Jiminy Cricket
From The Unofficial DisneyWiki
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Is a small Cricket who first appeared in Pinocchio. Jiminy acts as a conscience and a good friend. He is clever, kind, caring and brave. He will do anything for a friend even if it's life threatening. he has appeared along with Mickey Mouse and Tinkerbell as a Disney mascot
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[edit] Origin of name
"Jimney Cricket(s)!" was originally a polite expletive euphemism for Jesus Christ. The name of the character is a play on the exclamation (which itself was uttered in Pinocchio's immediate predecessor, 1937's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs). Another example occurs in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz when the group first enters the Wizard's chamber, they are startled by the Wizard's sudden thunder-and-lightning display, and cries, "Oh! Oh! Jiminy Crickets!" (Garland also says the expression in her 1938 film Listen, Darling). It had also been used as an exclamation by the Swedish father several times in the 1930 movie Anna Christie. Another time it is used is in the short 1938 cartoon starring Mickey Mouse The Brave Little Tailor. That expression is also Howard Cunningham's catchphrase on Happy Days.
[edit] Creating Jiminy
For the 1940 Disney film, the character was designed by Ward Kimball, who had been very disappointed and was about to leave the Disney studio when much of the work he did for was cut from the final version of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. However, Walt Disney persuaded him to stay by giving him the assignment to design Jiminy.
[edit] Voice actors
Jiminy Cricket's voice was originally performed by singer Cliff Edwards,[1] who voiced the character for Disney through the 1960s. Jiminy's most famous song, as sung by Edwards, is When You Wish Upon a Star. After Edwards's death, Eddie Carroll replaced him as the voice actor for Jiminy.
[edit] After Pinocchio
After Pinocchio, Jiminy appeared in Fun and Fancy Free as the host of the cartoon segments. He also hosted many Disney television specials. In a recurring segment of the children's television series Mickey Mouse Club, he taught a generation how to spell e-n-c-y-c-l-o-p-e-d-i-a. He also appears at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts as a meetable character, and also in Pinocchio's Daring Journey, a dark ride themed to the movie from whence he originated, found at three of the Disney parks worldwide (specifically in California, Japan and France).
[edit] 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s
In the 1960s and 1970s, Jiminy Cricket appeared in two series of educational films aimed at grade-school-aged audiences. In the "I'm No Fool" series, he advised children how to steer clear of dangerous traffic, sharp objects, strangers, exposed electrical lines, and so forth. In each short, he sang the refrain:
I'm no fool, no sirree!
I'm gonna live to be 33 (then 43, 53, etc., up to 103)
I play safe for you and me
'Cause I'm no fool!
The other series was called "You", which teaches about the human body with the refrain "You are a human animal...".
In 1988, he made a brief cameo in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. He specifically is found by Eddie Valiant first drives through Toontown.
[edit] Other media
[edit] Mickey's Christmas Carol
Jiminy appeared in Mickey's Christmas Carol as the ghost of Christmas past (The badge given to him by the Blue Fairy at the end of Pinocchio marking him as an official conscience now declares him to be the Ghost of Christmas Past). Scrooge is perplexed at his size, but Jiminy shoots back at him that if he were measured by his amount of kindness, "you'd be no bigger than a speck of dust!" Nevertheless, he shows Scrooge past Christmases of him: (Scrooge) while working at Fezziwig's and the horrid memory where Scrooge put his money before his love, whom he never saw again. As Scrooge begs the minuscule ghost to take him away from these bad memories, Jiminy reminds Scrooge that "you fashioned these memories yourself."
[edit] Disney's Sing-Along Songs
Jiminy Cricket hosted these four sing-along videos:
- The Bare Necessities (October 13, 1987)
- Be Our Guest (November 12, 1991)
- Friend Like Me (March 3, 1993)
- Circle of Life (VHS Version only; DVD version features a voiceover only) (December 14, 1994)
[edit] House of Mouse
He was also among the numerous Disney characters to appear in the television series House of Mouse. He also appeared in the movie. A running gag in the series involves Timon and Pumbaa from The Lion King trying to eat him.
[edit] Disney's Halloween Treat
The Blue Fairy sees Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket.
[edit] Wishes
More recently, Cricket and the Blue Fairy are the hosts of the Wishes: A Magical Gathering of Disney Dreams fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom theme park.
