Disney’s Christopher Robin shows what life is like now for the young boy who grew up and left behind the stuffed animal friends he shared countless adventures with in the Hundred Acre Wood. As an efficiency manager at Winslow Luggage, Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor) spends more hours in the office than with his own family (Hayley Atwell, Bronte Carmichael), who are growing tired of his broken promises, prompting Winnie the Pooh (voiced by Jim Cummings), Eeyore (voiced by Brad Garrett), Piglet (voiced by Nick Mohammed) and Tigger (also voiced by Cummings) to leave the Hundred Acre Wood for the first time, on a mission to remind their old friend of the endless days of wonder and make-believe that defined his childhood.
At the film’s Los Angeles press day, Collider (along with a handle of other outlets) was invited to participate in a roundtable interview with actor Jim Cummings (who voices both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger), who talked about the magic of these characters from the Hundred Acre Wood, how he originally took over voicing Pooh and Tigger, the process of voicing the two different characters, retaining Pooh’s sense of wonder, the beauty of the film’s message, some of the favorite characters he’s voiced, over the years, and what it means to him to be a part of the Disney family.
Collider: Because you have been voicing Winnie the Pooh and Tigger for so long, what is the magic of these characters for you?
JIM CUMMINGS: I can’t even describe it. I just have to say that it’s truly a blessing and an honor. It’s a privilege to carry these characters forward to a new generation, in such a fresh way. They’re absolutely beautiful, these little guys. I even have a teddy bear of my own at home that’s about 60 years old, and it’s all I could do to keep from throwing him into the Hundred Acre Wood with the rest of his friends. It’s just so sweet and such a blessed feeling. The reception to the movie has been so beautiful. It gets me just as much as it does anybody else because I feel like I’m in the audience. I’m literally never on the screen, even though it’s my voice. It’s just wonderful. It gets me right in the feels, which apparently is a new expression.
Did you have any trepidation, when you initially took over the voicing of Pooh from Sterling Holloway?
CUMMINGS: Gosh, back then, Pooh hadn’t been around for 20 some years. Back then, I thought, “Oh, wow, that was so cute. I enjoyed that a lot.” My little brother liked it more than I did ‘cause I was too old, but I thought, “This is great. What a cool thing.” And then, I ended up being Tigger, as well, when Paul [Winchell] retired. God bless ‘em, they’ve both since passed away. There wasn’t trepidation so much as excitement. At this point, I feel like it’s a duty to do it right. I have to preserve it and keep it going. In 1929, The Wizard of Oz, Gone with the Wind and Snow White all came out, and they could all be released now and they’d probably do rather well. The point is that they last forever. These movies don’t go anywhere. They’ll always be there. I just hope it comes across and everybody loves it as much as we all did. It’s a beautiful thing.
When this was pitched to you as a half live-action, half CG-animated film, did you have concerns about that?
CUMMINGS: I thought, “Hmm, how’s that gonna work?” You don’t want to do it Roger Rabbit style because that’s not what this genre supports, especially after the beauty of Beauty and the Beast and The Jungle Book. I absolutely bought a 20-foot orangutan. I was in. I think it carries its own magic. It’s not the same, but it’s just as magical. This is a little hyper-real. It’s got its own magic and I think people are going to respond to it, beautifully.
What was the voicing process like? Do you record Pooh and Tigger separately?
CUMMINGS: Yeah. I always like to do Pooh first because he’s right at the bottom of my falsetto, on top of my tenor. I don’t know if I have a tenor, but vocally speaking, he’s in that neck of the woods. I just want to get him done because it’s a feathery sound. It’s basically just doing Sterling’s original voice and dipping it in honey. He wasn’t really doing anything. That was just him talking, and I have to be true to the original sound, as best I can. And then, Paul’s Tigger was a little more gruff with a little more gravel and sand in there. I just do Tigger second.
As a part of Pooh’s legacy, what did you want to make sure to retain, in this incarnation of the character?
CUMMINGS: That he still has his sense of wonder. He still sees the world through honey-colored glasses. It’s never a question of, is the honey pot half-full or half-empty? It’s got honey in it, and would you please put in some more? And while you’re at it, grab another pot. It’s all just forward-thinking and positivity. I leave the gloom and doom to Eeyore because he does it best.
Did you and Ewan McGregor have the chance to actually get to work together, on the Christopher Robin and Pooh relationship?
CUMMINGS: No. The way we did it is that they recorded me first, a long time ago, over in London. Scenes change, the script changes and dialogue changes, but it gave them a chance to play it back, so that he wasn’t in a total vacuum. So, it was just me talking, and then the puppeteer subbing in. That’s how they did it. And then, after they got the principle photography done, they put in the CGI animals. It’s so realistic, I can’t believe it. And then, I went in and re-looped and fixed all of the lip-flaps to make it look organic. It looks pretty good.
What are your thoughts on the message of this movie?
CUMMINGS: I think it’s just beautiful. It’s perfect timing because the world can catch up with us and steal our magic and that childhood sense of wonder. It’s really east to forget the truly important things in the world when you’re doing the 9 to 5 and bringing home the paycheck. Next thing you know, you’re out there in the world and you don’t stop and smell the roses. So, Pooh makes sure that Christopher gets back to what’s important in the world. I think we can all use some of that.
Other than Pooh and Tigger, what are your favorite characters that you’ve voiced?
CUMMINGS: It’s amazing to just be a cog in a wheel for anything Star Wars. Hondo Ohnaka, from Star Wars: Clone Wars, is definitely one of my favorites. He was originally just supposed to be in a two or three episode storyline arc in Star Wars: Clone Wars, years ago. He came in and people responded nicely to it, so he got written into a few more episodes. And then, in the next season, he got written into a few more. They kept adding him, which was great. He’s one of my favorites. And there’s Darkwing Duck, the terror that flaps in the night. And then, there’s Ray from Princess and the Frog. That had everything. New Orleans is my second home. My little girl, Gracie, was four years old, at the time, and in the beginning of that movie, Princess Tiana was about four years old. So, he is very near and dear to my heart. Being from New Orleans, I had that Cajun accent down.
What’s it like to be a part of the Disney family, with so many varied characters?
CUMMINGS: It’s pretty wonderful. I always think of Disney-ana and the Disney lore that’s woven right into the fabric of America. I still have my Davey Crockett hat. It’s an honor and a privilege. I just love it. It’s the greatest thing in the world, knowing that you’re part of this great giant tapestry of magic and happiness. It feels that way to me, for real, without even being corny. I love it. It’s a privilege.
Christopher Robin opens in theaters on August 3rd.
