Susanne Blakeslee (Fairly OddParents, Kingdom Hearts)

<v Speaker 1>If you're a fan of everything we do here at
<v Speaker 1>tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show
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<v Speaker 1>slash Jim Cummings Podcast. Do it now? How you doing
<v Speaker 1>out there? It's me Tigger, I am Doc Wayne Duck.
<v Speaker 1>It's me Bunkers keep bobcat All right, y'all? Is it great?
<v Speaker 2>Your favorite firefly.
<v Speaker 1>You desire Hondo old knock Gud. My name is Jim
<v Speaker 1>Cummings and welcome to tuned In.
<v Speaker 3>Welcome back, everybody to another episode of Tuned In with
<v Speaker 3>Jim Cummings. I'm producer Chris, joined as always by the
<v Speaker 3>legend himself, mister Jim Cummings.
<v Speaker 4>How are you today, sir?
<v Speaker 1>And we're back in the saddle again having a great day.
<v Speaker 1>Not other than ladies and gentlemen, sools, lakes Lee, come
<v Speaker 1>on down.
<v Speaker 4>Thank you for joining us today.
<v Speaker 1>Thank you for joining us today.
<v Speaker 2>Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, it's a fairly odd day. Yes, so I'm glad
<v Speaker 1>you could make it and welcome.
<v Speaker 2>Welcome, thank you, thank you, thank you.
<v Speaker 1>You are humble. I'm honored our humble little podcast. Oh
<v Speaker 1>we are as well. Thanks for being here. And you
<v Speaker 1>didn't have a too big of a drive.
<v Speaker 2>I take you No, no, took me about fifteen minutes.
<v Speaker 1>Okay in LA. That's that's next door.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah's you're practically here already, exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Well, I'm just glad you're here. Thank you. And it's
<v Speaker 1>interesting because we run into each other at different conventions
<v Speaker 1>here and there. Yeah, and unfortunately I don't have anything
<v Speaker 1>for you to sign right here, but I'm sure that'll
<v Speaker 1>be taken up for you. A thousand dollars Okay, Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that's right, good night, everybody. Fantastic. So I always like
<v Speaker 1>to know from people, when did you know that you
<v Speaker 1>were one of my fellow weirdos? Put it that way,
<v Speaker 1>you know, when did you know you had to you
<v Speaker 1>were going to grow up and do this? Oh?
<v Speaker 2>My, I always wanted to be an actor. At the
<v Speaker 2>age of six, my parents had My Fair Lady the album,
<v Speaker 2>and I wanted to be Julie Andrews and imitated her
<v Speaker 2>for years and years and in New York. I landed
<v Speaker 2>in a show called Forbidden Broadway where we had to
<v Speaker 2>spoof different Broadway stars and musicals. And then I came
<v Speaker 2>here with the show and got an agent and.
<v Speaker 1>That had to be a ball. It was. It was
<v Speaker 1>really great, way too much fun.
<v Speaker 2>It was really fun, fun and a lot of hard work.
<v Speaker 1>Eight shows a week, eight shows.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, but it really you it's the same thing with
<v Speaker 2>voiceover kind of thing. You had to just dive in.
<v Speaker 2>Oh today you need to do Barbers streisand and just
<v Speaker 2>like go, okay, I'll try Oh.
<v Speaker 1>Oh no, should we let her off the hook? Or
<v Speaker 1>are we gonna all right? Give us a little give
<v Speaker 1>us a little strisand back, yes, complete with facial gymnastics.
<v Speaker 1>That's wonderful, ladies and gentlemen. Good for you. Well that
<v Speaker 1>had to be.
<v Speaker 2>It was really fun and I just I was fortunate
<v Speaker 2>to land in a voiceover. They needed a new Cuella
<v Speaker 2>Deville Disney, and trotted over to my agent's and picked
<v Speaker 2>up a little cassette tape and listened to it all
<v Speaker 2>weekend long. And that was really my first role.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, I can't gosh, I can't think of who
<v Speaker 1>that was the original? Can you so I know she
<v Speaker 1>was very cruel, yes, and she had a fabulous fashion sense. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>black and white. Everything was black white, everything was fucking
<v Speaker 1>including her and her credit one hundred and won Dalmatians.
<v Speaker 2>But that was really exciting, and my first recording of that.
<v Speaker 2>Wayne and Rusie were there and they had seen me
<v Speaker 2>perform and welcomed me beautifully. Yes, I was nervous.
<v Speaker 1>Well, they they were an amazing people. For those of you,
<v Speaker 1>the three of you out there who don't know, that
<v Speaker 1>was actually Mickey and Minnie Mouse for many many years,
<v Speaker 1>great great, great old buddies of mine. In fact, I
<v Speaker 1>met Rusie almost day one in the business, and she
<v Speaker 1>was she was just a sweetheart of a gal. But
<v Speaker 1>Mickey and Minnie were actually married in real life exactly,
<v Speaker 1>So how about that? Yeah? In fact, I remember when
<v Speaker 1>they got married and the two of them, they were
<v Speaker 1>so darn cute you couldn't stand it. And they were
<v Speaker 1>both well, we can't tell anybody, We don't want anybody
<v Speaker 1>to know, because you know, tabloids will write silly things
<v Speaker 1>and do terrible things. You're Mickey and Minnie. What can
<v Speaker 1>they write?
<v Speaker 2>What?
<v Speaker 1>You know? Shame on them? Will we'll get we'll sue
<v Speaker 1>them if you know. But they're just as cute as
<v Speaker 1>they could be.
<v Speaker 2>They were so in love. Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, but
<v Speaker 2>they welcomed me and you sort of gave me their blessing.
