{"id":31374,"date":"2017-03-07T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-07T08:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/?p=31374"},"modified":"2020-05-09T23:10:57","modified_gmt":"2020-05-10T06:10:57","slug":"jiminy-cricket-on-records","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cartoonresearch.com\/index.php\/jiminy-cricket-on-records\/","title":{"rendered":"Jiminy Cricket on Records"},"content":{"rendered":"

A look at two records by one of the most popular stars of Broadway, Hollywood and the early record industry, in the signature cartoon role he first voiced in Pinocchio<\/em>.<\/p>\n\"MMCJiminy78Front-600\"\n

<\/p>\n

Walt Disney\u2019s
\nJIMINY CRICKET SINGS<\/strong>
\n5 Mickey Mouse Club Songs<\/em>
\nFeaturing Cliff Edwards as Jiminy Cricket
\nwith Jimmie Dodd, The Mouseketeers, Chorus and Orchestra<\/p>\n

Official Mickey Mouse Club Records<\/em> (Am-Par) DBR-56 (10\u201d 78 RPM \/ Mono \/ 1955) \\<\/p>\n

Producer:<\/strong> Jimmy Johnson. Musical Director: Buddy Baker. Choral Direction: Arthur Norman. Running Time: 9 minutes.
\nSongs:<\/strong> \u201cAnyone for Exploring?\u201d \u201cThe Nature of Things,\u201d \u201cI\u2019m No Fool,\u201d \u201cYou Are a Human Animal,\u201d \u201cMickey Mouse Club Book Song,\u201d by Jimmie Dodd.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"MMCJiminy78Back-600\"<\/a>Jiminy Cricket is the consummate animated feature sidekick. All subsequent sidekicks owe him their careers. He is also the first feature character to be a recurring presence on TV (with the exception of Tinker Bell, who flew and zapped on the Disneyland TV series). His strength is in breaking the fourth wall throughout Pinocchio<\/em> and, in almost every instance, continuing to do so.<\/p>\n

The Jiminy in the 1940 classic had a jaunty attitude, used slang of the day and had an eye for the ladies. These characteristics were lessened (and the last one eliminated) when he became a spokesman for common sense and education. What never went away was his down to earth way of communicating. <\/p>\n

Jiminy is a household name among cartoon characters, but he\u2019s not often recognized for what he brought to TV. It was one thing for Jimmie Dodd, Buffalo Bob, Captain Kangaroo or even Bozo to gently guide kids through issues of safety and good citizenship; it was another for an animated character to be so believable in the same role. Jiminy could be trusted. He gave us very good advice even if, like Pinocchio, we very seldom followed it.<\/p>\n

There were several Jiminy segments on the Mickey Mouse Club and the songs on this extended play 78 and 45 RPM record were the theme songs (a 45 RPM record was also released in 1975 with a slightly different playlist). <\/p>\n

The most famous is probably \u201cI\u2019m No Fool.\u201d Even when the Mickey Mouse Club and Pinocchio were out of release in the \u201960s and \u201970s, schools rented the films. As kids, these were the ones we were happiest to see (in addition to cool Bell Science live-action\/animated films). Few Disney characters were as accessible during this time.<\/p>\n

This is one of the early Official Mickey Mouse Club records. This one was distributed by \u201cAm-Par\u201d records, which was a division of ABC. Others were released on Golden Records. They all sold so well that Roy Disney was finally convinced to start an in-house label to keep the profits at home. It was the beginning of a new dawn in baby boomer children\u2019s records.<\/p>\n

Our knowledgeable pal Jim Korkis shared a history of Cliff Edwards here<\/a> – and the \u201cI\u2019m No Fool\u201d films here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

GIVE A LITTLE LISTEN<\/strong>
\n\u201cThe Nature of Things\u201d<\/em>
\nObviously, this theme started films about animals and nature. Others were about health, safety, learning and exploration. It makes one wonder if later teaching albums by characters like Popeye<\/a> and Yogi Bear<\/a> were inspired by the films and even the records.<\/p>\n