Jim Cummings

Jim Cummings, born November 3, 1952 in Youngstown, Ohio, is one of the most prolific voice actors in American animation, credited with close to 400 roles including Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck, Pete and the Tasmanian Devil. While voice acting is his primary craft, his musical contributions come largely through the Disney animated features and specials he has voiced, where singing was part of the character work — from the swampy storytelling of «Ma Belle Evangeline» and «Ma belle Evangéline» to playful numbers like «The Tummy Song» and «Everything Is Honey».

Before breaking into voice work in the mid-1980s, Cummings led a varied life: he grew up partly in New Orleans, where he designed and painted Mardi Gras floats, worked as a riverboat deckhand, and played drums and sang in the regionally popular rock band Fusion — experience that likely shaped the loose, performative musicality he later brought to character songs. He attended Ursuline High School, graduating in 1970, before eventually settling in Anaheim, California, where he managed a video store in the early 1980s prior to launching his voice career in late 1984.

His song-based work spans Pop and Country-tinged material tied closely to the animated properties he voices, such as songs from The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh media (»In the Dark of the Night», «Gonna Take You There», «Steady As the Beating Drum (Reprise)», «Wherever You Are»). His voice remains instantly recognizable to generations raised on Disney television and film.