Disney’s Christopher Robin comes to Digital, Movies Anywhere, on Blu-ray™ and DVD on November 6th. Winnie the Pooh and friends will have to travel into mid-century London to help grown-up Christopher Robin, played by Ewan McGregor with his life. We were lucky enough to get to talk to Jim Cummings (on the phone) who plays both Winnie the Pooh and Tigger in the movie.
The beloved voice behind both Tigger and Pooh since 1988, Jim reprised his dual role for the characters again this year in the heart-warming family film Christopher Robin, coming to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital this November – right in time for the holiday season!
After we get introduced to Jim Cummings, we take some time out to thank him for all the work he has done. This is where we geek out a bit by realizing how many of our favorite characters he has voiced.
BSCKids: Christopher Robin is a live action film, you are doing voices that are interacting with live people, which is different from the animated Winnie The Pooh. What sort of hurdles did you have to overcome by doing Winnie The Pooh and Tigger in that sort of environment?
Jim Cummings: Yes there was a bit of a difference because I actually wasn’t on set and there was nobody there to react to. I was kind of flying solo so to speak, so that was different. I just recorded everything first and then they took that and played it on the set for Ewan (McGregor), Hayley (Atwell) and everyone to react to, and they had puppeteers manipulating the puppets around. It was a more subtle performance, more understated by virtue of the fact that it wasn’t truly animated, they were animated by computer. We weren’t flying over who knows where or falling down a mountainside, it was a little more subtle and little more underplayed. I think it served it well because it was essentially a period piece, we went from the 20s to the 40s. So I think it being true to the time was a part of it as well. It came out beautifully, so it wasn’t a hurdle but an adjustment.
BSCKids: This is a growing up film, with Christopher Robin. Do you feel like you played Pooh and Tigger in a different kind of light because of that?
Jim Cummings: Yes and No. I mean you know Pooh is going to be Pooh no matter what and certainly the same of Tigger. So that is kind of a given there. It was a bit of a challenge for me to be true to the character and then certainly the film. I thought it was beautifully rendered I hope everybody liked it.
BSCKids: So in one sentence why should everyone watch Christopher Robins?
Jim Cummings (In his Winnie The Pooh voice): Well first of all, if you like honey it is the best place to go. (Back to his normal voice) Everybody is going to be well served by the film, it is so sweet and there is almost an instant familiarity and it works on me too, whenever I do something I am in the audience just as much as on the screen. I am a sucker for it, I know what is coming and I still love it. It allows for a reconnection no matter what age you are back to your own childhood and the memories we all had as children.
I had to tell Jim I was a huge Gummi Bears fan so I had to thank him for his work on that show as well.
While we had a time limit to talk to Jim Cummings, we can tell you that we would have loved to speak to him for hours. He has done so many of our favorite voices in animation that it was a bit overwhelming. He had great stories to tell us and has played some of our favorite characters over the course of his career. Make sure to listen to him as Winnie the Pooh / Tigger in Christopher Robin. Not only that but you can hear part of the interview that we did with Jim over at the Disney themed podcast episode 42.
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