Jim Cummings Movies

Robin Williams's dizzying and hilarious voicing of the Genie is the main attraction of Aladdin, the third in the series of modern Disney animated movies that began with 1989's The Little Mermaid and heralded a new age for the genre. After a sultan (Douglas Seale) gives his daughter, Jasmine (Linda Larkin), three days to find a husband, she escapes the palace and encounters the street-savvy urchin Aladdin (Scott Weinger), who charms his way into her heart. While the sultan's Vizier, Jafar (Jonathan Freeman), weaves a spell so that he may marry Jasmine and become sultan himself, Aladdin discovers the Genie's lamp in a cave, rubs it, and sets the mystical entity free, leading the Genie to pledge his undying loyalty to the dazzled youth. Aladdin begins his quest to defeat Jafar and win the hand of the princess, with the Genie's help. Monsters, Disney's trademark talking animals, and a flying carpet all figure into the ensuing adventures, but Williams' Genie, who can change into anything or anybody, steals the show as he launches into one crazed monologue after another, impersonating figures from Ed Sullivan to Elvis Presley. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Balto is an animated trifle, based loosely on a true story from the 1920s, that may offer some amusement for young children. A live-action intro and outro set the stage for the story of Balto (voiced by Kevin Bacon), a stray who's half dog and half wolf, who is shunned as a half-breed outcast by both humans and his own kind. Balto does have some friends, like the goose Boris (Bob Hoskins) and two polar bears named Muk and Luk (Phil Collins), but he is particularly resented by canine pack leader Steele (Jim Cummings), with whom he is competing for the affections of Jenna (Bridget Fonda). He eventually becomes a hero when he guides a medication-carrying sled to a townful of sick kids in the wilds of Alaska. The film features a number of positive messages (subtlety is not its strong point), but it may not feature enough humor or excitement to keep anyone but the very smallest viewers engrossed. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

Karen Arthur, the Emmy-winning director of Cagney and Lacey, was in the driver's seat for the made-for-TV psychological terror film Bump in the Night. Meredith Baxter-Birney plays a onetime famous reporter who's drunk herself into near-oblivion. Her turbulent life takes a desperate turn when her 8-year-old son (Corey Carrier) is kidnapped by a dangerous pedophile (Christopher Reeves). The boy has escaped from his captor, and now his mother must find him before the kidnapper does. Richard Bradford plays the cop on the case, who'd rather do without the interference of Ms. Baxter-Birney. Bump in the Night is commendably subtle and straightforward in handling the potentially lurid details of its story. Historical note: In March of 1995, Bump in the Night became the first feature film ever telecast on the E! Entertainment Cable Network. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Former NBC intern and Get a Life creator Chris Elliott stars as the title character, a recent graduate of the exclusive Fancy Lad Academy who unwittingly boards the wrong sea vessel and ends up a whipping post for its gruff, foul-mouthed crew after his predecessor (Andy Richter of The Late Show) falls overboard. Over the course of their adventures, Elliot eventually earns the respect of the crew as he also earns his manhood. This supremely silly film features sight gags and tastelessness galore, including a love scene with a woman who's all hands -- literally. Elliot's old boss David Letterman appears in an amusing unbilled cameo as a sarcastic villager in port. In all, Cabin Boy works much in the same vein as Elliot's former TV show; a crass sense of humor is helpful for full appreciation. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide

From the short-lived Nickolodean 'toon Catdog comes Catdog: Catdog Vs. The Greasers. This production contains five episodes following the adventures of the ultimate odd couple -- a half-canine, half-feline creature trying to cope with their inherent differences. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Can a nerdy and hopelessly Midwestern man find happiness with a cynical bohemian gal in New York City? Eddie Brodsky (Matthew Ross) is a genetic scientist living in Wisconsin who is crossbreeding new strains of rice; he's the sort of person who is so rigidly ordered that he's already picked out and paid for his cemetery plot -- and he's not even 30 years old yet. After his girlfriend gives him his walking papers, Eddie decides he needs to change his life and takes a job in New York City, where his new roommate Ray (Kevin Caroll) encourages him to loosen up a bit and gives him advice on charming the ladies. After a few disastrous dates, Eddie meets Lee (Callie Thorn), short for Natalie, who plays violin in a post-modern folk-rock ensemble. While Eddie and Lee have almost nothing in common on the surface, he finds her lovely and charming, and by hook or by crook he's determined to make things work with her. Ed's Next Move was the debut feature from writer/director John Walsh; it was primarily financed with credit cards and made possible in part by the availability of a stash of leftover film stock from Wayne Wang's film Smoke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The first appearance of Mickey Mouse and the rest of his gang of friends in over 40 years in this newly created ABC Saturday morning cartoon series. ~ All Movie Guide

