James "Jim" Jonah Cummings (born November 3, 1952[1] in Glendale, California) is a prolific American voice actor and has often been considered to be a successor to the voice acting legendary Sterling Holloway.
Personal life
Born in Youngstown, Ohio, Cummings relocated to New Orleans, where he designed and painted Mardi Gras floats, worked as a river boat deck hand and sang and played drums in the regionally successful rock band, "FUSION".[2]
He later married and moved to Anaheim, California, where he managed a video store in the early 1980s, before launching his voice-acting career in late 1984. Cummings and his wife Stephanie have two young daughters. Cummings also has two older children from a previous marriage.
Career
At Disney, Cummings not only replaced Hal Smith as the voice of Winnie-the-Pooh in 1988 (Smith had replaced longtime actor Sterling Holloway in the early 1980s), but also began voicing Tigger in 1990, replacing Paul Winchell (though Winchell continued to voice Tigger occasionally until 1999) after Winchell died in 2005. When actor Jeremy Irons, the voice of Scar in The Lion King, developed vocal problems during recording of the song "Be Prepared", Cummings was chosen to replace him for the rest of the song.
Cummings was the only original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles voice actor to return for the 2007 film. His first three TMNT appearances were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time. His first five computer-animated movie appearances included Antz, The Nuttiest Nutcracker, Shrek, Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, and Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas.
At Walt Disney Studios, he voiced several lead characters including Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears, (taking over the character of Zummi Gummi after Paul Winchell's departure from the role), DuckTales, Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, Bonkers, Aladdin, Gargoyles, Timon & Pumbaa, The Legend of Tarzan and House of Mouse, and animated films such as Hercules, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas. Cummings also voiced the characters "Bering and Chilkoot" in the 2006 film, Brother Bear 2 and "Razoul" in the 1994 sequel, The Return of Jafar.
Cummings did some voice work on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles such as Leatherhead the mutant alligator and some additional characters. He did the voice of Don Karnage in Disney's TaleSpin. Cummings has provided voices for video games, television commercials, and movie trailers, and was one of the official announcers for Kids' WB!, promo announcer for Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, as well as the official spokesperson for the current Cheez-It commercials and some current Weather Channel commercials (most notably the Wake Up With Al ones). He returned to his role as Taz on Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas.
Jim Cummings has done the voice of Minsc of Baldur's Gate/Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn and Drizzt Do'Urden in the first Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance game. He is prominently displayed in the credits of Kingdom Hearts as Pooh, Tigger, and Pete. Cummings provided the voices for "Bad Mr. Frosty", "Hougan", and "Sumo Santa" in Clay Fighter 63⅓.
Cummings has made some vocal performances using his voice at normal pitch for some younger looking characters like Witterquick from Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light and Glatorian Ackar in Bionicle: The Legend Reborn.
Character Roles
Voice work
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Laputa: Castle in the Sky | General (2003 Disney dub) |
| 1987 | The Brave Little Toaster | Evil Clown |
| The Garbage Pail Kids Movie | Greaser Greg, Nat Nerd | |
| 1988 | Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf | Frankenstein/Skull Head/Gengis Kong |
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Bullet #2 | |
| 1990 | Raisins: Sold Out!: The California Raisins II | |
| 1992 | Boris and Natasha: The Movie | Microchip Narrator |
| Aladdin | Razoul/Farouk | |
| 1994 | Cabin Boy | Cupcake |
| The Return of Jafar | Razoul | |
| The Lion King | Ed, Scar (partial singing voice) | |
| The Pagemaster | Long John Silver | |
| 1995 | Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins | Shang Tsung |
| A Goofy Movie | Pete | |
| Pocahontas | Chief Powhatan /Kekata (singing voices) | |
| Balto | Steele | |
| 1996 | Siegfried & Roy: Masters of the Impossible | Additional voices |
| Aladdin and the King of Thieves | Razoul | |
| Ed's Next Move | Lee's Boyfriend, Raphael[3] | |
| All Dogs Go to Heaven 2 | Jingles | |
| The Story of Santa Claus | Mr. Minch | |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Frollo's Soldiers and Gypsies | |
| 1997 | Hercules | Nessus the River Centaur/Lava Titan/Tall Thebian/Elderly Thebian |
| Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search for Christopher Robin | Winnie-the-Pooh/Skullasaurus | |
| Beauty and the Beast: The Enchanted Christmas | Additional voices | |
| Anastasia | Rasputin (singing voice) | |
| 1998 | Belle's Magical World | Webster |
| The Brave Little Toaster Goes to Mars | Singer | |
| The Lion King II: Simba's Pride | Scar | |
| Small Soldiers | Ocula | |
| Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World | King James/Chief Powhatan | |
| Rusty: A Dog's Tale | Additional voices | |
| Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island | Jacques/Morgan Moonscar | |
| Antz | Soldier Ants and One Worker Ant | |
| Babe: Pig in the City | Pelican | |
| Buster & Chauncey's Silent Night | Buster[4] | |
| 1999 |
Tarzan |
Dennis |
| The Legend of the Titanic | Sharks | |
| The Nuttiest Nutcracker | Uncle Drosselmeier/Gramps | |
| The Iron Giant | Kent Mansley's screaming voice | |
| Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas | Pete/Postman | |
| 2000 | The Tigger Movie | Tigger/Winnie-the-Pooh |
| An Extremely Goofy Movie | Pete | |