<v Speaker 1>Right, thank you. That had to feel good. Yeah, that
<v Speaker 1>had to feel good to Disney legends, approaching a future
<v Speaker 1>legend and hey, we'll take it. Well, you're a legendary
<v Speaker 1>bad girl. I mean, I mean, your the name's alone maleficent. Ye, Cruella. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you can't say Cruella without saying cruel.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly, so exactly. I love, I love, give me all
<v Speaker 2>the hags you got. You know.
<v Speaker 1>Oh there's an expression you don't hear like you used to,
<v Speaker 1>but coining a new phrase.
<v Speaker 4>Did you?
<v Speaker 3>Did you grow up doing theater like when when you
<v Speaker 3>were young in school?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? My first part was they were doing we were
<v Speaker 2>doing Prints in the Pauper in elementary school, and I
<v Speaker 2>played the popper's father because I thought it was great.
<v Speaker 2>He was like, really, mean, I I'll do that.
<v Speaker 1>You played the father. I played the father. Okay, sure,
<v Speaker 1>I take it. Your voice is not changed much, so
<v Speaker 1>you must have been a very.
<v Speaker 2>I was probably really really terrible. Yeah, and I enjoyed myself.
<v Speaker 1>That's right. Well as long as that, as long as
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure that came through. Yeah. So theater was your.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, musical?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, mine too, Mine too. I just thought it
<v Speaker 1>was so much fun. Yeah, you know, and and it
<v Speaker 1>was I remember distinctly thinking this is a great way
<v Speaker 1>to meet girls because I wasn't that good an athletes,
<v Speaker 1>so I didn't have that going for me. But boy,
<v Speaker 1>you were in one play and make people laugh and
<v Speaker 1>maybe you got to sing a song. Oh forget about it. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I'm doing this.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah.
<v Speaker 1>And I don't remember meeting you, but had I done so,
<v Speaker 1>we we would have had a much much more interesting past.
<v Speaker 1>But you're here now. It's a beautiful thing. And were
<v Speaker 1>you on fire for it too? Because I ended up
<v Speaker 1>doing it because I mean I've I've said it before.
<v Speaker 1>I do this because I really can't do or want
<v Speaker 1>to do anything else. Were you in that kind of
<v Speaker 1>category as well?
<v Speaker 2>Well? I did wait tables in New York?
<v Speaker 1>Okay, well yeah, well ok.
<v Speaker 2>Except but this is no, this is what I've always
<v Speaker 2>wanted to do, and I'm just so grateful that I'm
<v Speaker 2>able to do it. So h yeah, yeah, I agree,
<v Speaker 2>it was I remember in high school, I was determined
<v Speaker 2>to be an actor, and my mom came to me
<v Speaker 2>one time and said, have you thought about home ch
<v Speaker 2>And for those of you who don't know that, it
<v Speaker 2>was this class where you learn to cook and sew.
<v Speaker 1>And and and like budget things. Yes, it was going
<v Speaker 1>to make grocery lists exactly. I think that's in there.
<v Speaker 2>That's like wow, I'm like, no, mom, thanks.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, brownie making.
<v Speaker 2>Public school in the seventies, that's what that's what you did.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>And if a girl wanted to do shop class, that
<v Speaker 2>was considered no, only the boys.
<v Speaker 1>You know, oh boy, Well nowadays that's changed exactly.
<v Speaker 4>Did they have those classes anymore?
<v Speaker 2>I hope not?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, shop class.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, the boys would like make wooden.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember it.
<v Speaker 3>I'm just I'm curious if they still have those type
<v Speaker 3>of classes anymore.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. I just remember in home ech, because
<v Speaker 2>it was public schools, everything you made, bake wise was
<v Speaker 2>made with lard. Lard, yes, not butter, not march and yeah,
<v Speaker 2>good old fashioned large.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, lagassi would be happy, right, pork fat, pork fat rules. Yes, well,
<v Speaker 1>we were health nuts back back then.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly.
<v Speaker 1>I never met an artery. We didn't want to clog.
<v Speaker 1>Oh my gosh, and yet you made it.
<v Speaker 2>I made it somehow. Yeah, I'm still here.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, I am too almost, So that's good. This is
<v Speaker 1>working out beautifully.
<v Speaker 3>So you took over the voice of crawl Deville and
<v Speaker 3>then that was your first introduction.
<v Speaker 4>To voice acting.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and so sort of at the same time, there
<v Speaker 2>was a cartoon Casper the Friendly Ghost, and they needed
<v Speaker 2>a like a Julie Andrews nanny, you know, Mary Poppins thing,
<v Speaker 2>So I did that at the same time.
<v Speaker 1>But yeah, and that was that the the movie or
<v Speaker 1>the series series. Yeah, they had a few of those. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I remember the Casper.
<v Speaker 2>The Friendly Ghost ghost.
<v Speaker 1>You know, I've never heard it before. That was just
<v Speaker 1>a lucky guest, just a lucky guest.
<v Speaker 2>That's why you are you.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I plucked it out of the ether. And I remember,
<v Speaker 1>Now this is really a silly aside, but he had
<v Speaker 1>a cousin or something named uh Spooky, and he was Spooky,
<v Speaker 1>the tough little ghost. L I l with the apostrophe
<v Speaker 1>in there somewhere, and I related to him because he
<v Speaker 1>would go on scare raids and he would go down
<v Speaker 1>to the local village or wherever from wherever he lived
<v Speaker 1>and just fly around scaring the crap out of people.