This WB Network Saturday morning cartoon series was a spinoff of the animated theatrical feature Osmosis Jones. The stories took place in the City of Hector -- actually the blood and immune system within the body of 13-year-old Hector Cruz. The heroes were white-blood-cell police officer Osmosis Jones, aka "Ozzy," and his assistant, over-the-counter cold pill Drix. Together, Ozzy and Drix did battle with the many infectious enemies threatening Hector's health and well-being. Though the TV series lacked the celebrity voice-over lineup (Ron Howard, William Shatner, et. al.) that added so much life to the original feature, the actors chosen to supply the voices did excellent impressions of their predecessors. Ranking high on the gross-out meter, but hilarious all the same, Ozzy & Drix made its first weekly appearance on September 14, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this animated story for the family from Disney, Christopher Robin and his stuffed bear Winnie The Pooh are best friends and love to spend their days together. However, the time has come for Christopher to begin going to school. He doesn't have the hear to break the news to Pooh, so he leaves a note for him before leaving for the first day of classes. However, Pooh gets confused and is somehow convinced Christopher has been spirited away to Skull Island; he bands together Tigger, Piglet and Rabbit to stage a rescue mission as only they can. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Almost 50 years after Walt Disney brought James M. Barrie's classic children's tale Peter Pan to the screen in one of the best-loved animated features, the studio that bears his name revisits the story of the magical boy who doesn't grow up in this sequel. In London during World War II, Wendy (voice of Kath Soucie) comforts her children with stories about her youthful adventures with Peter Pan (voice of Blayne Weaver) in the fantastic world of Neverland. Young Danny (voice of Andrew McDonough) loves the stories and believes that they're real, but his older sister, Jane (voice of Harriet Owen), isn't so certain. Jane soon discovers her mother is indeed telling the truth when she's kidnapped by the evil Captain Hook (voice of Corey Burton) and spirited away to his lair in Neverland. Hook is still trying to capture his nemesis, Peter Pan, after all these years, and is certain he'll come to the rescue of his old friend, Wendy; however, Hook realizes too late that he's carried away Wendy's daughter instead. Peter comes to the aid of young Jane, but as they do battle with Hook, he realizes it will take some work before Jane will fit in with the Lost Boys. Return to Neverland includes original songs from Jonatha Brooke and They Might Be Giants. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The legendary rogue of the seven seas confronts a new assortment of dangers and thrills in this animated action-adventure tale. Sinbad (voice of Brad Pitt) and his crews of pirate adventurers are hoping to retire to Fiji, and they discover a treasure that could make that possible -- the Book of Peace, which has kept the Twelve Cities in harmony for centuries. But Sinbad's plan to snatch the magic book is complicated when he learns it's on board a ship captained by his longtime friend Proteus (voice of Joseph Fiennes). While Sinbad still has his eye on the book, so does the mischievous goddess Eris (voice of Michelle Pfeifer), who sends a deadly sea monster into Sinbad's path to scuttle his plans. With the help of Proteus, Sinbad prevails over the beast, and determined Eris responds by snatching the book and framing Sinbad for the crime. Noble Proteus offers to step in for Sinbad and take his punishment, so now the adventurer has ten days to rescue the book from Eris or Proteus will pay with his life. While Sinbad is at first uncertain if he should take on such a dangerous assignment or simply high-tail it to Fiji, someone is on hand to persuade him -- Marina (voice of Catherine Zeta-Jones), Proteus' lovely but hard-headed fiancée, who has stowed away on Sinbad's ship. Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas was the first animated feature written by John Logan, who received an Oscar nomination for his script for Gladiator. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide