"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 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 logo of Walt Disney Pictures before a film.
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!
Trivia
- "When You Wish Upon a Star" is the first Disney song to win an Oscar, earning an Academy Award for Best Song.
- The American Film Institute ranked the #7 in their 100 Greatest Songs in Film History.[2]
- In 1991, Billy Joel sings "When You Wish Upon a Star" from Simply Mad About the Mouse the soundtrack and the TV special.
- In 2009, the song was preserved into the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
- "When You Wish Upon a Star" was heavily featured in Remember... Dreams Come True at Disneyland and Wishes at Magic Kingdom as opening and finale song. It was also heard in Believe... There's Magic in the Stars and Disneyland Forever.
- "When You Wish Upon a Star" was also performed on The Muppet Show in the Mark Hamill episode as the closing number.
- 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 of the song.
- The song was referenced in The Muppets at Walt Disney World when Mickey Mouse tells the Muppets a saying they have around The Walt Disney Company is "When you wish upon a star, your dreams come true".
Videos
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- ↑ 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".
