When You Wish upon a Star

"When You Wish upon a Star" is a popular song written by Ned Washington and Leigh Harline and introduced in the 1940 Walt Disney movie "Pinocchio", where it is sung by Cliff Edwards in the character of Jiminy Cricket, over the opening credits and again in the final scene of the film.

The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year, and became a theme song for the Disney company, used in the opening sequences of Disney anthology television series and in Walt Disney Pictures' opening logos. The ships of the Disney Cruise Line, the "Disney Wonder" and the "Disney Magic", use the iconic first seven notes of this melody as their horn signals.

The American Film Institute ranked "When You Wish Upon A Star" seventh in their 100 Greatest Songs in Film History, the highest ranked Disney song.

In Sweden, Norway and Denmark, the song has become a Christmas song, often referring to the "Star of Bethlehem". The Swedish language version is called "Ser du stjärnan i det blå", roughly translated: "do you see the star in the blue(sky)", and the Danish title is "Når du ser et stjerneskud", which roughly translates as "When you see a shooting star". In Sweden the song is played on Swedish television every Christmas eve and this is considered a major Swedish tradition.

Because "Pinocchio", the movie, plays a small role in the plot of Steven Spielberg's film "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", John Williams's score for that film quotes "When You Wish upon a Star".

The song is performed in the 1947 Walt Disney Studios animated cartoon "Donald's Dilemma", directed by Jack King. The song is performed by Donald Duck, who becomes a well-known crooner after a flower pot falls on his head.

The song has been covered many times, including Kiss bassist, Gene Simmons, for his 1978 self-titled solo album.

See also

*"The Rainbow Connection" - A song performed by Kermit the Frog in "The Muppet Movie", which has had the same role for The Jim Henson Company.
*I'm Going to Disneyland! - The song is played in the annual commercial featuring the winner of the Super Bowl.

External links

* [http://www.jazzstandards.com/compositions-3/whenyouwishuponastar.htm "When You Wish upon a Star" at jazzstandards.com]
* [http://www.coveringthemouse.com/labels/when%20you%20wish%20upon%20a%20star.html Covering the Mouse] - Cover versions of "When You Wish Upon a Star"