D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event is preparing to bring generations of Disney talent together in Anaheim from August 14 through 16, and two veteran voice actors will have particularly notable roles in this year’s celebration. Jim Cummings is scheduled for multiple appearances exploring Disney’s animation and entertainment history, while Alan Tudyk is set to receive one of the company’s highest honors as a member of the 2026 Disney Legends class.
The two performers represent very different periods of Disney voice acting. Cummings’ relationship with the company stretches back through decades of animated films and television, including characters that became synonymous with Disney animation during the 1980s and 1990s. Tudyk emerged much later but has developed an unusual relationship with Walt Disney Animation Studios, returning film after film to voice completely different characters.
Their presence at D23 offers two perspectives on what a long-lasting career behind Disney characters can look like.
Jim Cummings Brings Decades of Disney Characters to D23
Cummings is scheduled to make three appearances across two D23 programs, beginning with Making Disney Magic with Ron Clements on August 14. The presentation will celebrate the career of filmmaker Ron Clements, whose work with John Musker helped define several eras of Disney animation.
Cummings has contributed to multiple films associated with Clements. He voiced Razoul in Aladdin, Nessus in Hercules, and Ray, the memorable Cajun firefly, in The Princess and the Frog. His connection to that body of work makes him a natural addition to a program that is also scheduled to include Disney veterans Jodi Benson, Susan Egan, animator Mark Henn, and animator and director Eric Goldberg.
The appearance gives Cummings an opportunity to revisit only one portion of an extraordinarily large voice acting career. Disney audiences have heard him as Winnie the Pooh and Tigger, roles he has performed across films, television series, games, attractions, and other productions. His Disney work also includes Darkwing Duck, Pete, Monterey Jack and numerous supporting characters accumulated over decades of recording.
Cummings is also scheduled to participate in the Disney Rewind Concert, which will celebrate Disney entertainment from the 1980s and 1990s. The program is particularly appropriate for a performer whose career became intertwined with the company’s animated television output during that period. Two performances of the concert account for Cummings’ other scheduled D23 appearances.
The Anaheim event follows another major recognition for Cummings this summer. At San Diego Comic-Con in July, he received an Inkpot Award, an honor presented to individuals for their contributions to comics, science fiction, fantasy, animation and related areas of popular culture. Coming only weeks before D23, the award adds to a summer in which his long career has received renewed attention.
Alan Tudyk Becomes a Disney Legend
While Cummings will be revisiting several chapters of Disney history, Alan Tudyk will arrive at D23 preparing for a new career milestone. Tudyk is among the 13 individuals selected for the 2026 Disney Legends class, with Disney officially recognizing his contribution in the category of Voice.
His relationship with Walt Disney Animation Studios began with one of his most memorable animated performances. Tudyk voiced King Candy in 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph, creating the seemingly cheerful ruler whose personality and vocal performance change dramatically as the character’s true identity emerges.
That performance began an unusually consistent run with Disney Animation. Tudyk returned as the Duke of Weselton in Frozen, Alistair Krei in Big Hero 6, Duke Weaselton in Zootopia, Heihei in Moana, and Valentino in Wish, among other roles. He has become a recurring presence across the studio’s films without being tied to a single type of character.
His Disney work also extends beyond animation. Tudyk performed the Imperial security droid K-2SO in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, combining motion capture with the vocal performance that made the sarcastic droid one of the film’s standout characters.
What distinguishes Tudyk’s Disney career is how rarely those performances resemble one another. King Candy’s theatrical delivery bears little resemblance to Heihei’s frantic noises, while characters such as Duke Weaselton and Valentino require entirely different comic rhythms. Instead of building his Disney identity around one signature character, Tudyk has become valuable precisely because he can disappear into many of them.
Receiving Disney Legends recognition for Voice formalizes a relationship that has quietly become one of the most consistent performer-studio collaborations in modern Disney animation.
Two Different Paths to Disney Voiceover Longevity
Putting Cummings and Tudyk side by side reveals how differently a lasting Disney voice career can develop.
Cummings came from an era when animated television created opportunities for performers to establish recurring characters that could follow them for decades. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and Darkwing Duck became long-term roles, returning across different productions and generations of audiences. His versatility simultaneously allowed him to accumulate hundreds of additional character performances around those signature voices.
Tudyk’s Disney career follows another model. Rather than returning primarily as the same character, he has become a repertory voice performer for Disney Animation, appearing repeatedly while transforming himself into someone new. Audiences may recognize his name in the credits without immediately recognizing the voice they just heard.
Both approaches depend on versatility, but in different ways. Cummings has maintained recognizable characters across decades while adapting them to new productions. Tudyk repeatedly creates distinct performances while maintaining an ongoing relationship with the same studio.
That contrast makes their presence at D23 particularly fitting. The convention is designed around Disney history as well as its current creative output, and the careers of Cummings and Tudyk span both sides of that equation.
D23 Honors the Performers Behind Disney’s Characters
Voice acting will also be represented elsewhere among this year’s Disney Legends. Susan Egan, whose Disney performances include Megara in Hercules, is another 2026 honoree officially recognized by Disney in the Voice category.
For Tudyk, the weekend will culminate in formal recognition as a Disney Legend. For Cummings, his scheduled programs provide an opportunity to celebrate the filmmakers, music, characters, and animated productions that have intersected with his career over several decades.
D23 will feature far larger announcements and presentations during its three days in Anaheim, but Cummings and Tudyk highlight another important part of Disney’s history. Characters may begin with artists, animators and writers, but many become familiar to audiences through the performances attached to them.
This weekend, D23 will bring two very different generations of that tradition together, one represented by voices that have accompanied Disney audiences for decades and another receiving official recognition as part of the company’s continuing legacy.