<v Speaker 1>And I thought that was a great, great calling. Yep.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>And I remember being at my grandmother's house poking holes
<v Speaker 1>in a This is how young I was, poking holes
<v Speaker 1>in a large pillowcase, and then running around at the
<v Speaker 1>gate down there when people would pass, Man, get this
<v Speaker 1>kid out of here, come get your child. You know
<v Speaker 1>it was put him in the house with the hell
<v Speaker 1>matter with you? You know I didn't go over Well,
<v Speaker 1>I love it. Yeah, yeah, what are you gonna do now? Well,
<v Speaker 1>Jesus had to leave town to make it big too,
<v Speaker 1>so there you go. You know, no comparison, mind you.
<v Speaker 1>But but if it was tough on him, who can
<v Speaker 1>what can I expect exactly? And do you do you
<v Speaker 1>have more fun playing bad girls than because you've got
<v Speaker 1>a few of them?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? I love them, even as a kid when I
<v Speaker 2>you know, you'd go to the uh the drive in
<v Speaker 2>movie theaters and sit on the roof. And I loved
<v Speaker 2>the bad guys. It's just and like with Disney, I
<v Speaker 2>try to I kind of think there's sort of Shakespearean
<v Speaker 2>these villains, and everything is so delicious to them.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, it's true.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it's a load of fun to do that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Well, if you think of sleeping beauties.
<v Speaker 5>Which she was, oh yeah, very classic villainous exactly exactly.
<v Speaker 1>I just.
<v Speaker 2>I idolized those characters when I was a kid. I
<v Speaker 2>don't know what that says about me, but.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, good taste exactly, Oh my gosh. Yeah, and you
<v Speaker 1>know it would lead somewhere, so it seemed to work out.
<v Speaker 1>So hey, yeah, too bad, right, yep, we'll.
<v Speaker 2>Take it exactly exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Well, I think bad guys, bad girls they have more
<v Speaker 1>fun we do. Yeah, it's just seems that way. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>Peter Pan was cool and he could fly, but Captain
<v Speaker 1>Nook was having a great time, you know.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I mean yeah, I think there's there's something more
<v Speaker 3>like it's almost like villains can be more human in
<v Speaker 3>a weird way. You know, they don't have to be
<v Speaker 3>so cookie cutter and like, you know, we all make
<v Speaker 3>mistakes and you know, have a struggle between right and wrong,
<v Speaker 3>like you think about iconic villains. You know, it's I mean,
<v Speaker 3>even look at like the Joker, you know, Heath Ledger's Joker,
<v Speaker 3>I mean, yes, so much of his character was like
<v Speaker 3>a choice of morality and immorality, you know, that's how
<v Speaker 3>he terrorized people. Yeah, but like I'm going to challenge
<v Speaker 3>everybody's morals, you know, And I think that's true. What
<v Speaker 3>sticks with people, it's like, oh that's like, you know,
<v Speaker 3>not he's not a hero, but it's like more interesting
<v Speaker 3>to see that rather than like this is right and wrong, you.
<v Speaker 2>Know, exactly. And they they also have the ability to
<v Speaker 2>be very sarcastic, which most actors love, I mean very much.
<v Speaker 4>So yeah, you know, yeah that's true. That's very true.
<v Speaker 3>And it's hard to make a hero sarcastic in that
<v Speaker 3>same same vein exactly, it kind of comes off as like,
<v Speaker 3>you know, maybe they're a smart ass or know it
<v Speaker 3>all or something.
<v Speaker 4>It's like, okay, you can't really have the good guy
<v Speaker 4>doing dark wing.
<v Speaker 1>Duck gets a cute to being sarcastic a lot her
<v Speaker 1>has over the years, and I go, yeah, that's right.
<v Speaker 1>Why you know, it's like, well, gie, oh, I hope
<v Speaker 1>I'm not offending you too much, you know, but yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I mean, you know, you throw a little of that
<v Speaker 1>in next thing.
<v Speaker 5>You're having fun, so exactly exactly right, yase.
<v Speaker 2>I mean the great thing about what we get to
<v Speaker 2>do is laugh all the time, and that, you know,
<v Speaker 2>gives you a lot more years in life, I.
<v Speaker 1>Think, Yeah, oh I agree. Yeah. Well I've always said
<v Speaker 1>that I make a living doing the things used to
<v Speaker 1>get me kicked out of class exactly. You know, but
<v Speaker 1>the other kids were entertained, you know, Sister Mary Agnes,
<v Speaker 1>not so much.
<v Speaker 5>I would have loved to have met you when you
<v Speaker 5>were Oh, I was a bit of a I was
<v Speaker 5>a chore.
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, yes, yes you can. If my parents were here,
<v Speaker 1>they'd be going.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>He was a real pain in the ass. But that's okay.
<v Speaker 1>But we made it payoff though, right.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, absolutely.
<v Speaker 3>So what was the time span between Corelle Deville and
<v Speaker 3>Wanda and Fairly Odd Parents?
<v Speaker 2>It was maybe five years or four years?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, I was thinking it was relatively short.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>We auditioned for a thing called oh Yeah Cartoons, and
<v Speaker 2>I did a couple of those, one of which was
<v Speaker 2>Fairly Odd Parents, and they liked it. They picked up
<v Speaker 2>six and liked it some more, and we started running
<v Speaker 2>and it was fun from the very very beginning. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>those people that I worked with are so talented and
<v Speaker 2>so funny and just great to be around.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>So I'm very fortunate to have managed to drop it.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, worked with our buddy Darren Norris.
