# Jiminy Cricket

jiminy cricket, also referred to as J. Cricket, is the Walt Disney version of the "Talking Cricket" (Italian: Il Grillo Parlante), a fictional character created by Italian writer Carlo Collodi for his 1883 children's book The Adventures of Pinocchio, which Disney adapted into the animated film Pinocchio in 1940. Originally an unnamed, minor character in Collodi's novel who is killed by Pinocchio before returning as a ghost, he was transformed for the Disney adaptation into a comical and wisecracking partner who accompanies Pinocchio on his adventures, having been appointed by the Blue Fairy (known in the book as the "Fairy with Turquoise Hair") to serve as Pinocchio's official conscience. In the film, he sings "When You Wish Upon a Star", widely considered the Walt Disney Company's signature song.