Roger Craig Smith (Sonic, Batman, Resident Evil)

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Do it now? How you doing out there?

It's me Tigger, I am Duc Wayne Duck. It's me Bunker's Deep Bobcat.

All right, y'all?

Is it rate your favorite firefly you desire? Hold the old knock gud. My name is Jim Cummings and welcome to tuned In.

Welcome back, everybody to another episode of Tuned In with Jim Cummings. Today we have Roger Craig Smith joining us. Thank you so much for being here.

Oh my goodness. Yes, and that's a lot of people going.

No, no, it's good to see man. Thanks, thanks for being here.

As you said, nice to be seeing one another without like. Yes, the ship's passing in the night of a convention scene.

That's right.

We do a lot of conventions, as I'm sure a lot of you folks out there know, right.

Indeed, So that's what's happened. That's that's what he's talking about.

That's what I'm talking about. But today we're convening in a whole new world.

Yes, oh it's too little song now, a little Disney, Little Disneyttle Disney.

I know those dudes.

Yes, do you Disney?

Yes, we are yeah, yeah and uh and so I'm just glad you're hair man.

Thank you, very cool. That's great. I just left Snowy, Idaho to come back to uh, to sunny SoCal and I was like, yeah, why am I wearing jeans?

Yeah, Snowy and Idaho. Well that's where you live.

Yes, yes, moved twenty twenty so yeah, yeah you're there now, but lived here my whole life up until that point.

Wow, well that sounds like.

Idaho outdoors, nice guys, Uh, dark skies, that kind of thing. So my my hobbies are like like photography, wildlie photography, but mostly like night skies and astrophotography and that kind of thing. And it was like trying to put that the investment in time to get that to happen in southern California was like all right, well I'll just hop in the car and drive four hours to get to like some skys.

Yeah. Yeah, it's funny because I thought you said nice guys, and I was to get well, I.

Mean, okay, I'm sure they are.

There's got to be a decent couples in La Night Skiest, one of which that's good.

Yeah. So no, it was that and then the pandemic. And at that point I had bought up there in twenty eleven and was thinking, oh, someday, retirement, that kind of thing. And then the pandemic hit and we started doing a lot of work from home, and I was already set up and I thought, man, I'll never get an opportunity like this again. So yeah, so far, so good.

Oh that's good. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that helps. I had a place in Missouri and it was like one.

Airport, yeah, and one flight a day.

Yeah.

That would get cancer, right and then yeah, and don't miss it, yeah, because oh.

Yeah, for you in small towns. But yeah, so no more, you don't have the Missouri place, No, not anymore.

Okay, I just visited it, yeah recently, which was interesting.

But be that as it may. But I'm glad you're.

Here, buddy, Thank you, so thank you, thank you for having me.

And we're gonna end up having to tell everybody before all said and done, if you've got anything coming up where they should go and see you cool, you know, be at convention or now.

Now. So, I mean, like social media, as we both know, is everything. So I've just started Blue Sky just trying to figure that out. Just is to be like another thing. It's it's it's a political It's mostly just kind of like X and Twitter. Getting to the point where I was like, for the longest time, I've been finding myself going, do I want to be doing this? Do I want to be? What?

Even is?

What is that? I've never heard of that one?

It's Blue Sky's like another it's a it's just another alternative. I guess it was one of the original founders of Twitter went over years ago and started this and then so it's it's sort of like retaining what Twitter was essentially meant to be like all along kind of like short form communications, you being able to sort of curate what you're looking for and that kind of thing, as opposed to these algorithms kind of shoving it as like

I got kicked off or production for social media. Yeah, I was working on Lost in Space. I was doing on Lost in Space.

Like crops and they kicked you off.

Netflix reboot and they did they like converted this. I never actually watched the show, but they converted this like huge tractor trailer into a spaceship. They took the frame of the tractor trailer and then they made like this big like it looked like a Mars rover, you know. And we were on lunch break one day and I was like, oh, I got to take a picture of this. So I take a picture posing in front of it. And that was the last day of shooting production and I got up. I had to go to LA that day.

I didn't tag like yeah. I went production.

Within like twenty minutes, they were like, what are you doing posting that? Take it down right now? You're done? Like what?

Wow?

And then I was like, well, I'm on a plane right now, like I'll take it down. But like they wanted me to like come into the office and like talk to me. And then I was like yeah, like I'm going to la right now.

I was assuming it was something you'd said, as you know, and like they were following, like you're saying, I can't even believe they found that picture. That's crazy.

Like I didn't follow anybody on that crew, you know, like I didn't. I was like a day Yeah, I wasn't, Like I was like a day player pos you know.

Like that's crazy. Yeah, I wonder about THO where I think that's why. It's like now I just find it funny. It's like you go, yeah, it can all be.

You never signed an NDA. I never signed an NDA.

Oh wow yeah yeah that's right. You're done.

Yeah, they're just like, yeah we're not again, like wow, yeah.

Oh man, give me a break.

Yeah, no kidding.

They said, do you ever want to work for Warner Brothers over again? I said it only if you cast me.

Yeah that's a good answer. Yeah, don't cast me as a good answer.

Yeah.

No, it's a crazy, it's a crazy. It's it's it's I hate even having to have these discussions like with other grown ups. You know. It's like it's.

Funny to me. I think people take just life in general too seriously.

Yeah, you know, yeah, that's a hallmark of so many people.

Yeah. Yeah, well I'm offended by what you just said. So yeah, thank you. No I cancel this show? Yeah yeah, no, it's it's there. So social media that's where I promote most of my stuff. And I think, I think I have a YouTube, but I don't know that I monitor it or doing anything. It's just like I don't know.

Yeah?

You know, I just feel like they don't work for that kind of a feel.

They've kind of moved away from that already though, Like it seemed like in the early twenty tens like they were really like gung ho on, like what's your following? You know, blah blah blah, And then they started castro social media influencers and then they realized it didn't really make a difference and who was coming to see because people want to see. If you're used to seeing somebody on your phone, you want to see them on your phone.