<v Speaker 2>I love Darren.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, his voice could probably shatter a picture window. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>you always knew, yes, yes, yeah, you know he's got that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a you know, Nickelodeon. You could hear him. Oh,
<v Speaker 2>Darren's in the building, okay, Yeah, but we from the
<v Speaker 2>very beginning, we would we would stand next to each
<v Speaker 2>other with the plexiglass in the middle and always be
<v Speaker 2>in sync. And I just have adored him since the
<v Speaker 2>first time I ever met him.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, he's a good boy. Yeah, he's got he's got
<v Speaker 1>a he's got a delivery. He does and it pays off.
<v Speaker 3>Did you guys improve a lot on that show? Yes,
<v Speaker 3>you can tell, yeah, because it's such like I always
<v Speaker 3>compare it to like a tennis game, you know, when
<v Speaker 3>you're like bouncing off each other jokes and exactly.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, we of course had brilliant writers, but yeah,
<v Speaker 2>there was a lot of ad libbing. Darren made up
<v Speaker 2>a whole song that got in the show.
<v Speaker 1>So oh wow, that's pretty good.
<v Speaker 2>I'm sure if you get him on he'll sing it.
<v Speaker 2>A nuclear reactor. I don't know what it was, but
<v Speaker 2>it was.
<v Speaker 1>But a sentimental song about reactors.
<v Speaker 2>Isn't it?
<v Speaker 1>Great?
<v Speaker 2>Good time? There's a Hallmark card in there some way exactly.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, we just had the greatest time. And we
<v Speaker 2>you know, added on, you know, Carlos Alis, rocky, amazingly funny,
<v Speaker 2>of course, Greater Lyle and the Wonderful Terror Strong.
<v Speaker 1>Yes she was. She was that in the show.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, Wonderful Terror Strong, Yes exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Sort of mid Atlantic delivery there, Wonderful Terror Strong exactly.
<v Speaker 2>Hello darling. Yes, but we had a just a great time.
<v Speaker 2>And I remember looking at the picture of Wanda at first,
<v Speaker 2>and I thought, I thought a little bit, well Carol Burnett, who.
<v Speaker 1>Is my.
<v Speaker 2>I idolize her, and a little bit of Joan Whirley.
<v Speaker 2>So she was kind of up in here.
<v Speaker 5>What oh, yes, yes she was, Hello everybody, Yes exactly.
<v Speaker 1>The dogs are outside going what wait?
<v Speaker 2>Well, I know I always say that our show can You.
<v Speaker 2>People said have told me at cons that their kids
<v Speaker 2>watched it first thing in the morning. I'm like, well
<v Speaker 2>that'll wake them up.
<v Speaker 1>Wow, you don't need any coffee.
<v Speaker 2>And we once did a video and it was this
<v Speaker 2>British producer who could not stand Wanda's voice, and she
<v Speaker 2>kept saying, can you make it softer Darling?
<v Speaker 1>Oh I can't really yet, very well yeah, yeah, can
<v Speaker 1>you not be your character? Yeah, it's kind of what
<v Speaker 1>she was almost saying.
<v Speaker 5>Yeah, now you're going to have to suffer through that exactly.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's what I got hired for a lady.
<v Speaker 3>And that was the first voice you landed on for her. Yes, yeah,
<v Speaker 3>that's nice.
<v Speaker 2>Am Darren with Cosmo started off like a Phil Hartman
<v Speaker 2>type thing and then oh, but just kept going higher
<v Speaker 2>and higher and higher, and he ended up with the
<v Speaker 2>Falsetto voice for Cosmo.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it was fun. Yes, Well I see him nowadays.
<v Speaker 1>I'll see him like at conventions. Yeah, he hasn't changed
<v Speaker 1>a bit. He's no hey, yeah, yeah, I feel I
<v Speaker 1>feel like he's going to sell me something in a
<v Speaker 1>minute after you meet him. If you're a fan of
<v Speaker 1>everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings,
<v Speaker 1>you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts,
<v Speaker 1>as well as early in ad free access to the
<v Speaker 1>show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference,
<v Speaker 1>so go ahead and join the tuned In family today
<v Speaker 1>at Patreon dot com Slash Jim Cummings podcast Do It Now.
<v Speaker 3>What you said just makes me wonder though. A question
<v Speaker 3>for both of you. How often do you use the
<v Speaker 3>first voice of an original character. Do you have to
<v Speaker 3>go through iterations often or is it kind of a
<v Speaker 3>gut feeling of when you first see an image of
<v Speaker 3>a character like this is how they're going to sound.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's a little of both. This I just
<v Speaker 2>came upon. But I've been in sessions where I'm doing
<v Speaker 2>extra characters, and we had this one thing in Fairly
<v Speaker 2>odd Parents. One day an actor was trying out, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>you're the mailman or whatever, and he did something and
<v Speaker 2>Butcher went no, no, And so our phrase is no, no, no,
<v Speaker 2>no until you find the characters. Yeah, you just try
<v Speaker 2>to pull out as many as you can for.
<v Speaker 1>Some positive reinforcement. No no, no, no, yes, yes, yes.
<v Speaker 1>Did you get a yes? Yes? Eventually? Must have. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>It's not as fun as no. No, that's right. That
<v Speaker 1>was actually very Carol Burnetti too.
<v Speaker 2>Actually, if you think about it, that's true.
<v Speaker 1>I could see her doing that. Yeah, oh my god.
<v Speaker 4>What about for you, Jim.
<v Speaker 1>Well, she's you know, whenever I would do a new character,
<v Speaker 1>I think it's uh. The first thing I ended up
<v Speaker 1>doing is usually what because I don't have that good
<v Speaker 1>an imagination, So I got like one or two in me,
<v Speaker 1>what do you think? First?
