Harline & Washington's When You Wish Upon a Star

Author/Contributor(s):	Johnson, Jake
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date:	01/06/2026
Binding:	Paperback
Condition:	NEW

Harline & Washington's "When You Wish Upon a Star" is one of the most familiar tunes in America. Beginning at the song's origins, how the tune and lyrics were developed for the film Pinocchio, this book builds to explore the history, musicality, and context of this song in America. Author Jake Johnson discusses the life and legacy of Cliff Edwards, who first recorded the song and gave voice to Jiminy Cricket, and the song's afterlives in the Disney company and in films like Close Encounters of the Third Kind. This book also looks at the song with the larger contexts of race and religion in America.