Disney developed some of the best songs for their animated films that have stood the test of time and become nostalgic childhood hits. Singer and actor Cliff Edwards played the role of Jiminy Cricket in the 1940 film Pinocchio and sang a song that would earn Disney their first Oscar.
Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio was turned into one of the earliest musical fantasies produced by Walt Disney. As the story goes, Pinocchio is a wooden puppet whose brought to life and must prove himself to become a real boy. Pinocchio became a smashing success, making $164 million at the box office and cementing itself for years to come as a Disney classic.
Seeing as it's a musical, there are many songs that were sung by its main character, but only one won an Oscar for Best Original Song. "When You Wish Upon a Star" was sung by Edwards and written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington. It appears in the opening credits of the film and is sung in the final scene of the film when Pinocchio becomes a real boy. Its title refers to a main storyline element of Pinocchio having come alive after Geppetto makes a wish when there was a star in the sky, which happened to be the Blue Fairy.
Edwards and Harline presented the track to the movie crew in 1938, and they instantly knew they had a hit on their hands. Disney felt that the track would be perfect for the opening credits and soon realized it would work as the overall theme song for the film. At first, Edwards only recorded a "test take," seeing as his role as Jiminy was much more limited at the start of production. With Disney loving the track, they decided to make Jiminy the narrator and gave him a more prominent role.
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"When You Wish Upon a Star" became the first Disney track to ever win an Oscar and would become one of the greatest songs in film history, according to the American Film Institute. It was also preserved by the Library of Congress in 2009.
Over the years, the song has stayed a Disney staple and has been covered by many artists. Steven Spielberg's 1977 film Close Encounters of the Third Kind even covered the song with John Williams, creating a sci-fi/Disney mashup. KISS's Gene Simmonsalso recorded the track for his 1978 self-titled solo album, claiming the character of Jiminy "spoke to him."
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