You're boxing videos. I don't want to hear your take on like you know, animated character, right, which is just your voice.

Yeah, yeah, but I'm glad to see that. It's kind of like, at least in my opinion, kind of shifted away from that.

Yeah.

Yeah, that doesn't really matter, you know, I think, yeah, maybe much to this point.

That's that's the key phrase. It doesn't really matter, Yeah, because it doesn't.

And you know, these days, all they're thinking about is profits, Like they're just thinking about how can we, you know, use this to make more money, how can we get more butts inside?

I think, yeah, profits, we're all capitalists here.

Yeah.

Do you were you a theater kid growing up?

I was, I mean, I mean sort of, I mean I wasn't like I did musical youth artists Repertory theater, which is based on in I want to say they're Long Beach now, but it was. It was we'll just call it southern California. So as a little kid, I mean like I mean, I technically my first role was in like a Charlotte's Web as school.

What was it?

So it's funny, it's like if I if so, I'm playing with it here because it was Charlotte's Web, but Grand Grand Avenue Elementary think was where this was down in Orange County, which is where I grew up, and and it was it was one of those preschool plays where it's like the kids just walk around and outfits but nobody says anything. Oh sure, yeah, the teacher plays piano.

And the parents are sitting there in this day and age, just holding it, holding out there doing selfies for their Instagram accounts.

No, so it was. And then they had one line and I think it was like the mayor says, misters, is it Zuckerman Zoocker. I can't remember the character from Charlotte's Web, the big Farmer. Oh Zuckerman. I feel like that, yeah, this, oh, this is terrible. All right. I went right to James and the Giant Peach.

That's the wrong show.

And I went to Smuckers, like, you know, Smuckers, it's too early. Sorry not early, so no, but I think it was like some line they wanted one of the kids to say this line, and you got to have a microphone, and so they for whatever reason, maybe I was the goofball or something like that, they handed me. I was like four five at the post and it's like mister Zuckerman or mister zucker or mister Smucker's you're

I did Little I did Little Abner and and uh I was.

Mary and Sam. Oh, Mary and Sam.

I love that Mary insane, yeah yeah, and Annie and Annie.

That was another one.

Gosh, yeah, that that that was those were good old times.

Yeah.

I was wolf in Sound of Music and uh oh yeah I was. I was a little like you. I was seen going on you know, yes, yeah exactly.

It was born and sold lphin. That is why they called me.

Well that was another one that was uh no, it wasn't blazing Saddles time. Okay, there you go, and Germany justonging all over the map period today.

They didn't They didn't have us kids do that one, no, which would have been great actually yeah producers, right, yeah, it would have been controversial.

But yeah.

So I got involved in my art and and then it was fun because that was where I started to realize, Okay, now just being a goofball can be channeled into something. And it was like, oh, I like I was funny. So uh the the I could not dance. I could sing, but I couldn't dance. I hated dancing. Yeah, it's I don't dance. I'm in the band. Yeah exactly that you can't do it. The drummers can keep the timing, they

He's got a tilt, he has to look out for doubt. I would think, yeah, without a doubt, how could he? Yeah, man's got.

Work to do. So it was things like that, and it was but it was really helping me kind of like like realize, oh, this is a viable thing, I guess. And I enjoyed being funny. I enjoyed doing and ad

And see, that's the scariest thing in the world.

We were just talking about that right before the show. We were saying, stand up is like one of the scariest things ever.

Got to be like, and yet you don't bomb bomb Oh god, yeah, bomb you have to. I mean, like, how do you appreciate it if you don't. If you don't have you know, your highs are only as good as your lows. Yeah, yeah, it's do you remember any of your jokes?

You're set?

So everybody hey going out there, Hey, hey, where are my drinkers at? You know about that local sports team, you know that voices like the thing. So the irony of this whole situation, like to be sitting here next to you right now. For me like this many years later, is me getting into my twenties calling my old high school theater arts instructor Jan Laurie, who is this amazing human being colin her, I'm going, hey, I'm thinking about doing this thing. She's like, oh, you were always my

Oh yeah, so she was kind of giving you tips and the men watch me.

She was gonna, Oh, so I just did my stand up act in front of my old high school theater arts instructor and wow, and she ands, we get done, and she's like, the kids at all left the school. I was in the you know, at the little theater, and we get we do this thing. I just do my stand up in front of one human being who I trust.

Oh, that's perfect.

Immensely she gets done, she goes, you want me to be nice, You don't want me to be honest. I was like, honest, that's what I'm here for. She said, where are your characters? She's like, you always did voices, you always became these characters. And that's what she's like, you just did observational stand up comedy. Anybody can do that. I don't know what you're why you're wasting it, she said, So instead of talking about it inhabit the character and

Game?

Like, I don't know, there's never a viable option for me.

So is that what led into your voice acting career? Question? Understand up got to be right?

Yeah? Wow, how did that transpire? So about five years in we were trying out for the Aspen Comedy Festival and it was a showcase show that we were doing down a nerve.

When you say you were referring to just I would come.

Like the Orange County Brats, Like we were like a little Orange County scene that was kind of just we all knew each other, we were all doing all the bringer rooms doing all the like all the workout rooms, all that stuff, you know, like oh god, Chester Drawers bar, like like all these different places now like Newport Beach and like you know, and we would do corporate gigs in Orange County, that kind of thing. We all knew

All Right.

He was the house MC and the manager of the Improvent Irvine at the time, and he was one of those rare like folks that would just he felt like we got a foster young talent, and so he would seek like young comics in Ron County and give us the Improvin Irvine, California. At the time he'd give us I think it was like Monday nights were dark, and so he was like, why don't we do it an open We'll call it open mic. But you had to audition on a regular night. You got three minutes to audition.

Is that it?

Yeah, yeah, so it was. And then if you were annoying to get.

Out there and get them, oh my god, better welcome.