<v Speaker 4>But okay, good, good, like a like a character like Ray.
<v Speaker 4>That was first iteration.
<v Speaker 1>Uh yeah, yeah, well he I knew the cage. It's
<v Speaker 1>a Cajun accent from Princess and the Frog, and I
<v Speaker 1>was the Cajun firefly. And I had been a deckhand
<v Speaker 1>on a riverboat in New Orleans for a long time,
<v Speaker 1>and so I would be the only one on a
<v Speaker 1>lot of boats for that spoke English as a first
<v Speaker 1>language because they spoke you know, Cajun French and and
<v Speaker 1>that that accent that got like that, you know that
<v Speaker 1>they talked this way. Yeah, and I used it for Leatherhead,
<v Speaker 1>the the alligator from Teenage Meeting Ninja Turtles. And then
<v Speaker 1>I couldn't use a voice like that, you know, because
<v Speaker 1>that was a little too big vote for this little
<v Speaker 1>guy like that. So next thing I knew I did,
<v Speaker 1>made him a little bit like that and give him
<v Speaker 1>a little squeak here and there, and uh, and out
<v Speaker 1>came Ray. So yeah, I love that. Yeah, Yeah, it's again,
<v Speaker 1>it's all the stuff you used to get me kicked
<v Speaker 1>out of class exactly. You know the jokes on them
<v Speaker 1>right right.
<v Speaker 2>I remember touring in a musical and my sixth grade
<v Speaker 2>math teacher showed up. Oh, she said, you were such
<v Speaker 2>a shy kid. I thought you would become a teacher.
<v Speaker 1>Or you know what, Wow, no kidding. You were shy?
<v Speaker 2>Yes I was. I was a shy kid, but especially
<v Speaker 2>when I got to high school, I just mustard up
<v Speaker 2>the courage. And my first role was Lady Bracknell in
<v Speaker 2>the Importance of being Earnest, and I just tried to
<v Speaker 2>channel my day me Edith evans An. Whether it has
<v Speaker 2>handles or not, you know, just that's great.
<v Speaker 4>I love that play.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was probably again really terrible.
<v Speaker 1>Apparently not. But like you say, you got the job
<v Speaker 1>I did.
<v Speaker 2>I did well. It's kind of hard to fire you
<v Speaker 2>from a high school, That's true.
<v Speaker 3>Would you say that performing helped you with your shyness,
<v Speaker 3>like as a way to express yourself?
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely? I mean I always, like I said, I always
<v Speaker 2>wanted to be an actor, but I kind of like
<v Speaker 2>kept it inside for several years and uh so performing
<v Speaker 2>really just uh brought out all my my inhibitions were
<v Speaker 2>like you know, thrown out to the side because you
<v Speaker 2>have to be able to jump into character as opposed
<v Speaker 2>to apologize. You can't apologize as an actor really except
<v Speaker 2>after they go no no, no, yeah, yeah, okay.
<v Speaker 1>Well let me finish, let me finish, right, Oh god,
<v Speaker 1>But it's true.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, you got You have to make your choices,
<v Speaker 2>and you know they either work or not, and you
<v Speaker 2>can fine tune around that, but you have to make
<v Speaker 2>a bold choice, bold enough choice absolutely.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, whether it's.
<v Speaker 2>Small or big, it's still you know, you have to stay.
<v Speaker 4>I know exactly what you mean.
<v Speaker 3>And I think that's like something that a lot of
<v Speaker 3>actors right now kind of struggle with. You know, we
<v Speaker 3>don't really have, like my generation younger doesn't really have
<v Speaker 3>like Nicholas Cage, you know, like type of actors. You know,
<v Speaker 3>everybody's so like reserved almost like when you have to
<v Speaker 3>take those like wild that's really entertaining when you're authentic
<v Speaker 3>with it.
<v Speaker 4>Yes, you know, it's.
<v Speaker 3>Like oh yeah, like I mean, all go any Nick
<v Speaker 3>Cage movie just for his performance. Yeah, you know, because
<v Speaker 3>you know, you know it's going to be unique at least,
<v Speaker 3>and you know it's going to be authentic.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly exactly, Well, that is for sure.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, so I completely agree with what you're saying.
<v Speaker 3>I mean, yeah, you can't be apologetic. I think that's
<v Speaker 3>what a lot of actors need to hear, honestly. Yeah,
<v Speaker 3>so you can't with it, probably with any art forms,
<v Speaker 3>to be truly great at it, I would say sure.
<v Speaker 2>And you know, let's say you go to an audition
<v Speaker 2>and just give it your all. You might in the
<v Speaker 2>car go oh god, why did I why didn't I
<v Speaker 2>do this or that or the other thing, But when
<v Speaker 2>you're you know, performing or auditioning, you have to just
<v Speaker 2>like put it out there.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>There's a place I'm sure I don't know if you've
<v Speaker 1>ever been to over in Burbank called the Voice Caster.
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, yeah, you know. And Bob Lloyd rest is
<v Speaker 1>So he started it many years ago and he had
<v Speaker 1>a I forget what the act in him is, but
<v Speaker 1>it's a practice on your own time, perform on ours excellent,
<v Speaker 1>toyo poo or pool or something like that.
<v Speaker 2>Excellent.
<v Speaker 1>And I think that's yeah, that's legit, don't you think. Yes?
<v Speaker 5>I think that's you know, says it all really, Yeah, Yeah,
<v Speaker 5>nothing worse than driving home and going wait a minute, you.
<v Speaker 1>Know what I should have done?
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yeah, there's always that yeah, should have yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, but so far, so good.
