Top 20 Pinocchio Facts

#12

The first celeb voice

Jiminy Cricket was voiced by Cliff Edwards, who was a popular performer on TV at the time. 

Cliff might have been the first famous person to voice, not just a Disney character, but a character from cartoons in general. 

Back then, their go-to cast was radio actors because they were the best at playing roles with their voices rather than their bodies. 

There were sometimes exceptions with character actors or singers who had the voice Walt was looking for, but they didn't technically have Cliff's type of popularity. 

So Jiminy had the first famous voice in cartoon history. 

Disney wouldn't start casting legitimately famous people again until The Jungle Book.