Yeah. It was fast and he let he let me come in. I did it open up for somebody, don't remember what night, and then he was like, you're on. And so we would get this ability to do this, and then throughout the years he finally set up this showcase for all of us. I think her name was Judy Brown or Julie Brown. I can't remember. I know, no, Oh, there were two of them. Yeah, but I think this one was either a disambiguation because we're like she was

Of MPa Yeah yeah, yeah.

Yeah, it wasn't. It wasn't.

One was white and Onema was black.

Yeah, and I don't but I don't know that they were both even affiliated with this one if I'm getting the name wrong. But she came to watch us. I'll do our thing. At the end of the night, we get back on stage, audience leaves to get back on stage, and she goes one by one and critiques all of us in front of our peers, you know, like you this, this, you know, I don't like your props. Why are you doing props? You're not a prop comes to me and

Was an interesting way to deliver good advice.

Yeah, great, yeah, and that was I can't really And so you were like, I got to get an agent Google or Alta Vista or whatever it was ask Jeeves at the time kind of thing.

Oh yeah, yeah.

Locals to Bob Bergen's animation voiceover class. Oh sure, that was the catalyst. That was literally the catalyst. It was years of doing it down in Orange County, cutting my teeth, making mistakes, getting getting time behind the mic, doing all the not for broadcast stuff, doing local gas station assy, local cable ass. That's that's what I did.

I lived in Corona, Okay, and I go to California, Corona, California. Cow had del Mar Yeah, yeah, the crappy one by Riverside, and I would go down to there were different places in Newport Beach two or three. I had an agent in San Diego, you know, because that's.

Logical, the big city.

Yeah, yeah, anyway, I mean it was ridiculous and that you know, drive for an hour and a half and do a radio commercial, then drive for an hour and a half and all the gas money was eaten up by the one hundred and fifty bucks I made on the radio commercial. And uh, but you know, I made my first demo tape. And that is that? How you?

That was it?

That was it? Id it was you didn't care, you you just And it's like, how do you impress that upon people, like young people that are trying to like figure out how to get into this. I just start going, look, you're gonna find a way. You're gonna find a way, and it's not gonna be bang zoom off to the stars kind of thing. It's like, you're probably gonna really do a lot of stuff that's just really fun. And yet in the name of progression. I mean like I

I was a PA for years. Yeah, PA for years. Yeah. Me and one of my PA friends we would joke around, and there was one year it was just a couple of years back and I forget who gets up there. It was like, I don't know, some big star like George Clooney or something, and it's like, we're just gonna

It was legit. It was legit. Yeah, the PA really did.

Yeah, they like, I don't know, why don't you get out of your car? Like not trying to?

Yeah, while it was idling in like a girlage.

I think they were just like two. Like they said, they were doing a lock up in their car, you know how they they'll let you do like a lock up in your car. For anybody who doesn't know, a lock up is like blocking off pedestrians or like the public or some even crew where you're not supposed to be going you'll be in frame or whatever. And so this person's doing a lock up and like I guess you know, they forgot to tag her off for her lunch break or whatever, and like she just sat in there and like.

Holy cow, just didn't get out.

Holy yeah, missing some details, but she was in the car, So I like, how do you lock yourself inside a car?

Right? Yeah?

So I don't know, tragic, but the joke was, you know, you know, that's the only way to get mentioned as a PA, because yeah, I'm sure it's you experience. You know, it's a very thankless job. You're almost like out a doubt. You're almost like the janitor of the set, you know, pretty much.

Yeah, if you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, So go ahead and join the tuned in family today at Patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings podcast Do It Now.

It's what I It's what I asked for the fact the way I found myself, and of those dogs were just telling other people, Like I was working at a coffee shop down in an, Orange, California, and I was like, good old Orange. Yeah, I lived there for a long time. I loved I loved living down there, lived in a

You know.

Afterwards, it was like this one kid knew a writer, and the writer eventually got he had a connection with somebody else and he said, I'll get you over there. I worked for that guy for a number of years and then he eventually this writer got an executive producer position on a on a pilot starring Robert England Freddy Krueger.

Yeah, you want to tell Robert he's a great guy.

That's so. He lived in Laguna ne Guel I think down there. And because I lived down in Orange County, I was annoying to the.

Most beautiful places in the world, Freddy sitting down there snarling exactly.

And because I was the PA working on this thing and he would need scripts, I would deliver the scripts. He's like, well, you're down in Orange County. It's like you know, And I was like, yeah, but I'm in like Orange. I live in like like Santa Anna Orange. He's in Laguna. It's like it's another hour and a half, like to two hours.

Yeah, yeah, but it's got orange.

And orange in it and there. Yeah, it was like Orange County in LA. For the longest time, We're just like, what is that? What's down there? Nobody lives in Orange County. You know, yeah, I would do the same thing. I would drive up to La me and you Yeah yeah, l A only and then drive back and go like, well, it's like, you know, three and a half four hours of my life right there, just driving and the money's going. Yeah yeah, no, I mean it's like boring stories. It's

And then when what was your first voice acting role. I know, the first time I heard your.

Voice was as c O Oh my gosh, an Assassin's Creed, which we just celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of that, which just a ton of c Yeah, this stuff's coming in technically it was, and you can I'm sure you can appreciate this having done what we did back in the day. But it was a dialysis nurses training video for how to use the dialysis machines. But this guy had us doing like driven yeah right, because it's horror boring. Yeah. The producer wanted to you too, Yeah, he wanted he

Like yeah, that's funny.

It was all those things, and so it was they wanted people that could do like a bunch of different voices throughout this dialysis nurses training video. I made seventy five bucks in thirty minutes. I was like, this is the best day of my life.

Yeah, yeah, never kidding. How old?

Oh forty two? No, I see god, that's crazy. I would have been probably thirty one thirty ish okay, yeah, yeah, I would have been about thirty one three.

That's kind of when I started working.

What did you do up until? Like what were you? Like? What was your I did a plead ignorance here.