<v Speaker 2>So far, so good. Yes, yes, yes, you know you
<v Speaker 2>still kick yourself for not taking full advantage of an
<v Speaker 2>opportunity in your life. But you can never live just
<v Speaker 2>regretting everything. Yeah, go forward.
<v Speaker 1>You gotta live with what you what you got.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And I would say, if you've got a string,
<v Speaker 1>pull it exactly.
<v Speaker 2>Well.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, you know, and you've been you've been doing well.
<v Speaker 1>So life is good.
<v Speaker 2>Life is good. Life is good. And again, I'm just
<v Speaker 2>very grateful to be able to enjoy what I do.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, well that counts.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. And the daunting thing is that these conventions, don't
<v Speaker 2>you find that it's so humbling that people people sometimes
<v Speaker 2>come up to you and say it changed my life
<v Speaker 2>because I was in a really bad place and it
<v Speaker 2>made me happy, and that just is extraordinary. I'm going
<v Speaker 2>to start to cry, but yeah, it's really it's true.
<v Speaker 1>I agree. Yeah, I've had stories that will just put
<v Speaker 1>you on your knees. I won't you know, I've delved
<v Speaker 1>into them here and there. But it's it's really interesting
<v Speaker 1>and I think, you know, thank you Lord. Being the
<v Speaker 1>voice of winning to Poo these many decades has given
<v Speaker 1>me a just beautiful chance to get to not know
<v Speaker 1>people that but but become a part of their lives.
<v Speaker 1>And when I meet them, they they impart that to
<v Speaker 1>me and it and it's a really a beautiful bonding thing.
<v Speaker 1>And you know, people will cry and they'll say, well,
<v Speaker 1>you got me through Grandma's death or you know, or
<v Speaker 1>whatever that is got me through that sound. I have
<v Speaker 1>no idea what that is, but water filter.
<v Speaker 2>It was the safe opening and then all the money
<v Speaker 2>tumbles out.
<v Speaker 1>Hi, folks were one. We're pretending this is live because
<v Speaker 1>we're going to leave that in. I think it was interesting.
<v Speaker 1>It was really a cool sound there. Yeah. I was
<v Speaker 1>expecting somebody to beam down.
<v Speaker 4>I was like thinking of mechanics at the door or something.
<v Speaker 4>I'm like, what is that?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah? Yeah, way to kill a heartfelt Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sorry, what the hell was I talking about? Something
<v Speaker 1>about sentimental blah blah blah yacketty schmacketty.
<v Speaker 4>Sorry about that?
<v Speaker 1>Hell, Okay, what are you gonna do? Yeah? Yeah, but
<v Speaker 1>it is true. You know, you don't know, you don't
<v Speaker 1>know the things that we do because we're in a
<v Speaker 1>I've said it before. We performed most of the time
<v Speaker 1>in a vacuum. You know, we don't even have the
<v Speaker 1>whole cast there, like yeah, back back in the old day. Yeah, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you know I missed those days.
<v Speaker 2>I do too. I hope that, yeah, it'll come back.
<v Speaker 2>Like what you were mentioning, ad libbing and stuff, you
<v Speaker 2>can't really do that over.
<v Speaker 1>Zoom no and not, and you can't do it flying
<v Speaker 1>solo either, exactly.
<v Speaker 4>You know.
<v Speaker 1>I I hope I'm throwing a bore everybody with the
<v Speaker 1>story again. But in Aladdin three maybe Ladin Yeah, Aladin
<v Speaker 1>the third a Latin. Robin Williams came back and uh,
<v Speaker 1>Dan Castlynetta film did his thing and it was brilliant,
<v Speaker 1>of course because he's Dan Castlenetta and made a lot
<v Speaker 1>of money. So Robin said, oh, you know what, I'll
<v Speaker 1>do the third one. It's fine going I'm back, you know.
<v Speaker 1>And so he came and there's this one scene and
<v Speaker 1>of course he only had libs, and I've been known
<v Speaker 1>to ad lib here and there, and there was this
<v Speaker 1>one scene where he was he imagined the courtroom bloom
<v Speaker 1>and of course Genie is the judge, she's the jury,
<v Speaker 1>he's the prosecuting attorney, and I was in the witness stands,
<v Speaker 1>shackled in there in my character, and he was interviewing me.
<v Speaker 1>And I had lived one or two lines back from
<v Speaker 1>you know, the reader who was there. And they go, oh,
<v Speaker 1>let's keep that, let's keep that. Then I had lived
<v Speaker 1>in number Oh let's keep that. Let's keep that. So
<v Speaker 1>what happened was as a result of them keeping that,
<v Speaker 1>Robin's line didn't work the following after after, so they
<v Speaker 1>had to call him back in. And he said, oh, really, oh,
<v Speaker 1>little mister cartoon man wants to do. Who is his name? Cummings?
<v Speaker 1>Never heard of him, never heard of him, I don't care.
<v Speaker 1>Don't tell me his name again, and so and and
<v Speaker 1>he personally dissed me, goes, well, that'll be enough of that,
<v Speaker 1>and he reached over it and apparently described to them,
<v Speaker 1>and he pulled on my character's feet and rolled him
<v Speaker 1>up into a blind and made him vanish. Well, we're
<v Speaker 1>done with that now. Now we can move forward with
<v Speaker 1>more me and and so I have the distinction of
<v Speaker 1>being personally kind of given the finger.
<v Speaker 2>I love it by Robert Williams.
<v Speaker 1>So you know I got that going for me.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would take that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Yeah, so, and I'm sure he's listening exactly, but yeah,
<v Speaker 1>what are we gonna do? We'll take it. Yeah, So
<v Speaker 1>what's happened? What's keeping you smiling these days? You're doing
<v Speaker 1>lots of appearances.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, doing some of those, and doing a bunch of
<v Speaker 2>video games that.
