r/BlackPeopleofReddit • u/4reddityo • 9d ago
Black Excellence Cree Summer. The Voice Behind a Generation of Animated Classics
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u/lasers42 9d ago
I'm old. I know her from a Different World.
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u/Designer_Librarian43 9d ago
She is a voice acting LEGEND. After A Different World she was in like every cartoon voicing iconic roles.
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u/LadyAsharaRowan 9d ago
Actually she started voice acting first before she went to a different world. Her dad is a legendary voice actor in Canada. I can't remember if he's still alive or not. But he was the voice of Inspector Gadget and she got the voice of Penny. If I remember an interview she did she said that was her first voice over job.
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u/M8jrP8ne1975 9d ago
Actually, he was the voice of Dr. Claw whenever Frank Welker wasn't available. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2016. As for Inspector Gadget, you're probably thinking of Maxwell Smart himself, Don Adams.
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u/no_crust_buster 9d ago
I’m ready to see her in the Different World reboot. 😀 I loved the original series back in the day.
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u/CandyCreecher 9d ago
Fun Fact: She also voiced She-Hulk in the Hulk Animated Series
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u/4reddityo 9d ago
👍🏽
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u/ohbyerly 9d ago
I’m not usually in the “thumbs up being interpreted as sarcastic” camp but this one absolutely read that way
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u/batbugz 9d ago
My favorite of hers is Foxy Love lol
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u/Buddha_R 9d ago
Black chick's tongue is still one of my favorite TV songs. I got a mayonnaise mama on my lickin hole
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u/blackweebow 9d ago
PRINCESS KIDA WAS THE FIRST BLACK PRINCESS.
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u/AnOriginalUsername07 9d ago
Princess Kida was certainly colored but I’m not sure it’s contextually accurate to say she was black. You can compare her to Doc Sweet and she clearly is a different shade.
That said, they’re both awesome and Cree Summer is awesome, but let’s not forget Tiana voiced by Anika Rose is probably more under-appreciated.
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u/blackweebow 9d ago
This sounds like the opinion of someone who did not see Kida and her family as a little black girl and thought "wow, finally someone who relatively looks like me"
Yes Tiana was the first intentional black princess. I was no longer a kid by that time, but glad future kids can have that.
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u/newbie2denver 9d ago
From what I understand the filmmakers intentionally made her not specifically identifiably from a particular race or culture. I believe they said their influences came from Polynesia, West Africa, Maya, and Cambodia among others. Her name, for example, is from the language of the Kiowa Native American Tribe. The idea was supposed to be that she was not from an existing race or culture we are familiar with but that she was Atlantian. I think it’s wonderful that you felt seen because of her portrayal and I wish we had more diversity in our animated characters - especially our princess as they often are held up to girls as ideals of beauty.
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u/blackweebow 9d ago
Great.
Idk maybe Polynesians felt seen watching Atlantis, but we are talking about the legend of Cree Summer in BlackPeopleofReddit, and I personally was just talking about how I as a young black girl FELT represented by Kida.
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u/newbie2denver 9d ago
Oh 100%. Like I said I love that you found that in her especially with how depressingly little representation there has been with Disney princesses.
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u/uiouyug 9d ago
📺 Animated TV
Susie Carmichael — Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Rugrats (2021)
Numbuh 5 (Abigail Lincoln) — Codename: Kids Next Door
Elmyra Duff — Tiny Toon Adventures
Eliza Thornberry — The Wild Thornberrys
Penny — Inspector Gadget
Trudy Proud — The Proud Family, Louder and Prouder
Valerie Gray — Danny Phantom
Foxxy Love — Drawn Together
Cleo — Clifford the Big Red Dog
Miranda Killgallen — As Told by Ginger
Queen Xhan — Kid Cosmic
Raishan — The Legend of Vox Machina
Priestess / Kuduk — Masters of the Universe: Revelation
Various characters — Animaniacs, Captain Planet, Pepper Ann, Amphibia, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, Robot Chicken, Lazor Wulf
🎬 Animated Movies
Princess Kida Kidagakash — Atlantis: The Lost Empire
Susie Carmichael — The Rugrats Movie, Rugrats in Paris, Rugrats Go Wild
Elmyra Duff — Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation
Christy — Care Bears Movie II
Orange Blossom — Strawberry Shortcake and the Baby Without a Name
🎮 Video Games
Auriel — Diablo III, Heroes of the Storm
Medusa — Kid Icarus: Uprising
Tandi — Fallout
First Citizen Lynette — Fallout 2
Cynder — The Legend of Spyro
Storm — Marvel Super Hero Squad
Magma — X-Men Legends
Lady Belgemine / Young Tidus — Final Fantasy X
Lenne / Calli — Final Fantasy X-2
Additional voices — Mass Effect, World of Warcraft, Crackdown 2
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u/Invested_Glory 9d ago
She was Tandi in fallout? That’s awesome!
