The voice of Winnie-the-Pooh comes to Peoria this weekend

PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD) – The voice behind iconic characters like Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Darkwing Duck, Ray from “The Princess and the Frog” and many other Disney and Warner Brothers characters is coming to Peoria.

Jim Cummings has voiced hundreds of characters for over four decades. This weekend he’s coming to PeoriaCon at the Peoria Civic Center to sign autographs and meet fans.

“It’s very sweet. People get very emotional when they meet Pooh. It’s an honor. I like knowing that if they get emotional and cry, it’s the good kind. It makes my day and it’s very, very sweet. I don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure,” Cummings said.

He said it was a humbling experience to see his characters span generations.

“You know, it’s always gratifying when a 30-year-old brings a 5-year-old and says, ‘I grew up with those Darkwing Duck cartoons and Pooh and Tigger and Tailspin and now I’m going to do this with this. The little guy will be sitting there, he’ll be 5 years old and he’ll be wearing a Darkwing Duck costume, and it’s fantastic. It’s just wonderful,'” he said.

Cummings is credited with more than 400 voice acting roles on his IMDB page, but coming up with new and different voices can be a challenge for the experienced actor.

“I wonder what would happen if this guy started talking. It sounds like a simple approach, but it seems to work,” he said.

Cummings voiced Ed, one of the hyenas in The Lion King. He also sang first vocals for Jeremy Irons as Scar in the song “Be Prepared.” The Lion King celebrates its 30th anniversary this July. He recalled the time when he voiced the wordless hyena.

“They didn’t want him to speak, but he had to express every emotion. The only thing we knew was that he couldn’t speak because Shenzi and Banzai. Cheech and Whoppi had a lot to say, but I had to be just as eloquent, without words,” Cummings said.

Cummings has a podcast called Toon’d in with Jim Cummings, where he talks to other voice actors in the industry. He’s had the likes of Tara Strong, Ron Perlman and Jeff Bergman on his show and said he hopes to bring in longtime friend Mark Hamill.

Cummings will be at the Peoria Civic Center July 13-14. He will sign autographs and meet fans.