Jiminy Cricket

Jiminy Cricket is a fictional character who first appeared in the 1940 Walt Disney animated film Pinocchio. He was appointed by the Blue Fairy to serve as the official conscience for Pinocchio. He is also a comical and wise partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures.

Creating Jiminy

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 Snow White was cut from the final version of that film. However, Walt Disney persuaded him to stay by giving him the assignment to design Jiminy.

Voice actors

Jiminy Cricket's voice was originally performed by singer Cliff Edwards, 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' death, Eddie Carroll replaced him as the voice actor for Jiminy.

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.

1960s and 1970s

In the 1960s and 1970s, Jiminy Cricket appeared in numerous safety films aimed at grade-school-aged audiences. 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!

Other Media

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 smaller than a speck of dust!" Nevertheless, he shows Scrooge past Christmases of him (Scrooge) while working at Fezzywhig'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 he "brought these memories upon himself."

Disney's Sing-Along Songs

Jiminy Cricket hosted these four sing-along shows:

• The Bare Necessities (October 13, 1987)
• Be Our Guest (November 12, 1991)
• Friend Like Me (March 3, 1993)
• Circle of Life (December 14, 1994)

House of Mouse

He was also among the numerous Disney characters to appear in the television series House of Mouse.

Kingdom Hearts

He also appeared in the video game Kingdom Hearts, as the chronicler to Sora's travels, writing a journal and keeping a cast list of the figures they meet, friend or foe. He had a substantially bigger part in the sequel, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, frequently talking to Sora and offering advice. His role in Kingdom Hearts II is largely smaller than in the first game. Carroll was his English voice, and Kaneta Kimotsuki voiced him in Japanese.

Wishes

More recently, Cricket and the Blue Fairy are the hosts of the Wishes fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom theme park.

Comparisons to Book

• Although largely modified by Disney for the film, the cricket character actually appears in the book. The book cricket got far less page time, only appearing in chapters 4, 13, 16 and 36. Furthermore, the book cricket is crushed to death by a mallet, though this happens in the first chapter and he thereafter appears once as a ghost and thenceforth as a living cricket, none the worse for being killed with a hammer.

Trivia

• "Jiminy Cricket!" or "Jiminy Crickets!" 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 way to say this is "Jiminy Christmas!", "Jeeminy Christmas", or "Jiminy Crispus". 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 Dorothy cries, "Oh! Oh! Jiminy Crickets!"

• In one of the most important creations of the Japanese artist Shotaro Ishinomori, called Kikaider, features multiple references to Jiminy and Pinocchio.

• The Japanese Suzuki Jimny is named after Jiminy Cricket but was spelled wrong in the translation.