Like, oh well that that's okay. I'm I mean, I'm ignorant. Uh No, I as a kid, I mean I was a deckhead on a riverboat. I worked on a steel mill. I sold Colliers encyclopedias. Uh so, yeah, I did a lot.

Of crazy things. I designed to pay the Martograph floats for a few years.

Yeah, that was a.

Lot of fun and I couldn't believe people were paying me to do that, and I thought, well, this couldn't be better unless they were paying me to do silly voices.

So I figured, well how about that?

And I worked at a video depot in Anheim Hills and my buddy Chris Potter was an engineer, and I said, well, you know, I always thought I was daughter.

Yeah, I know Chris. You know Chris, he's one of the nicest human beings on earth. You're kidding, I swear to you. No, you weren't. Oh got him, that's a little bit closer.

Yeah, yeahyeah, I haven't seen him in years here.

I know. His name just popped up with somebody recently, and it was it was one of the things where somebody's reaching out going. I think Roger had a you know, nose Chris Potter and somebody word.

It's out in the world again continue So you know, no, it was.

That's amazing. Actually.

But in the Ena High Hills video depot, I wrote out a script and we just stayed after work one day and recorded it all together, and then he kind of edited and put some sound effects in door slamming and people walking in phones ringing, stuff like that to just make it sound real.

And we put it together and there was a guy who.

Was a customer at the Anheim Hills store and his name was sal sal Romeo sal Romeo, and he had just made a really bad horror movie, so I knew he was in show business.

Yea, yeah, So I said, would you take my tape and do something with it? Give it?

And it was kind of like Kermit the Frog, would you take the standard rich and famous contract? And you know, because I thought that's how it worked, and it wasn't how it worked, but he actually did, and he gave it to somebody who was casting named Frank Brandt and Caroline Hay and it was for this brand new thing had just started up.

It was called cable TV.

Maybe you've heard of it, and apparently Disney had their own channel and they had just done of all things, I think like sixty five episodes of it wasn't called I think it was called poo Welcome to Pook Corner, and it was people in costumes and it was the most frightening thing you've ever saw.

E or was horrible to look at. He looked like he had a goiter that was.

That wouldn't stop and it was terrible, but they were getting ready to do Dumbo Circus and Katie Lee. I met Katie Lee on that show and Hal Smith, he was the Great Otis Campbell from Green Eddie Griffiths Show.

And I just thought.

I'd died and went to heaven and I got to be I got to be Lion all the Lion because it was people in costumes and they couldn't have even though it was little people that they couldn't.

Have, like a four foot mouse. Yeah, so he was a lion. So I was Lion with the Lion, and that was my end.

By the time that ended, it was about a year, year and a half. And by that time I had an agent, and I was doing TV spots and radio spots and and then that just you know, a couple of years later, they finally brought back Winnie the Pooh and that was the first big quote un you know, quote unquote big thing, and I auditioned for that, and somehow or another, I got that job. And then by then, I mean I was just working and and here here we are, and now I'm hanging out with you.

It's crazy.

So yeah, so it's pretty good.

Well, it was a similar path my At her retirement party, my high school theater arts instructor, she was just like, I'm so proud of you. It's so amazing what you've been able to do kind of thing. And it was like, yeah, we helped throw this party for her because we were all just she was had such a huge influence in our lives. And I was like, yeah, no, I'm pinching myself.

I thought that too. I remember thinking that too, and the fact that it keeps happening. Yeah. Yeah.

The fact I remember saying, well, okay, if I'm selling shoes in six months, at least I could say, well you know what I'll have.

You know, yep, exactly.

I did this for a living.

And I kind of thought that way about singing too. When I was in a band in New Orleans, and I said, that's.

All I did. That's all I did, was that. That's all I did was design of Peyton Mardy Groth floats.

Yeah.

And that wasn't even year round because.

No, of course not. It's in preps for it.

Yeah.

Yeah, and that's amazing. But I can't believe we both started off down.

That's so funny. And then you mentioned Chris Potter, whose name just popped up literally like last week. I got an email and somebody saying Roger worked with Chris Potter of the one of the most solid engineers and one of the nicest u Yeah. Yeah, that's so crazy. Yeah, I did not realize you were, like I honestly, yes, well good lord, that yeah you were. I think you worked that into just about every one of these, don't you.

What's that?

It's a small world. Oh I don't know, so no, okay, oh god, I hope not. Well, but it is it needs to be a thing, now, Okay, there it is. It's the drinking game, right, it's a thing. He said it. There we go kind of happened, that's uh.

It is.

It is fascinating too to just think of like PA work and things like that, and and and jobs that maybe don't even exist anymore, and the way that so many people and yet so many people have a different way that they got involved in this. I find it funny that both you and I it was like not even on my radar. I was just a ham. I just knew. I just knew I couldn't do the office I did three months that I think I've mentioned other things.

The TV office?

Was it?

No, God, it's a different one.

No, I would have just clearing that up, making sure everybody's I'd rather.

Work at dunder Mifflin. Yeah that's true than where I did. Yeah I could, I could. I could. Yeah, I could suffer it under Mifflin.

Yeah, I would think.

But I was directionless. I just say that all the time. Like I woke up on my thirtieth birthday still having no career under my belt. I had a degree in screenwriting at that point, and I was just like, okay, what am I doing? It was it was one of those things where it was like, all right, I had a screenplay in development, had about five meetings, but it was always over the map, and they just didn't seem to understand what we were doing with this this script.

This is really good, but except for everything.

Yes, exactly, Yeah, we love it.

We just want it different, Yeah, we want something completely not this.

Yeah.

Yeah, and now the voice of Quol is like perfect, just do it three more times. Yeah, that's if it was perfect.

Yeah.

So yeah, it was all of a sudden, it was like voice that were just started, and it was it was it was the culmination of everything. It was the timing from music. It was the timing, the ability to ham it up, the ability to make choices and just think on your feet, like with stand up, and and all of a sudden, I was just like, I love all of us. I understand the stories, the character arc, the story arc. I understand the timing of things with with both stand up and rhythm and all that.

Well, it's great.

