The Voice Actors behind Winnie the Pooh
The long-beloved and adorable Winnie the Pooh is turning 95!
But fortunately, every year the bashful bear is commemorated on January the 18th! Unsurprising considering the ongoing animation success of this adorable cartoon character. And the many fantastic voiceovers of the characters over the years.
The books recounting the tales of Christopher Robin, the Hundred Acre Woods, and the magnificent Winnie the Pooh have been a huge success. But many fans are unaware of the original inspiration behind the much-beloved bear!
Reconnaissance and Herosim
The story behind the yellow coloured bear has a long history of reconnaissance and heroism.
The story of Winnie the Pooh is inspired by true events! In 1914, a Canadian soldier and veterinary trainee Harry Colebourn saved the life of a seven-month-old black bear cub trapped and held for sale in Winnipeg, Canada. Colebourn bought back the beloved bear called Winnipeg or Winnie from the trenches of war. And safeguarded her existence by offering her a home in the then newly established London Zoo. It was here that Young boy Christopher Robin allegedly fell in love with Winnie the Bear. Consequently changing the name of his beloved yellow teddy bear from Edward to Winnie the bear. Hence came about A.A. Milne’s stories of Winnie the Pooh.
Clearly, Edward Winnie-the-Pooh “Pooh” Bear may at first seem like a bumbling character. But has still managed to win the hearts of generations of audiences across the years. Audiences seem enraptured with everything about Pooh; from his fuzzy yellow fur to adorable red negligee and his soft-toned English accent.
After animation-giant Disney adopted an interest in the loveable bear in 1961, the on-screen magic truly began. Many memorable voiceover artists took interest in providing fantastic voice-overs for the loveable characters of the Pooh franchise.
But who provides the English voiceover for the anthropomorphic yet adorable honey-guzzling herbivore Pooh?
Unsurprisingly the character of Pooh has changed many voice-actors over the years. In recent decades, the voice of Winnie the Pooh has surprisingly been provided by American voice-over artist Jim Cummings. Cummings has been providing the voice for honey-some pooh since 1983. When he took over the voice role from fellow American voice artist Hal Smith.
But what about the other memorable characters of Winnie the Pooh?
The characters of Winnie the Pooh are voiced by a magnificent cast. Cummings continues to voice the roles of both Winnie the Pooh and fellow bouncing tiger Tigger. But the roles of Eeyore, Rabbit and Christopher Robin are voiced by other talented individuals. Bud Luckey voiced the role of depressed yet still-darling Eeyore. While child voice-over artist Jack Boulter starred as the ever-perky Cristopher Robin.
However, one could be mistaken in believing that the tales of Winnie the Pooh are limited to on-screen animation. In 2002, 2006, 2008, and then again in 2010, Winnie the Pooh starred in his very own Video game!
Sukekiyo Kameyama provides a brilliant Japanese voiceover for the character Winnie the Pooh. This proves the adorable bear’s popularity spans the globe and can be localised for any market.
Winnie the Pooh proves that excellent voiceover and great localisation can help characters and concepts to span over many generations.
Would you like to know how you can benefit from localisation of content and brilliant voiceovers?
Voice Talent Online is an international audio provision and voiceover company specialising in localisation of content, voiceover provision, video translation and child voiceovers! Get in touch now to see how we can help!
Comments
No comments yet