Voice actor Jim Cummings celebrates 72nd birthday at Cape Con with fans, new Disney projects

Jim Cummings, the legendary voice actor known for his portrayal of more than a hundred Disney animated characters, celebrated his 72nd birthday at Cape Con 2024 on Sunday, Nov. 3, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

The annual three-day weekend event made its first appearance at the home of the Southeast Missouri State University men's and women's basketball teams (and numerous other events) after previously being at Drury Plaza Hotel.

Cummings held a fan panel Friday, Nov. 1, at which he answered questions from local fans in attendance, so long as they told him their favorite dessert. He also celebrated his podcast, "Toon'd In! with Jim Cummings" surpassing 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.

At Disney, Cummings is known for Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and a whole host of villains, most famously Pete from Mickey Mouse cartoons.

Cummings said the inspiration for most of his villain roles came from an attempt at an impression of actor Zero Mostel, saying if you have an impression that doesn't land, "It's a new character."

On top of his numerous villainous voice roles, Cummings also sang the songs for the antagonists in "The Lion King" and "Anastasia".

“Villains always get the cool songs,” Cummings said. “You always have to laugh at the end of the song because that’s what they do.”

During the panel, he teased his upcoming projects with Disney, the first being the DLC addition of his character, Hondo Ohnaka, in the Star Wars video game "Outlaws".

"I'm not a gamer, but I'm about to be," Cummings said.

Hondo Ohnaka is one of his more recent but favorite characters. A big reason why is his ability to ad-lib while voicing the character and successfully landing with the audience.

"Eight years ago, Vanity Fair had a two-page spread of the top 12 quotes of Star Wars' Hondo Ohnaka and I made up 10 of them," Cummings said. "I will always read and do as best I can what they write and then I kind of rewrite it in my head and I basically say the same thing but I come out with something else. One of my favorites was, 'Oh the stories I could tell you, Ezra. So many of them true.' That's just perfect Hondo logic."

Another member of his personal top five is Darkwing Duck, which debuted in 1991 as Disney's attempt at a Batman parody. There have been rumors of a possible series reboot on Disney+. The character made a comeback during the "Duck Tales" reboot (2017-19).

Similar to Hondo, Cummings is known for ad-libbing Darkwing Duck lines, especially during the intro scenes.

"Seven shows in, they would always write, 'I am the terror that flaps in the night. It doesn't matter what I write here because you know Jim's gonna say something else anyway. I am Darkwing Duck,'" Cummings said.

Cummings once voiced Dr. Robotnik, a character currently portrayed by Jim Carry in the live-action "Sonic the Hedgehog" movie trilogy. He told a story during the panel that the two legends once auditioned to play the protagonist in the 1993 Disney animated series "Bonkers".

"It was the longest audition process I ever went through," Cummings said.

Cape Comic Con has been a local staple for 19 years. The next event will be Cape Anime on Saturday, April 5, and Sunday, April 6.