Yeah, yeah, is everything.

Right, isn't it? There we go, Yeah, I agree. Yeah. So I don't know.

So when was the moment in your career that you felt like you've arrived, like, all right, this is this is what I am, this is what I do for a living. I'm not stressed.

Ooh ooh. Well, probably when I was at my most stressed and behaving like an egotistical jerk, where all of a sudden, I realized that it's a breakfast right, No, god, no, that's just every evening. No, No, it's funny. It's a good friend of mine too, and he was directing on a project and we both got into it with each other, and it was just a funny moment where I think all of us were under so much pressure with this

Yeah, I've had that. I've had that.

It's like, when are they gonna they're gonna be Yeah, this is freaking Cummings from Youngstown.

Get him out of here.

Yeah, for God's sake, he's not fooling anybody, right, all right, all right, we'll let him make the Stevy spot or whatever.

Let'll give him some tags to do.

Yeah, it's we feel sorry for me. He drove in from Corona.

Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.

Yeah, yeah, it might be that. It was, it was. And then years later one of the neatest things happened. I was working on planes for Disney and this little film that was supposed to be.

Oh it's Disney Tune Studios got actual planes. Yeah no, yeah, sorry, I was thinking, yes, he had fallen far. But guys who work on planes, I would imagine they make pretty good money.

Pretty well airplane mechanics.

Yeah, not as good as guys who work on planes the cartoons.

True, maybe, yes, quite possibly, but yes, So it was it was planes the movie like cars, but it was Disney Tune Studios. It was supposed to be straight to DVT. And then it started testing really well and the next thing, you know, they were just like, hey, Pixar Marketing is gonna get involved and they're going to take this theatrical. And it was like I just was like, well, I'm out, they're going to replace me. Here we go. I'm waiting for it.

Oh.

It was just like in both Carlos, Alice, Rocky and I have been working on it for like three and a half years together. We did the initial table read, oh, and it was like and and supposedly from that point for they were like those are the two characters, and

Yeah, let me get this arrow out of my neck.

La.

I hate how they have no heckling now in stand up.

Oh yeah, it's it's a weird figure it out.

I got to stand up all the time. Every time they say no heckling, you will get thrown out. I've been thrown out for heckling, really been thrown out.

Oh man.

Yeah, I was like, this is to me, that's like what stand up is.

That's yeah, how are they going to know?

They what are you talking about?

If they're bombed?

Yeah, if you're bombing.

It's like I heard the best advice doing stand up once and it was very likely from Jeff Jenna when he was saying or maybe honestly it might have been Kathleen Madigan. She might have been actually saying this too to a group, saying, look, inherently the audience wants for you to succeed, oh, I would think. And so what ends up happening is the minute somebody's up there and it's hey, uh oh uh, oh, what's Oh, what's the deal with?

You know?

And it's like now everybody's getting uncomfortable, and that's when the heckling begins, because you've inherently made the audience feel uncomfortable because they're already uncomfortable for you, so they want to know they're in good hands. And I that's I'm with you on That's exactly the reason I got kicked out of the show. I felt uncomfortable. Like this guy

It was like somebody sitting in their living room with a bottle of bourbon, just like ranting. Oh, and I'm like boo, like this is like you get through something like yeah, not at all, Like nobody in the crowd is feeling this, like that weird change your tune or something like you don't have like an alternate yeah, like I don't know, and they're like ye, sir, sir, gonna have to stop. I'm like, I'm not stop. I'm not stopping.

They can't stop.

Yeah, yeah, they can be good. It's weird. I mean, like there's a fine line, like there's there's there's a no no. Yeah, but it can be Look and if that individual was good, they would have had something chambered for you. Yeah, and then that might have been more interesting for the audience, and everybody might have been like, all right, shut them down. You might even be like, okay,

They're just so it was like U plus they're screwing up everybody else in.

The room exactly. Yeah, when you have to stop the show and go all right, look, guys, come on, look you know, like you know, it's and because the audience is getting ready to have a fight in the and you're just it's at some point you're like, I'm babysitting drunks for you know, the Northwest Airlines was late, so

I'm the worst city in the world for stand up is what Vancouver? Oh interesting, Vancouver doesn't even have a comedy They don't even have a freaking comedy place anymore. Really, they used to have one and it was called, oh like the Loose Moose or something. I don't know. I lived up there.

Comedy club names for one, Alex.

Yes, they don't have a single comedy club, and they have comedy shows, but they'll be like in a restaurant and like a converted bar, and it's just nobody has a sense of humor up there, because Vancouver doesn't. I'm going on a tangent, but.

I don't know. It's what we're doing. It's cold and we have, you know, that's what we do.

So I want to bring it back. We obviously have to talk about Sonic the Hedgehog.

Oh okay.

If you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, So go ahead and join the tuned In family today at patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings podcast.

Do it now, I've heard of him?

Yeah?

Have you? Are you guys in the same series? That was a different, different series? Ye, when you played Robotnik?

Yes? Yeah, no, well you were the first one. I mean it was I believe you guys were the foray into this.

Oh I didn't. I didn't know that.

What was it? That was it?

Wait?

I'm thinking of Shredder?

Okay, yeah, because I should know this, Well I should too.

Read the comments. Read the comments.

Correct, call us up, folks.

I'd love to hear you.

So the do the new movies give you like a boost in popularity at the conventions?

Well, so here's what's interesting. Obviously I'm not in the movies, and by I mean, I did the two record Rale film the character the character. Yeah, so what I've been saying to be as they go, like that must really irritate you to go, Yeah, to not get a chance to audition, to not get a chance to even meet with folks.

Nothing.

Yeah, from day one, it was like, that sounds great, We'll let you know.

It's like, who did they? I don't even know who voices who Ben.