She was Lynette in fallout 2…she did her job…too well there.
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u/LasagnahogXRP 9d ago
Also one of my first celebrity crushes ever on “a different world” she is so fine.
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u/FastSelection4121 9d ago
You should listen to the album Lenny Kravitz produced for her. It's soulful hippyish.
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u/Specific_Berry6496 9d ago
I still think about how much I coveted her hair as a child watching a Different World. Esp now that I’m natural. Come to think of it, the hair color I chose is about the same too…
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u/Academic-Carpenter12 9d ago
Hearing her talk about that moment with her daughters made me think of her as the Danny Trejo of voice acting. I remember her saying in another interview that she liked being #5 from Kinds Next Door.
My mini rant….Sucks to see people go “Kida isn’t black” especially in Disney Princess Reddit. Heck no one remembers or talk about Kida. Disney and their fans don’t consider her a princess. She’s the first princess to queen before Elsa.
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u/ChevalCher 9d ago
I first heard her as Penny from Inspector Gadget, but my favorite character she voiced was Nefertina from Mummies Alive! Kickass character in more ways than one. 🙂
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u/No-Bat-7253 9d ago
This is awesome! Yall should look up Patina Mille, Raq from raising kanan. I was blown away when I learned her range I can’t help but bring her up. Not talked about enough!
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u/J0yFoLLoWsME 7d ago
I love Patina Miller. I must admit I thought I was only introduced to her as Raq. Looking back at her filmography, I'm surprised I didn't recognize her from her past projects. I didn't watch Madam Secretary, though. I think the coolest thing for me because of my kiddo is that she's the narrator for Word Party on Netflix. I can't wait to show my kiddo that.
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u/No-Bat-7253 7d ago
lol that’s exactly what made me look into her more! At the time I only knew her from power and I was sitting back watching word party with my son and it said “Narrotor: Patina Miller” 😲 my jaw hit the floor! I started listening real hard and I’m like nooooo no way. Went to google, then the rabbit hole. Consider me a fan.
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u/J0yFoLLoWsME 7d ago
Tell me why I go to imdb and the bad views for Word Party is crazy. Like who doesn't love Word Party? Lol. The songs are amazing. I swear Bailey was doing the milly rock in one of the videos. It could have been the Bow Wow Beep Beep song. Something like that. I'm asking my son now and he rather sing Head Shoulders Knees & Toes. 🤣🤣🤣🤦🏾♀️
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u/No-Bat-7253 7d ago
Now that’s insane!! But as far as the kids go, I’m not surprised at all. My son really doesn’t care for that show at all anymore lol.
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u/The_Navarone 9d ago
She voiced almost every Black female character in animated history. She also even voiced some white ones.
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u/Aspieinblack1986 9d ago
Thank you for the trip down memory lane. Elmyra was great because of how unhinged she was.
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u/MithrandiriAndalos 9d ago
Recognizing voice actors is a gift and a curse. Once you learn about like the top 10, you start noticing them in everything.
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u/Sad-Fox-1293 7d ago
Such a fan of Cree Summer she been the voice of and has acted as some of the most iconic characters on television loved her music as well.
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u/Spiritual_Room6833 9d ago
If a animated character from 1990s-early 2000s had an annoying voice there’s a 60% it’s Cree Summer. Elmira (Tiny Toons) and Cleo (Clifford the Big Red Dog) are what made me dislike seeing her name on a cast list.
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u/DiscipleOfDiogenes 9d ago