Voice acting is a pretty important part of animation. Of course, animating something isn’t easy, but have you ever tried watching a cartoon with nothing but subtitles? A lot of nuance is lost that way, because voice acting not only gives a character a voice, but also breathes life and personality into the animated characters on the screen.
And it’s not just about the words the character says; it’s also about the tone, emphasis, and emotion behind those words. A talented voice actor can convey their character’s feelings, intentions, and idiosyncrasies, making them seem real and relatable. And no one does voice acting better than Cree Summer, the Queen of Voice Actors (as she’s known to fans and critics), who has brought more than 100 characters to life with her voice and talent.
In fact, Cree Summer’s career is a collection of some of the most iconic performances that animated cinema and television has ever seen. We therefore invite you to join us as we explore and highlight her remarkable career and work to date. From her iconic role as Freddie Brooks in Another world to her extensive work as a voice actress in animated films such as The Rugrats And Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Summer’s voice is one of the most recognizable in all of animation, which isn’t too surprising considering most of her work can be heard in Saturday morning cartoons of the ’90s and 2000s.
Cree Summer was born on July 7, 1969, in Los Angeles to Canadian actor Don Francks and Lili “Red Eagle” Francks, née Clark. Although she was born in LA, she traveled and lived in British Columbia during her childhood, but they eventually moved to Saskatchewan and Toronto, Canada, where Cree Summer attended public school at age nine. There is not much publicly available information about her childhood, but we do know that she began acting at age 14.
Cree Summers’ acting career began when she played the role of Penny in the first season of the original series. Inspector Gadget series, after which she frequently appeared in other animated films, such as The Care Bears Movie from 1985 and Ewoks (also 1985), which are part of the Star Wars franchise. However, her breakthrough role, the role that catapulted her into fame, was that of the free-spirited Winifred “Freddie” Brooks in The Cosby Show Spin-off series Another world. She was cast in the role in 1988 and remained a permanent member of the cast throughout the series.
But even then, during the term of Another world, Cree Summer also continued her work as a voice actress. Another world ran for six seasons on NBC from 1987 to July 1993. After the series ended, Cree was cast in a rather short-lived series, Sweet Justice in 1994, until its termination in 1995. The project for which she was subsequently hired was Courthouse, a 1995 series that was canceled two months after its premiere.
Although it sounds like she was unlucky, Cree Summer found work elsewhere during this time. She voiced Elmyra Duff and Mary Melody in WB’s Tiny Toon Adventures and Dulcy the Dragon from Sonic the Hedgehog. Summer has also worked as a voice actress for video games; she provided the voice of Tandi in the original film. Stand out—which now has its own series—and in Fallout2, where she voiced First Citizen Lynette. In 1998, Cree voiced Susie Carmichael from the cult animated series Rugrats, as well as Cynder from The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning.
In fact, Cree Summer has at least two dozen voice acting roles in video games to her credit. She has worked on some of the most important game franchises, including the aforementioned Fallout, Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance, Diablo III, Final Fantasy X And X-2, X-Men Legends, Mass Effect, World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria where she voiced several characters and provided various voiceovers. Oh, and let’s not forget her singing role as Professor Penelope Young from the legendary Batman: Arkham Asylum Video game, part of the globally acclaimed Arkham game series.
Cree Summer worked as a voice actress for Nickelodeon. In addition to the previously mentioned Rugrats, Cree also voiced Susie Carmichael in All Grown Up!, Miranda, As Told by Ginger, Danny Phantom, And My life as a robot teenager. She also lent her voice to Princess Kida Kidagakash for the Disney series Atlantis: The Empire of the Lost World. Summer considers the role of Kida to be one of her favorites, and even counts the character as part of the official Disney Princess lineup—we do too; Kida is rightfully part of the official Disney Princess lineup.
Cree Summer is the undisputed queen of voice acting and has become synonymous with some of our favorite cartoon characters. When she’s not lending her many voices, she’s using her own to find moderate success as a singer-songwriter. Her voice and ability to transform into characters of all kinds expands the possibilities for black girls and women everywhere. So the next time we think about one of the old cartoons we watched as kids, let’s take a moment to think of Cree Summer and her timeless performances.
