"When You Wish Upon a Star" is the signature song written by Leigh Harline and Ned Washington for Walt Disney's 1940 adaptation of Pinocchio.[1] The original version was first sung by Jiminy Cricket (Cliff Edwards)[1] and is heard over the opening credits and in the final scene of the film.
The song was universally praised upon its release. With its theme relating to wishes, dreams, and magic—all of which are synonymous with the Disney brand—the song has since become the anthem for the Walt Disney Company, most famously playing alongside the Walt Disney Pictures logo before a film.
Contents
Lyrics
Male Character (Singing)/Chorus (Vocalizing):
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Chorus (Singing):
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing...
(vocalizes)
Jiminy Cricket (Singing)/Chorus (Vocalzing):
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through...
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams... come... true!
Jiminy Cricket (Singing)/Chorus (Vocalizing):
When your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
Chorus (Singing):
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams.. come... true!
(vocalizes)
You'll find your dreams come true!
Jiminy Cricket (Singing):
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you.
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do...
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Suddenly, it comes in view
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
When a star is born,
They possess a gift or two
One of them is this:
They have the power to make a wish come true.
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
When you wish...
When you wish...
Fate is kind.
She brings to those who love
And this sweet, fulfillment of
Their secret's longing
Like a bolt out of a blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
When you wish...
When you wish (yeah yeah yeah)
When you wish...
Wish upon a star... (your dreams come true.)
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star... (when you wish upon a star.)
When you wish...
When you wish... (when you wish...)
When you wish
Wish upon a star... (your dreams come true.)
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star
Fate is kind.
She brings to those who love
And this sweet, fulfillment of
Their secret's longing
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish...
Wish upon a star... (wish upon a star)
When you wish...
When you wish...
When you wish... (when you wish)
Wish upon a star...
Male Character/Jiminy Cricket (Singing)/Chorus (Vocalizing):
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires
Will come to you
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Chorus (Singing):
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
(vocalizes)
Jiminy Cricket (Singing)/Chorus (Vocalzing):
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through...
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true!
(not in Disney Sing-Along Songs version)
Jiminy Cricket (Speaking):
From all of us to all of you, merry Christmas.
Chorus (Singing):
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams come true!
(vocalizes)
You'll find your dreams come true!
When you wish upon a star,
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you
If your heart is in your dream,
No request is too extreme
When you wish upon a star
As dreamers do
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing...
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through...
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams come true
(instrumental)
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through...
When you wish upon a star,
Your dreams... come... true
Your dreams come true!
Trivia
- On Volume 1 of Disney's Greatest Lullabies, this song is set to clips from Pinocchio, Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, Wynken, Blynken and Nod, The Rescuers, and Lullaby Land.
- In Disney's Sing-Along Songs: Disneyland Fun, Mickey shoots fireworks from his fingers during this song, just like in the Walt Disney World 15th Anniversary Special, Sorcery in the Sky at Disney-MGM Studios (now Disney's Hollywood Studios), and its successor Fantasmic!.
- The song is the first Disney song to win an Oscar, earning an Academy Award for Best Song.
- The American Film Institute ranked the song #7 in their 100 Greatest Songs in Film History.[2]
- In 1991, Billy Joel sang the song in the TV special Simply Mad About the Mouse and its soundtrack.
- In 1992, the musical group Shakatak performed an instrumental version of this song for their album Christmas Dreams.
- In 2009, the song was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
- The song was heavily featured in Remember... Dreams Come True at Disneyland and Wishes at the Magic Kingdom as the opening and finale song. It was also heard in Believe... There's Magic in the Stars and Disneyland Forever.
- The song was also performed on The Muppet Show in the Star Wars episode as the closing number. Ironically, Disney now owns the rights to both the Muppets and Star Wars franchises.
- Jodi Benson and Paige O'Hara, the original voices of Ariel and Belle, recorded a duet version of the song. Their version, however, samples "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" at the beginning.
- The song was referenced in The Muppets at Walt Disney World when Mickey Mouse tells the Muppets that a saying they have around The Walt Disney Company is "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true".
- In 1999, Eddie Carroll sang the song in Disney On Ice: 100 Years of Magic.
- The song was heard in The Simpsons season 31 episode Bart the Bad Guy, which was made after Disney's acquisition of 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios).
Videos
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 134. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs".
