatural)
- Mark Sheppard (Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica, Doom Patrol)
- Liam McIntyre (Spartacus, The Flash, Gears of War)
- Eoin Macken (Merlin, The Night Shift, La Brea)
- Stephen Hunter(The Hobbit Trilogy, Thor: Love and Thunder, Heartbreak High)
- Emilie de Ravin (Once Upon a Time, LOST, Roswell)**
- Sophie Aldred (Doctor Who, Gentrification)*
- Kevin Sussman(The Big Bang Theory, Ugly Betty, Wet Hot American Summer)**
- Bonnie Piesse (Obi-Wan Kenobi, Star Wars: Episode II – III)*
- Matt Doran (The Matrix, Star Wars: Episode II, Home and Away)*
- Todd Lasance (Spartacus, The Vampire Diaries, The Flash)
- Lincoln Lewis (The Possessed, Black Site, Home and Away)**
- John Jarratt(Wolf Creek, The Possessed, Love You Like That)
- Richard Brancatisano (Power Rangers Mystic Force, Underbelly, Home and Away)**
- Thomas Surprenant (Star Trek, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, X-Men: The Last Stand)**
- Jim Cummings (Winnie the Pooh, Darkwing Duck, Star Wars: The Clone Wars)
- Neil Fanning (Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed)
- Veronica Taylor (Pokémon, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Sailor Moon Crystal)
- Luke Arnold (Fetch Phillips series, Black Sails, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart)
*Appearing at Supanova 2023 – Gold Coast only
**Appearing at Supanova 2023 – Melbourne only
Supanova Comic Con & Gaming began in Sydney in 2002 as a completely home-grown Australian production showcasing sci-fi, fantasy, comic books, anime, manga, games, cosplay and much more. The brainchild of Founder, Daniel Zachariou, Supanova is run by a diverse and passionate team of independent professionals led by Event Director, Scott Liston, with backgrounds in private industry and the creative sector. Supanova takes place in six cities (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and the Gold Coast), and is Australia’s leading and largest event of its kind.
Supanova is a celebration of pop culture created by the Supanova family, for your family, to “bring out the inner geek” in fans of all ages.
SUPANOVA 2023 DATES:
Gold Coast: 15-16 April 2023 | Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre
Melbourne: 22-23 April 2023 | Melbourne Showgrounds
