Cri-Cri: The legendary Mexican children’s songwriter who turned down Disney

For generations of Mexican-raised families, there’s a sanction that inevitably evokes the purest childlike joyousness and unfiltered excitement: Cri-Cri. A fictional cricket instrumentalist and beloved icon — who is wide believed successful Mexico to person inspired the instauration of Disney’s Jiminy Cricket quality for the 1940 movie “Pinocchio” — Cri-Cri has sung his songs, pranced astir and delighted the Mexican imaginativeness for astir a century.

Debuting successful 1934, the tiny anthropomorphic figure, besides known passim Mexico arsenic “El Grillito Cantor“ (“The Little Singing Cricket”), wore a reddish tuxedo, played the violin made from twigs and leaves and would look connected the radio, albums, successful children’s books and yet connected television. Nowadays, Cri-Cri adjacent has a depository and a parkland successful his grant located successful Orizaba, Veracruz, wherever the archetypal creator and songwriter, Francisco Gabilondo Soler, was calved and raised. It’s a testament to Gabilondo Soler’s bequest arsenic being the Walt Disney of sorts for Mexico. In his prime, helium adjacent declined to enactment for Disney, according to Gabilondo Soler’s grandson.

Ask a Mexican of immoderate age, and they’ll astir apt beryllium capable to sing 1 of Cri-Cri’s songs connection for word. Though Soler’s characters person surely mislaid crushed globally successful an property of integer overload and media oversaturation, he’s inactive a fable successful Mexico. Here’s what made him specified a sought-after generational endowment and originative motor of his time. 

Cri-Cri the philharmonic cricket began singing his mode into Mexicans’ hearts successful 1934 connected a vigor amusement Francisco Gabilondo Soler did for XEW, 1 of the astir influential broadcasters successful Mexico during the 20th century. (Sony Music Entertainment México)

From amateur astronomer to nationalist euphony icon

Born successful 1907 successful Orizaba to the children of Spanish immigrants, Gabilondo Soler reportedly taught himself however to play the pianola arsenic a teen by asking support to usage a nationalist self-playing piano arsenic his informal schooling. In 1928, helium would spell connected to survey astronomy astatine the National Observatory of Mexico successful Baja California but was incapable to decorativeness his degree, though helium retained his involvement successful astronomy. A antheral of constricted resources, helium dabbled successful different nonrecreational fields, including linotyping, earlier returning to his originative passionateness and dedicating himself to becoming a full-time musician.

He played successful nationalist areas and was successful an opportune presumption to stock his euphony with larger audiences erstwhile vigor began to turn successful popularity — a exertion that had lone existed successful Mexico since 1921. He dilatory and people transitioned into being connected air, with his archetypal vigor persona being dubbed “El Guasón del Teclado” (The Joker of the Keyboard), known for his wit and witty societal commentary. 

In 1934, everything changed. Gabilondo Soler performed his archetypal children’s songs: “El Chorrito,” “Bombón I” and “El Ropero” connected Mexico City’s renowned vigor station, XEW. For a 15-minute segment, helium began to sing phantasy children’s songs helium had been penning connected the side. It became a regular vigor conception that lasted for 27 years and led to his eventual fame and renown.

But astatine the time, helium was simply a bare creator trying to marque his mark. According to the official website for Cri-Cri, Gabilondo Soler’s archetypal recordings went mostly unacknowledged; instead, helium “had lone his voice, a soft and a batch of imagination. Thus helium continued, seemingly without success, with his nameless programme and nary character,” according to the site.

Though helium was mostly chartless astatine the time, this was the twelvemonth that Cri-Cri was born.

Cri-Cri: Mexico’s ain Walt Disney

By the extremity of his career, Cri-Cri (the fictional moniker that Gabilondo Soler would go known for) composed a full of 210 songs. 

Among his astir well-known are “El Ratón Vaquero” (The Cowboy Mouse), “Cochinitos Dormilones” (Sleepy Piggies), “Caminito de la Escuela” (Little Road to School) and “Marcha de las Letras” (March of the Letters). At the depository successful Orizaba, assorted songs are brought to beingness with papier-mache figures portraying the song’s lyrics.

Cri-Cri was particularly heralded for his songs due to the fact that they often focused connected beingness lessons oregon acquisition values for young Mexicans, and to this time they are utilized arsenic learning tools for infants, toddlers and grade-school children to larn astir topics specified arsenic friendship, family, schoolhouse and more. 

His repute extended beyond Mexico, of course. When Walt Disney and a squad of cartoonists and creatives visited Mexico and various regions astir Latin America successful 1941, they specifically had hoped to get Gabilondo Soler to enactment with them.

Cri-Cri, Gabilondo Soler’s singing cricket, whitethorn person inspired the instauration of Walt Disney’s Jiminy Cricket character. The archetypal images of Cri-Cri, however, were not created until 1962 by Mexican illustrator José Luis Tamayo. (Sharazad-Liddell/Wikimedia Commons)

The times were complicated. World War II had breached out, and though the United States hadn’t yet actively entered the war, governmental factors fueled the U.S. authorities to money the Disney Company’s travel — via the recently created Office of the Coordinator of Inter-American Affairs — successful an effort to make spot and leverage among Latin Americans done movies.

The travel would effect successful caller Disney films and characters. In 1942 and 1944, respectively, Disney produced “Saludos Amigos” and “The Three Caballeros,” philharmonic household films that were informed by the Disney’s team’s experiences successful assorted Latin American countries, including Mexico.

Turning down Disney

In the 1940s, Walt Disney was moving with the U.S. government, including the military. During this time, helium visited Mexico arsenic portion of a U.S. authorities goodwill circuit of Latin America. (Bettmann Archive via Getty Images)

While successful Mexico, Walt Disney allegedly attempted to prosecute Gabilondo Soler to make archetypal worldly that would talk straight to Latin Americans. But, it is said, Cri-Cri was opposed to taking his characters disconnected the Mexican airwaves and placing them successful a commercialized marketplace aimed astatine U.S. filmgoers, and truthful Gabilondo Soler declined the offer.

Decades later, successful 2016, rumors astir this alleged tête-à-tête were rehashed by Gabilondo Soler’s grandson, Francisco Sanz Polo, who confirmed connected the Dante Night Show Disney’s efforts to acquisition the rights to his grandfather’s material. After it was revealed that the Mexican songwriter had remained existent to his roots and originative vision, his adoration among Mexican fans lone increased.

The Cri-Cri catalogue ne'er grew to go a monolithic corp oregon money-making amusement parkland with planetary renown. But that’s mostly due to the fact that Gabilondo Soler — a arrogant Mexican philharmonic icon who was raised successful the mountains of Veracruz — wanted to support it that way.

Alan Chazaro is the writer of “These Spaceships Weren’t Built For Us” (Tia Chucha Press, 2026), “Notes from the Eastern Span of the Bay Bridge” (Ghost City Press, 2021), “Piñata Theory” (Black Lawrence Press, 2020), and “This Is Not a Frank Ocean Cover Album” (Black Lawrence Press, 2019). He is simply a postgraduate of June Jordan’s Poetry for the People programme astatine UC Berkeley and was selected arsenic a Lawrence Ferlinghetti Poetry Fellow astatine the University of San Francisco. His enactment tin beryllium recovered successful NPR, The Guardian, SLAM, GQ, L.A. Times, and more. He is presently based successful Veracruz.