Schwartz brilliant, brilliant, lovely human being, literally comedically brilliant improv skills. And I will say this and it's it's testimony to what a like, what a professional and what a gracious guy he is. Is that he was appearing on like the Larry King Show and he was mentioning Jalil White, Ryan Drummond, Jason Griffith, myself, and I'm like, that's not coming from the top down, because they made it kind of clear they didn't want sort of our involvement as

Right, She's actually no, not every time. But I told this before. I'll be really brief myself. Jim Carrey and Matt Frewer were up after five callbacks for the role of Bonkers Bunker Steve Bobcat Disney's Little Funny Bobcat and I'm him. And after like the third or fourth callback, it was me, Jim Carrey and Matt frew who is Max Headroom? And so I thought, oh god, yeah, jesus, you know, and he was just starting, he was just breaking out of a living color.

He was really starting to percolate.

And I thought, Wow, I'm screwed, and you know, and he comes out, and true to form, he walks over.

He was all dressed up.

He leans over, grabs his briefcase and goes, gentlemen, you may leave, and then he just walked do do do do?

Do do do?

Then he walked away.

Yeah, and then I went in there and kicked his y.

Yeah, and now I'll show him apparently he's snuck in ahead of.

Me on the the movie.

Yeah, okay, it sounds all right, sounds all right. What the good news is nothing came of his career after that. Exactly. Yeah, that's true, Yeah, exactly. Yeah. No, it's a it's an interesting it's an interesting time because you have Devin mac who's doing the voice for the Sonic Prime series which is on uh on. They would need more Sonics, I know,

Just kind of is a shame. I mean, this theme has come up so many this theme, this topic has come up so many times because we have so many voice actors on this show, you know, and just so many times voice actors are just snubbed for you know, a name or you know what's really interesting too convention wise. Somebody was telling this, telling us this at one of

Yeah? Yeah, And it's because the owners just want to hang out with them, to hang out with them.

They just want to hang out the same thing with the like these like studio producers. You know, we were just talking about Vin Diesel as Groot yesterday and it's like, you know, probably some producer really likes Vin Diesel and they want to hang out. You know, it's not because they needed Oh we we really like the way you did. I am grouped, you know.

Like yeah, yeah, three syllables.

Yeah, it's just interesting. And Keith David said it really well where he's like, you know, this isn't called show show, It's called show business.

You know.

Yeah, there's still is a huge.

Business to this. You know, that's one of the biggest businesses in the world, right, it's got to be multi billions, gotta be.

And video games, without doubt even more billions. You know. Yeah, well, at one point video games, I don't know if it's still the case. Was was literally earning more and was a bigger industry.

I think it's almost triple yeah, it's almost triple yeah. I think that's still yeah.

And it's just yeah, because mean, you go to a movie, you're going to spend what I don't know what it is now, twelve bucks, fifteen bucks, you know, eighteen bucks a ticket, but you're gonna buy a video game.

I've spent over one hundred dollars on hundred free game. Yeah, exactly, free game on Fortnite like just free cosmetics. Yeah, like they got it was did weren't charge free game? Free game, and then they get everybody they generate money with the with the cosmetics, you know, like oh you got to have the Spider Man skin, the wool Marene's skin. You know, oh you got to be Batman or John Wick. You know. And then it's almost like I compare it to like, you know when when we were kids playing with like

Free to play. That was Apex Legends when that came out, saying you played a Yeah, they we're still going there's still there. It's a season based kind of a thing.

Yeah, that was a huge game. I mean that was like the h that was almost like the Fortnite Killer.

You know, that was that I think, Yeah, I think wants to be Yeah, the iPhone Killer and the Fortnite Killer. It's like everybody's gunning for it.

Yeah, but it's.

An interesting it's an interesting aspect of the business too, which is like a we launched it for free. We give you all this ability to do this, but if you want that skin, if you want something cool, you pay for it. Yeah and so yeah, so free to play, but if you want to. I'm glad they got Riddle loot boxes because that was that was predatory. Funny. Yeah, that was predatory. It's a crazy business. It's it's so like you say, we get it, but it is frustrating.

Yeah, dude, I think that was a plant. I think that was a plan.

The whole all it was. That was that is literally some suit like oh yeah, no, we planned it all along you're like, don't even, don't even You're not that good. Nobody's that good. What if you had done that? And there was like yeah, okay, And then there was audience Sonic with human teeth.

The audience that you don't know what we're referring to. Originally the Sonic that was animated for the movies just look terrible. It was terrible. They released some test footage and the fans went nuts. They said, no, make them look like actual Will Sonic.

He had muscular calves and weird. It was weird.

It was like, yeah, it was I didn't see that.

It was gross.

It created a stir and then everybody was like, we must get in here and do this, do this differently.

Okay, yeah yeah, people.

Like me were like that just generated buzz for them. That was free advertised, you know, like they.

Say, you know, any press is good press, I guess, but yeah, it's an interesting time to be in this place. It's kind of like P. T.

Barnum would do that. Yeah, he would. He would release Uh. There was a woman that he I think he actually had like a half dead seal, you know, and and a woman and he called it some kind of mermaid or something, and he took out an ad in the newspaper saying.

This P. T.

Barnum is the worst charlatan anybody's ever heard. He should be strung up, He should be taken out and flogged in public. He should anybody who goes to see this be prepared to be completely duped. And you know they what millions of people went or whatever back in Chicago wherever the hell it was, so you know, negative advertised.

It's advertising. No such thing as bad publicity.

No, it's like creating that interest of like, oh, if it's that horrible for me.

Maybe I should go better see you remember that movie The Room, The Room, and it was like, oh god, yeah, it's so bad. I just got invited to a showing of it this Friday in Orange County when they show it once a month, and people all bring these plastic spoons. Yeah, yeah, they bring the plastics.

You know, this has been going on for years the last time you show. Yeah, it's become that everybody knows where the lines are where. It's like it's insane. They know exactly what's coming up, and they will throw spots and then do all this stuff like yeah, it's become a cult thing onto itself for what is arguably one of the worst films you know, yeah, ever made. I kind of want to go to it. You said it's in Orange County at ten thirty. It's like, oh god,

Yeah, it's four hour.