| The Road to El Dorado | Hernán Cortés/Additional voices | |
| Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time | Additional voices | |
| Titan A.E. | Chowquin | |
| Tweety's High-Flying Adventure | Taz/Rocky/Yosemite Sam/Cool Cat/Shropshire Slasher/Casino Cat/Policeman | |
| Could Through | Stack Boss | |
| The Life & Adventures of Santa Claus | Old Santa Claus | |
| CatDog and the Great Parent Mystery | Cat | |
| 2001 | Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure | Tony |
| The Land Before Time VII: The Stone of Cold Fire | Sierra | |
| Shrek | Captain of Guards | |
| Atlantis: The Lost Empire | Helmsman, Smithsonian Board Member #1 | |
| Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius | Ultra Lord/Mission Control/General | |
| 2002 | Return to Never Land | Additional voices |
| The Hunchback of Notre Dame II | Archdeacon | |
| Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring | Butch | |
| Tarzan & Jane | Tantor | |
| Mickey's House of Villains | Big Bad Wolf/Kaa/Ed | |
| Winnie the Pooh: A Very Merry Pooh Year | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| 2003 | 101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure | Additional voices |
| The Jungle Book 2 | Kaa/Colonel Hathi/M.C. Monkey | |
| Piglet's Big Movie | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | Luca/Additional voices | |
| 2004 | Comic Book: The Movie | Dr. Cedric Perview |
| The Lion King 1½ | Ed | |
| Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| Jimmy Neutron: Win, Lose and Kaboom | Gen. Abercrombie/Brain #2/Mayor Quadar | |
| Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers | Pete | |
| Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas | Blitzen | |
| 2005 | Pooh's Heffalump Movie | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger |
| Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| 2006 | Disaster! | Harry Bottoms/Guy Kirk/Narrator |
| Brother Bear 2 | Chilkoot/Bering | |
| Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas | Taz/Gossamer | |
| The Fox and the Hound 2 | Waylon/Floyd/Additional voices | |
| 2007 | Hellboy: Blood and Iron | Tom Manning |
| TMNT | Additional voices | |
| Bee Movie | Title Narrator and Graduation Announcer | |
| My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Sleuth Christmas Movie | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger | |
| 2008 | The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning | King Triton/Shelbow |
| Dead Space: Downfall | Captain Mathius/Farum | |
| The Powerpuff Girls Rule! | Fuzzy Lumpkins | |
| 2009 | My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Tigger & Pooh and a Musical Too | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger/Beaver |
| Bionicle: The Legend Reborn | Ackar | |
| The Princess and the Frog | Ray | |
| 2010 | My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Super Duper Super Sleuths | Winnie-the-Pooh/Tigger |
| 2011 | Gnomeo and Juliet | Featherstone |
| The Little Engine That Could | Rusty | |
| Winnie the Pooh | Winnie the Pooh/Tigger | |
| 2012 | Zambezia | Budzo |
| Wreck-It Ralph | "Game Over" Voice | |
| 2012 | Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess | Wormwood |
Video games
- Alpha Protocol- Conrad Marburg
- Animaniacs – Himself, Radio News
- Army Men Series – All the voices except females.
- Baldur's Gate Series – Minsc, Firkraag, Gorion, Tazok, Abazigal, Gromnir Il-Khan, Demogorgon
- Catdog: Quest for the Golden Hydrant - Cat
- ClayFighter 63⅓ – Bad Mr. Frosty, Houngan, Sumo Santa
- Clive Barker's Jericho – Arnold Leach
- Crash Twinsanity - Skunk
- Dragon Age: Origins
- Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse – Title Narrator, Mysterious Ghost, "Spooky Voice", Handy Hand
- Epic Mickey – Pete (as Small Pete, Big Bad Pete, Petetronic, & Pete Pan)
- Fallout – The Master, Set, Gizmo
- Icewind Dale – Arundel, Hrothgar, additional voices
- Infinity Blade II - Archivist
- Kingdom Hearts series – Pete, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Ed, Julius[5]
- Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Gadflow
- Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – Totec, Lara's Partner,[6] Xolotl
- The Lost Vikings 2 – Olaf the Stout, Tomator.
- Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal – Taz
- Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet – Thanos
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 – Thor
- Mass Effect 2 – Urdnot Wreav, Patriarch, Normandy crew member,Cerberus scientist
- Mickey's Speedway USA – Pete
- Nicktoons MLB - Ultra Lord
- Painkiller - Alastor
- Quest for Glory IV: Shadows of Darkness – Boris, Hans
- Splatterhouse (2010 video game) – The Terror Mask.
- Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions – Kraven the Hunter, Goblin, Tinkerer
- Star Wars: The Old Republic - Master Oteg
- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Thadgeir, Olfrid Battle-Born, Vignar Gray-Mane, Logrulf the Willful, Festus Krex, Froki Whetted-Blade, Nurelion
- Toonstruck – Feedback, B.B. Wolf, Dough, Snout, Seedy, Warp
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria - Lorewalker Cho, introduction for Pandaren
- Ys: Book I&II – Dalles
References
- ↑ State of California. Lists James J. Cummings on 3 November 1952. No James J. Cummings born in 1952.
- ↑ http://robpaulsenlive.com/episode-16-with-guest-jim-cummings/
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116167/fullcredits
- ↑ McCormick, Moira (July 25, 1998). "Musical mice enliven 'Silent Night'". Billboard. Vol. 110 no. 30. VNU/Nielsen Business Media. p. 74. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Jim-Cummings/
- ↑ http://forums.eidosgames.com/LCGoLpodcasts/Podcast2_Audio.mp3
External links
- Jim Cummings Official website
{{{2}}} at the Internet Movie Database- Jim Cummings at Voice Chasers
- Jim Cummings Interview at Toon Zone
- Jim Cummings feature article and photos at Voice Actors in the News
- Jim Cummings' Imaginography at Imagine Casting
- Template:Wowpedia
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Links to authority control.