Jim Cummings Charms Fans with Adorable Winnie the Pooh Nap-Time Video
Cutting straight to the chase, here’s why Jim Cummings just cemented his status as the world’s sweetest grandpa. On June 8, the legendary voice behind Winnie the Pooh shared an Instagram video that melted hearts and sent nostalgia meters through the roof. In the clip—captioned “My grandson and nap time with Winnie the Pooh”—72-year-old Cummings cradles his stepdaughter’s baby, Jax, in a cozy embrace, delivering one of Pooh’s most beloved lines: “You’re braver than you believe, smarter than you seem and stronger than you think.” Then, because only Jim can, he tacked on, “And cute as a button.”
Sporting a laid-back ensemble of a blue-and-pink short-sleeved shirt and khaki shorts, Cummings smoothly rechannels Christopher Robin’s most famous companion, rubbing Jax’s back as the toddler—dressed in a white T-shirt and green shorts—listens with rapt attention. According to E! Online, Jim cheekily wondered whether his grandson recognized that iconic voice, writing on the video, “Does my grandson know Pooh’s voice yet?” The digital debut sparked an outpouring of fan reactions: one Instagram user gushed it was “an unexpected trip to nostalgia land,” while another declared it “a dream to have Winnie the Pooh read you bedtime stories.”
Disney itself couldn’t resist joining the conversation. Under Cummings’s post, the studio behind the 2011 Pooh adaptation chimed in with a second timeless quote: “Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.” That exchange not only underlines the enduring magic of A.A. Milne’s work but also highlights how Cummings has become inseparable from the honey-loving bear in the minds of fans worldwide.
Beyond Pooh, Cummings boasts an illustrious voiceover résumé: he roared as Ed the hyena in 1994’s The Lion King, flapped his way through Darkwing Duck’s 1991 escapades as Drake Mallard, and lit up New Orleans as Ray the firefly in 2009’s The Princess and the Frog. In an April 14 interview with Comics Beat, he laughed about being typecast. “If I’m pigeonholed, it means I’m pigeonholed into playing very good guys like Winnie the Pooh or Darkwing Duck. Or really bad guys like the Tasmanian Devil,” he explained. “That’s truly the fun for me. I enjoy it all. I’ll do anything if it’s in me and they’ll hire me.”
Cummings’s family life is just as sweet. He married Stephanie Judge—mother of baby Jax and stepdaughter Brittany—in 2020, blending family and career in the coziest way possible. Whether you’re a lifelong Pooh fan or just here for the family feels, this clip is proof positive that some bonds are as enduring as honey’s stickiness. And there you have it. Make of that what you will.
Sources: Celebrity Storm and E! Online, Instagram (@jimjcummings), Disney’s Instagram comment, Comics Beat interview
Attribution: Creative Commons Licensed
