"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 during the opening credits and the final scene of the film.
The song has been universally praised since its release, with its theme relating to wishes, dreams, and magic; all of which became synonymous with the Disney brand. The song has since become the official anthem of The Walt Disney Company as a whole, having been used as the theme for the Walt Disney anthology series since 1954, and played alongside the Walt Disney Pictures logo at the beginning of many films since 1985.
Lyrics[]
Jiminy Cricket:
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:
Fate is kind.
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing.
Jiminy Cricket:
Like a bolt out of the blue,
Fate steps in and sees you through.
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 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.
Jiminy Cricket:
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...
Jiminy Cricket:
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:
Fate is kind
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Jiminy Cricket:
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.
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.
Shari Lewis: (spoken) When a star is born...
Lamb Chop: (spoken) Yes?
Shari Lewis: (spoken) They possess a gift or two.
Lamb Chop: Tell me what they do
Shari Lewis: They have the power
To make a wish 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
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
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: Your dreams comes true
Shari Lewis: Now close your eyes
Go where your dreams may lead
There's nothing more you'll need
Until tomorrow
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: Until tomorrow
When the world is bright and new
What you want will come to you
Shari Lewis: When you wish upon a star
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop: 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
Dreams are as real as you want them to be
Dreams are as real as the sky and the sea
Just change your perspective
Your point of view
Now you believe in me (You believe in me)
And I believe... (I believe...)
In you...
When you wish upon a star
Makes no difference who you are
Anything your heart desires will come to you
When you wish upon a star
Your dreams come true!
(instrumental beginning)
Alan-A-Dale:
(playing lute; When you wish upon a star...)
Scat Cat and Mirabel Madrigal:
(playing trumpet, and accordion; Makes no difference who you are...)
(Hathi Jr. trumpets)
Belle:
Anything your heart desires
Belle & The Beast:
Will come to you
Hades:
(spoken) I knew this was gonna happen.
Quasimodo:
If your heart is in your dream
Pocahontas:
No request is too extreme
Ariel:
When you wish-
Scuttle:
(vocalizing "upon a star-")
Baloo & Mowgli:
As dreamers do
Chorus:
Fate is kind.
She brings to those who love
The sweet fulfillment of
Their secret longing
Snow White, Mulan & Asha:
Like a bolt out of the blue
Winnie the Pooh:
Fate steps in and sees you through
Jiminy Cricket:
When you wish upon a star
All:
Your dreams... come... true.
Trivia[]
- The first four notes of the song are heard in Aladdin when the Genie asks the titular character, "Aladdin, you just won the heart of the Princess! What're you gonna do next?", while shaping his fingers like a TV screen in a parody of the "I'm going to Disney World!" commercials. (This can be heard on the soundtrack album as part of the track "Aladdin's World".)
- From 1985 to 2006, John Debney composed a rendition of the song for the Walt Disney Pictures logo, starting with The Black Cauldron, and lasting until 2006.
- In 2006, Mark Mancina composed a new rendition the song for the previous Walt Disney Pictures logo, started with Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. This version was used until late 2022 with Night at the Museum: Kahmunrah Rises Again.
- A version of the song was included as part of a test program included in Nintendo's "SNSP Aging Cassette" for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The program is set to the song depicting images of Mario, Peach, and other characters from their series in order to test for any anomalies with the system being tested.
- In 2022, Christophe Beck composed the most recent rendition for the current Walt Disney Pictures logo to celebrate 100 Years of Wonder which began with Strange World.
- 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 was 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 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 sung also by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.[1][3]
- 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, Disneyland Forever, and in Fantasy in the Sky during a countdown to the new year.
- 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, includes a portion of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in 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: Let's Celebrate (100 Years of Magic).
- In 2017, Idina Menzel, the voice of Elsa, sang this song in Disney Parks Magical Christmas Celebration. Three years prior, she sang a cover of this song for her album Holiday Wishes.
- Pentatonix did a cover of this song for their album, We Need a Little Christmas.
- 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).
- A rock version of this song is played at the very beginning of Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience.
- Another rock version is briefly heard during the opening logo of Prom.
- In 2012, Danny Elfman composed another rendition at the very beginning of Frankenweenie, although it transitions to a spookier tune near the end of the opening logo.
- A slow 1950s-style jazz version of the song is played at the beginning of the 2019 remake of Lady and the Tramp.
- A discordant version of the song is played at the very beginning of Soul (when the opening logo is shown), when Joe Gardner is trying to teach it to his music class.
- A Mexican band version is played at the very beginning of Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3: Viva la Fiesta and Coco, although both versions are different.
- In 2016 and 2019, John Debney and Hans Zimmer composed new renditions at the very beginning of The Jungle Book and The Lion King live-action/animated remakes, respectively.
- A re-orchestrated version by James Newton Howard is played at the very beginning of The Nutcracker and the Four Realms.
- Cynthia Erivo performs the opening song at the end credits of the 2022 live-action remake. Jiminy Cricket also sings this song near the end of the opening logo of this film.
- In 2023, Sara Bareilles performs the opening song for the celebration of Disney's 100th Anniversary.
- Thus in Once Upon a Studio as they all gather for group photo at the Disney Animation studio towards the end, all the Disney characters including Belle, the Beast, Quasimodo, Pocahontas, Ariel, Scuttle, Baloo, Mowgli, Mulan, Asha, Snow White, Winnie the Pooh, and Jiminy Cricket sing it solo to restore their morale after Goofy's unfortunate accident; after Mirabel plays the beginning notes on accordion along with Scat Cat on trumpet, Hathi, Jr. on his trunk, Alan-A-Dale on lute, and the Golden Harp conducted by Sebastian. Everyone then sings the final line as a unified chorus. The uncertain order in which characters came out into the courtyard during both the botched first attempt at the group photo (where Goofy fell off his ladder), and the second attempt may explain why only certain characters sang solo parts.
- In the post credits scene of Wish, Sabino plays the song on his mandolin as he looks at the stars before the closing logos start, indicating that he was possibly the original writer of the song within the universe.
Videos[]
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".
- ↑ When You Wish Upon a Star (2014) | The Tabernacle Choir
External links[]