<v Speaker 1>I don't Can we talk about them?
<v Speaker 2>Not really, because well, first of all, they give you
<v Speaker 2>alias titles anyway, although you kind of sort out some things,
<v Speaker 2>but uh, those are really fun to do. Although there
<v Speaker 2>was there was a one online game that I one
<v Speaker 2>of those that had a bazillion characters, and I remember
<v Speaker 2>doing maybe a ninth character and thinking, wow, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I'm not sure I sounded different being set on fire
<v Speaker 2>as this woman the other.
<v Speaker 1>One, yeare similar. I think everybody sounds the same once
<v Speaker 1>they've been set on fire exactly.
<v Speaker 2>But uh, yeah, I've been killed by bees set on fire.
<v Speaker 2>I was killed by a tree. That was a new one.
<v Speaker 1>I think you invented a new segment. How many times
<v Speaker 1>have you been killed on microphone or on camera? It's true,
<v Speaker 1>and which was the most painful.
<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of that, especially in video video games. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>that's being pulled and.
<v Speaker 1>You know, just yeah, yeah, fairly odd parents, you were
<v Speaker 1>probably safer.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly. I could always wish myself out of or or
<v Speaker 2>grant my wish.
<v Speaker 1>To get the hell out of I wish I was.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I wish actually would be a really good segment.
<v Speaker 4>What's the worst way you've been killed on my phone camera?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah?
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, there's ray, of course, Ray.
<v Speaker 1>And we we'll make sure not to give you credit.
<v Speaker 1>Don't worry, no problem, good everybody night.
<v Speaker 2>But yeah, video games, that's a lot of that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's a hazard exactly. Yeah, that's the one tough
<v Speaker 1>thing that about video games that I when I do
<v Speaker 1>do them, I always say, well, okay, well the impacts
<v Speaker 1>or you know by that, I mean you've been hit,
<v Speaker 1>because I always get hit a lot of video games.
<v Speaker 1>I get the crap smacked out of me no matter
<v Speaker 1>what I'm playing. And I say, can we do those
<v Speaker 1>at the end? Ah, you know there's a lot be
<v Speaker 1>boiled alive. Can we do that at the end? Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you know that way you can still speak, Yeah, to
<v Speaker 1>the end of the recording exactly.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, there's a lot of falling from one hundred feet,
<v Speaker 2>falling from fifty feet now, yes, fall down on the ground.
<v Speaker 2>It's like you really.
<v Speaker 1>Know you're falling from Jupiter exactly, Man, are you sure? Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it's a.
<v Speaker 2>Whole other creature. And at one of the conventions, I
<v Speaker 2>think this guy was really disappointed that I didn't play
<v Speaker 2>the game while I was recording it.
<v Speaker 1>That'd be tough, because.
<v Speaker 2>He said, well, when you how did you clear on
<v Speaker 2>the concept? I mean, he yeah, how did you get
<v Speaker 2>to there? Well, I just read a script to disappoint you.
<v Speaker 1>Look words exactly? Is that it? So you were cheating
<v Speaker 1>and looking and exactly? Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>He was really and he was he looked like he
<v Speaker 2>was gonna get mad at me. I'm like, well, sorry.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah, but.
<v Speaker 2>He was so immersed in that, uh, that situation that
<v Speaker 2>they built up that I'm like, we just And of
<v Speaker 2>course in video games it's a different script almost like
<v Speaker 2>a that's true.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's not a storyline exactly. You have to imagine
<v Speaker 1>where you are in the storyline, yeah, and then glomb
<v Speaker 1>into it that way, because it's like you're you know,
<v Speaker 1>the other actors there and you say this, and you
<v Speaker 1>act and you react, you act and you react. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it's no, it's just boom boom, boom boom exactly.
<v Speaker 2>And like you said, acting and reacting is really what
<v Speaker 2>acting is all about. So this is sort of its
<v Speaker 2>own little animal.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you have to react to yourself exactly. And I
<v Speaker 1>don't know if you've ever had one of these situations.
<v Speaker 1>Where did they ever give you a reader to read with? Yes,
<v Speaker 1>oh yes, how'd that go?
<v Speaker 2>It's not very well.
<v Speaker 1>Did you see that, big son? That's how you know
<v Speaker 1>what's coming? Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's worse than it's It makes it worse because
<v Speaker 2>it's just this person who has no idea, has no
<v Speaker 2>emotions involved.
<v Speaker 1>Now yeah it's oh boy, now I'm going to kill you.
<v Speaker 1>Look out, I'm coming after you. And I was saying, okay,
<v Speaker 1>well I'm not scared exactly, well I'm gonna run, you know.
<v Speaker 1>It's like, yeah, you can't. Can't phone those in and
<v Speaker 1>either commit or shut up exactly.
<v Speaker 2>And also when when we get the scratch reference and
<v Speaker 2>you know, somebody said.
<v Speaker 1>Those are great, oh hey Wanda.
<v Speaker 2>Hey sweetie, I'll help you find this, and you.
<v Speaker 5>Know, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm sorry.
<v Speaker 2>He didn't mean to hurt.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the dogs going, what what do you want? Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I had a terrible experience like that, and it was
<v Speaker 1>one It was for a video game that that my character.
<v Speaker 1>I guess I can tell him it was Hondo, Hondo naka. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>they'll never know the guy. And and they had a
<v Speaker 1>guy who was basically supposed to be me Hondo, and
<v Speaker 1>they were recording him, but he was mimicking my lines
<v Speaker 1>and it was the weirdest shit I've ever seen in
<v Speaker 1>my life. You know, there's a guy going, you know,
<v Speaker 1>And and then he could hear it in his headphones
<v Speaker 1>and I couldn't. And I'm going, I hope I don't.
