Jiminy Cricket

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Jiminy in Mickey's Christmas Carol

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 comic foil who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures.

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.

Jiminy Cricket's voice was originally performed by singer Cliff Edwards, who voiced the character for Disney through the 1960s. After Edwards' death, Eddie Carroll replaced him as the voice of Jiminy.

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.

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!

He was also among the numerous Disney characters to appear in the television series House of Mouse, and 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. More recently, Cricket and the Blue Fairy are the hosts of the Wishes fireworks display at the Magic Kingdom theme park.

Trivia

"Jiminy Cricket!" is also an expletive euphemism for Jesus Christ. The name of the character, in fact, is a play on the exclamation (which itself was uttered in Pinocchio's immediate predecessor, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).

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