I'd be mountain biking in Orange County and to be on a hill and I'd be able to see downtown LA. And I was like, why why does that take me two and a half hours to get there? I like, I can see it.

Got here.

Got to get a helicopter.

You get the Catalina faster, you know what I mean? Like this, I can get to the island that is off the coast faster than driving in my automobile to that place that I can see downtown right now. Yeah, it's so frustrating.

All right. We have a we have a game that we play here on this we do on this podcast. I don't know if you got to the segment. It's usually near the end, you know the game. All right, you want to do some voice swaps?

Boy, this is again sitting here with you. Well, yeah, and thank you again, Like many many years ago, you did the nicest thing for me, for a friend who had somebody who was very special to them was going through a rough patch and needed a little something. I just asked you, like backstage at one of those conventions, and I didn't even know you really that well at that time, and you went on and on and on with this little, sweet little voice recording for this person

And so that I'll be sitting.

Here right now. This is pressure. I'd rather be on a stand up stage.

Oh god, Well, well, I have a request. Do you want to start it off? Do you want to start off? Who should start off?

I don't know. Your should go right ahead to show well, then then you should go.

Okay, we got to hear batman. Oh gosh, okay, what way? I am the reason the criminals breathe easier when the sun rises. I don't do it sitting down, but it will be theirs.

Oh. I stand for everything. Yeah, I'm not a sitter.

Jim does too.

That's what I stand for.

I stand that's what you stand for. It you gotta stand for something. We should start. If you don't stand for something, you'll follows. I'm barrel chest today and it's like compressed.

But can you do the line one more time so Jim can hear today?

Oh gotcha?

Okay, and then I'll ping pong it back as probably since this is Batman, probably.

I'd love it. Batman and Poo.

I am the reason the criminals breathe easier when the sun rises.

I am the reason the criminals breathe easier when the sun rises.

Pull my finger.

I don't have one, pull the pon knuckle. What would that be?

What is wrong with that picture? Besides everything? Okay?

And then I think I think we should do robotic and sonic. We'll do a little do a little switch there.

Okay, all right, let's see. Well you know my favorite my favorite quote of Robotic is I hate Dady Jog.

And I'm going to repeat that. Yes, I hate myself. Little something I went off scrapped is that the producers are calling now. Yes, but you found it.

It was found it very good.

I found some magic. We mind something.

In fact, you want to work for Warner Brothers ever again?

Yeah?

Exact God, Yes, that's a crazy story that is so only only on PA. I think the most nervous I've ever been was as a PA. Dude, they ship on you. Yeah, no, it's awful. You just know, you're just it's like I'm going to irritate somebody today and it's not going to be my fault, but you know I'm gonna but you're sure, yeah for sure.

Oh yeah. I finally in their their emergencies, your emergency all the time. One day I literally came up with the phrase, your lack of planning is not the emergency. I'm sorry I didn't come up with the phrase, but I used that shit all yeah.

Yeah, this final like like when I was just done with it. I was like, I can't do this anymore. I'm so sick of this. There was a producer that was just yelling at me to get the talent, and every time I'd run up the stairs. We're in a big sound stage and I have to run up these little stairs up to the makeup room that was upstairs. And I'd run up there and I'd say, hey, they're requesting that, and this makeup individual was going, well, we're

Shoot the messenger?

Yes, third time. She said, you can tell him, like I think, she said, you can tell him that we'll we'll we'll get him down there when we're ready. And I stood at the top of the stairs and yelled that out to the producers so everybody on the set could hear it. And she came out immediately with this with the talent and rushed by me and called me an a hole and all that kind of stuff, and I was like, I was so done. I'm like, I'm getting like ten bucks an hour, and.

You guys, are the hours that you have to first and last out? Yeah, Like the only person that's on set longer is the Jen Jenny operator. Oh, that's the only person. The only person on.

Set Orange County at five am to be on set by seven so that I can open the doors for everybody, and then I would leave at seven pm when everybody was done and exited the sound stage and get back home. At nine pm. Yeah, and it was like and then I'd have to eat and not to downplay, but like it can be even worse. I worked on Arrow for three years and we had fifteen hour camera days. Yeah, camera damn day.

So PA's had seventeen hour days and that's not including you know, going to and from you know, home and eating and like you lived on set. There was one week, I'm sorry I'm talking so much about myself, but there was one week where I worked ninety nine hours, ninety nine hours in one week. And I remember asking me, ninety nine hours, wasn't that a week? And I remember

I will say it was after all those years of suffering, I got on to a like a legit big show with tons of professionals. And Timsteel, who was a producer I think of Cheers at this time, was was doing this pilot and called me in and he just said, look, I know you got hired because you somehow know one of the executive producers that kind of thing. He goes, I'm just going to tell you how things run here, and he said, if I ask you to get me a cup of coffee, I want you to tell me

Yeah, for sure, that was That was my favorite call every year. You know, like at the end of the summer when they're picking up, like, hey, want to come back and work on Absolutely, I'm there. It's like a it's almost like a gambling addiction. It's like, yeah, it's like the work is addicting, you know. It's like you get so burnt out, but like the work itself. You know, like everybody near the end of the show is just like, oh fuck this, I hate this fucking stupid show, you know, blah blah blah.

Yeah, and then like day one, everybody's like so good to see you. Here I go again.

Oh it's still for you.

That's refreshing, Jim. Is it still like there's I mean, like has the magic modified for you? Like in some way, like throughout the years.

I mean I just still love it.

Yeah, yeah, I really do. Good.

Yeah, it's you know, it's a it's a uh. I always said, it's stuff us get me kicked out of class, and I'd.

Do it all day long for free, So as long as somebody wants to pay me.

Yeah, that's it's so true. King ding ding finger pulling jokes and noises. Yeah. Yeah, watching like like like when you have like because so many of you guys have have these like storied careers that are just incredible and they're still going on and still doing these legacy characters that have just been they are yours and it's so neat to see. And and I don't think it's lip service. I mean there is still a lot of joy in it, and it's you know, oh yeah, it's fun.