<v Speaker 1>Don't don't draw me to look like that, you know, don't.
<v Speaker 1>I don't. I don't want him to have that face.
<v Speaker 1>You know. It was like like like as if Hondo
<v Speaker 1>looks like me anyway, you know, Okay, all right, I'll
<v Speaker 1>let you off the hook, but only because it's pretend exactly.
<v Speaker 1>You know, we live in our We live in our
<v Speaker 1>imaginations a lot, don't we do. Yeah? Is that was
<v Speaker 1>that always been a problem for you like it has
<v Speaker 1>for me? Oh?
<v Speaker 2>Yes, yes, I have many people talking sometimes simultaneously, you know,
<v Speaker 2>from the chatter in my head.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, if you're a fan of everything we do here
<v Speaker 1>at tuned in with Jim Cummings, you could support the
<v Speaker 1>show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as
<v Speaker 1>early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings,
<v Speaker 1>and more. You'll feel the difference, So go ahead and
<v Speaker 1>join the tuned in family today at patreon dot com
<v Speaker 1>slash Jim Cummings Podcast.
<v Speaker 3>Do it now, Well, that seems like a good segue
<v Speaker 3>to do a little voice swap game if you're interested.
<v Speaker 1>That's true, the voices in our heads. All right, that's true.
<v Speaker 4>All right?
<v Speaker 3>So we play this little game where Jim will say
<v Speaker 3>one line as say, one of his characters, Segunnie, the
<v Speaker 3>Pooh or whoever, and then you'll repeat that line, the
<v Speaker 3>same line, but in a voice of your character, so
<v Speaker 3>like Wanda or Malificen or et cetera, et cetera. And
<v Speaker 3>then we'll go back and forth. You'll say a line
<v Speaker 3>and he'll do it as one of his characters. Okay,
<v Speaker 3>so good, all right? Do you want to start it
<v Speaker 3>off with Wanda?
<v Speaker 2>Okay? Oh great? Now I smell like a tuna.
<v Speaker 1>Wow. Okay, Well let's see who should that be? Ray
<v Speaker 1>or Pooh? Do you think Ray?
<v Speaker 4>Ray?
<v Speaker 1>Ray? Okay, Ray from Princess and the Frog.
<v Speaker 6>Oh great, now I smell like a tuna. Remember you
<v Speaker 6>can don a piano, but you can't do a fish.
<v Speaker 1>All right, I feel better now, I feel better than
<v Speaker 1>James Brown. That's pretty feeling. That's feeling pretty good. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>well let's see, well, speaking of Ray, do I dare
<v Speaker 1>stay with Ray? Or should I just go over to
<v Speaker 1>the hundred acre wood.
<v Speaker 4>Let's go over to the hundred acre wood?
<v Speaker 1>I think so? Would you do me a favor please?
<v Speaker 1>And please pass the honey?
<v Speaker 2>Would you do me a favor? Please? Please pass the honey.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I'm passing the honey. I'll pass on the honey.
<v Speaker 1>That's that's wonderful.
<v Speaker 4>It's fun to be the bad guy, I know, Corolla.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, bad guys have more fun they do and a
<v Speaker 1>fabulous fashion sense exactly.
<v Speaker 2>Okay, I've got an easy one.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, we go.
<v Speaker 2>Magic mirror on the wall. Who is the fairest one
<v Speaker 2>of all?
<v Speaker 1>Magic mirror on the wall, Who is the fairest of
<v Speaker 1>them all? That was Taz in case you're wondering, Oh
<v Speaker 1>my god, up there everybody, Good night everybody, And that's
<v Speaker 1>how we do it here, big time show his Hollywood.
<v Speaker 4>Well that was great, thank you so much for being here.
<v Speaker 2>The tuna thing was the best, so Okay, you can't tune.
<v Speaker 1>Up, but you can.
<v Speaker 2>I gotta tell you that that got me.
<v Speaker 1>Well, occasionally give me credit because I stole it from someone.
<v Speaker 2>That's fine.
<v Speaker 1>You're about to as well.
<v Speaker 2>Exactly. You better believe it.
<v Speaker 1>Life is good, Life is good.
<v Speaker 4>All right.
<v Speaker 3>Well, that was another episode of Tuned In with Jim Cummings.
<v Speaker 4>Once again.
<v Speaker 3>I'm producer Chris the Legend, Jim Cummings, Suzanne Blakesley, thank
<v Speaker 3>you so much for being here today. We really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 3>We hope you guys enjoyed that video. If you did,
<v Speaker 3>please like and subscribe. We really appreciate it. It helps us,
<v Speaker 3>It helps you find more videos like this, and even
<v Speaker 3>like this content so much that you want to see more.
<v Speaker 3>There's more on Patreon. Good news, that's right. Patreon subscribers,
<v Speaker 3>thank you so much. There's bonus episodes over there, there's
<v Speaker 3>extra content, there's all that good stuff, so check us
<v Speaker 3>out on Atreon merchandise at shopify, Jim Cummings closet. There's keychains,
<v Speaker 3>there's shirts, there's a whole bunch of good stuff over there,
<v Speaker 3>and I think that just about does it for today.
<v Speaker 3>Once again, we appreciate you all. Thanks for watching we'll
<v Speaker 3>see you in the next one.
<v Speaker 1>And it's just that easy. Oh, thank you, my dear.
<v Speaker 1>It's fun