Disney has been digging deep into its content catalog for animated classics to be given the live action treatment. Winnie the Pooh is among the ever-growing bunch, only rather than re-tell the story of the young Christopher Robin spending time with the denizens of the 100 Acre Wood, the Christopher Robin movie will follow a grown-up Christopher, played by Ewan McGregor. Until today, the only other actor who'd been announced to co-star alongside McGregor was Agent Carter's Hayley Atwell, but now we know who's been chosen or being looked at to voice Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Tigger in the new movie.
It was reported today that Jim Cummings, who has been voicing Winnie the Pooh for nearly 30 years, will retain his duties performing the honey-obsessed bear for the Christopher Robin movie. As for Eeyore and Tigger, Disney selected Everybody Loves Raymond's Brad Garrett to take over over as the depressed donkey, while Firefly's Alan Tudyk is interested in stepping in to voice the energetic feline. That Hashtag Show also revealed that Sherlock star Mark Gatiss has been brought aboard to play Keith, Christopher's boss, and Bronte Carmichael will play Madeline, Christopher's daughter.
Jim Cummings took over as Winnie the Pooh in 1988 when Hal Smith retired from the role, but the yellow bear is just one of numerous characters Cummings has breathed life into over his voice acting career. His other notable roles include Tigger, the Tasmanian Devil, Darkwing Duck, Pete from the Mickey Mouse cartoons, Hondo Ohnaka on Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels, and Dr. Robotnik in the 1990s Sonic the Hedgehog animated series.
Outside of his live action work on Everybody Loves Raymond, 'Til Death and more, Brad Garrett has also developed quite the voice acting resume thanks to his especially deep voice. You might remember him as Dim in A Bug's Life, Fatso in Casper, Bloat in Finding Nemo, Lobo in Superman: The Animated Series, the Easter Island Head in the Night at the Museum movies and Krang in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows.
Alan Tudyk was most recently seen playing Van Wayne in the short-lived Powerless series, but he's been an especially important contributor for Disney in recent years, playing King Candy in Wreck-It Ralph, the Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Allistair Krei in Big Hero 6, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, Hei Hei in Moana and, if we count the Star Wars brand, K-2SO in Rogue One.
In addition to the casting news, some new story details regarding the Christopher Robin movie were revealed. Similar to Peter Pan in 1991's Hook, Christopher has lost his sense of imagination due to the responsibilities of adulthood, with his boss pushing him to prioritize work over family. After Christopher's wife, Evelyn, and their daughter, Madeline, move away, that's when Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger and the other 100 Acre Wood citizens find their way back into his life.
Christopher Robin doesn't have a release date set yet, so check back with CinemaBlend for that information and more updates as they come in.