Just the other day, we did a big tribute to Richard Sherman. And I think I'm allowed to say this because it'll be out by the time this goes okay, so uh And it was just joyous, joyous, you know, the Richard Sherman of the Sherman Brothers.

Yeah, Jim Jimmery, Jim Chimmery.

We do that.

On and on and on and on and on, you know, and I worked from a.

Hundred times over the years and it was just so nice and uh so yeah, I mean the answer is yes, it really has still all the magic in the world for me.

And thank you, j Jesus, thank you a love word.

That's cool.

If you're a fan of everything we do here at tuned In with Jim Cummings, you could support the show on Patreon for bonus exclusive podcasts, as well as early in ad free access to the show itself, prize drawings, and more. You'll feel the difference, so go ahead and join the tuned in family today at patreon dot com slash Jim Cummings Podcast.

Do it now and thank you, thank you.

I don't know, I don't know what we talked about. Great, I don't talked about pa work.

But I think we got it done.

Traffic, I know this is driving.

I'm gonna ask a cliche question. Okay, sure you get asked this all the time, but I feel like I have to.

Do you have a favorite character to voice? Do you have a favorite performance that you've given? So my pat answer is always the next one because it's a means I'm working, which is great. I'm gonna get paid. And there's always there's so much creativity in video games, and I mean and all this stuff. It's like, I'm always amazed that they found a new way to tell a story.

Yeah, that's great.

It's nut. It's it's it's not.

So why did they recast for et CEO.

They didn't.

They didn't.

No, no, no, for some reason, I thought they recast. No, no, no, it was we did. I did three games in a in a short film for them, and we just did the nextus VR game and they brought me back for that.

So, oh that's great.

Yeah, he's never he's never really been redone. There was a weird thing that happened with some training montage and a in a particular game where they didn't realize it was it was cast overseas, and the fans went nuts because they were like, that's not it. Yeah, I remember.

Yeah.

In fact, the fans reached out to ubi Soft. Ubisoft approved, we want to record Roger redoing all those lines and we'll make a fan dub of it, and Ubi Soft actually.

Yeah, it's always I would love that.

Yeah right, they'll be playing that at all the conventions.

I wish. Yeah, yeah, it's but it's it's rare. It's it's rare. And because we're again, we go back to butts and seats. But I don't know, I am still amazed, Like there's still new stuff that's coming out that.

I mean they did that.

We were talking to David Hayter and they recast him as Snake, you know in the most recent metal years Sault, and it was like everybody was like, what in the.

World they played for seven? Yeah?

We like but thankfully they brought him back. Like it's nice to see that when that happens, when the fan outrage actually changes something like we wouldn't even have Family Guy. It wasn't for that. You know, Family Guy was canceled like three or four times. Then you know, it's brought back DVD sales, DVD sales. You used to be able to bring back shows with d d VVD sales, remember DVD's kids.

I remember chatting up Lori Allen at at the improv in Hollywood, Yeah, and just being like, oh my gosh, like you're Lori Allen kind of thing. She's like, what kid, And I'm like family Family guys, Like this is amazing, you know, yeah, it's very funny. But yeah, and just she was doing an improv thing that night. Yeah, it was like yeah, cool, it was yeah, it's a no, it's a to be a part of anything like that.

Yeah, ay man, good, yes, and well, thank you for being there.

Again, thank you, thank you so much.

Yeah, absolutely, thank you, thank you.

Let's give it up for the pash. Shout out all the out there that are sitting in traffic right now and questioning life.

That's right.

Yeah, hang in there. It gets better, It gets better.

Connections. That's one of the biggest things, PA make connections. You get to talk to everybody. They might not talk to you, but you get to talk to everybody. One of our first guests on this show, David how am I forgetting his.

Name right now?

No, big black guy, Oh my god. David Ramsey. David Ramsey worked on Arrow, worked on Arrow with him. I was a PA. He was obviously one of the leads. Yeah, and he was the second guest on this podcast. Because of that connection, he was one of the nicest guys ever. Would say hi to everybody every morning. I always saw you as a person, always had time to spend and talk to you, like, shout out David if you're watching this.

Yeah, there he goes.

It's a great and literally had a convention walking into the elevator, bump into David Ramsey. Oh my god, what are you doing here? You know, Jim hired me on this podcast. You want to be on it, you know, like we're looking for He said, absolutely, let's go do it.

Yeah, what's the adage being nice the people on your way up, You're going to see him on your way back.

Down, that's right. So yes, yeah, yeah, you gotta gotta do it. Yeah. You usually just a jerk to everybody.

So it's just a way of doing it, that's but you're damn good to what you do. It's key that wins out and the assholes stick with you for life, you know, like those little those little as literally you talk about you know, like, yeah, you talk.

About them like all the way from elementary school, you know, push you up against the locker and you know, I remember every time somebody did something rude to me on set or something like that. I remember this cameraman screaming I was acting on the one hundred. I remember this cameraman's screaming at me, like really like put me down so much. I was like, what in the world. He was like, you got to stay in the frame. I'm like, you're on a steady cam.

You freaking me? Yeah? The performance, yeah, yeah, what in the world?

Acting?

Yes?

Acting?

Yeah, yeah right, Act like a nice guy, yeah, act like we all want the best product, and you could do that a little differently.

Yeah, no kidding.

Well, hey, that was a great conversation. Thanks again for being.

Thank you guys, like guys, thank you so much for having me, Thank you all for watching.

Appreciate it. If you guys enjoyed that content, there's plenty more on Patreon. There's bonus content. You can get all that good stuff patreon dot com, slash Jim Cummings Podcast, and don't forget to like and subscribe. We really appreciate all you guys. This has been going smooth for the last year and it's all because of you guys. Seriously, this is subscribers, amen, So we thank you so much. And uh, of course, as always, we will see you in the next one. Jim Cummings, Roger Craig Smith. I'm

Well done everyone, Well done. Did we get to it all?

I think we've done?

Did okay?

Cool,