You've Got a Friend in Me
Encyclopedia
"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song written and first recorded by Randy Newman
. Originally written as the theme song
for the 1995
Disney
·Pixar
animated film Toy Story
, it has since become the theme song for its sequels, Toy Story 2
(1999) and Toy Story 3
(2010). The song was nominated for both the 1996 Academy Award for Best Original Song
and the 1995 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
but lost both to another Disney song, "Colors of the Wind
" from Pocahontas
.
Like many other Disney theme songs, "You've Got a Friend in Me" has been covered numerous times. Cover versions featured in the three Toy Story films include a duet with Newman and Lyle Lovett
in Toy Story, a version by Robert Goulet
and an instrumental by Tom Scott
in Toy Story 2, an Italian language
version by Riccardo Cocciante
, and a Spanish language
version by the Gipsy Kings
in Toy Story 3.
In the two sequels, the song is listened to by the characters as part of the story. Two of these are cover versions done at the end of the film for thematic reasons: at the end of Toy Story 2, the character Wheezy starts to sing it to the other toys; during the end credits of Toy Story 3, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie (now a couple) perform a pasodoble
to a Spanish version of the song, deliberately played by Jessie to get Buzz to dance.
The most significant use of the song was in the third act of Toy Story 2, where an episode of Woody's Roundup (the 1910s puppet show he was based on) shows the puppet Woody singing the song, directed at the young audience and featuring a small child hugging the puppet. Woody sees this and has an epiphany, realising that his mission as a toy is to be there for a child. (In-universe, the song was presumably written for Woody's Roundup.)
The Woody's Roundup version was performed by Tom Hanks
, with acoustic guitar backing; Wheezy's version was sung by Robert Goulet
(though the character was voiced by Joe Ranft
); and the Spanish version, "You've Got a Friend in Me (Para el Buzz Español)", performed by the Gipsy Kings
.
Randy Newman
Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is known for his mordant pop songs and for film scores....
. Originally written as the theme song
Theme music
Theme music is a piece that is often written specifically for a radio program, television program, video game or movie, and usually played during the title sequence and/or end credits...
for the 1995
1995 in film
-Top grossing films:-Events:* March 22 - The Dogme 95 movement is officially announced in Paris by Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.* March 28 - Actress Julia Roberts and singer Lyle Lovett announce their plans for separation....
Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
·Pixar
Pixar
Pixar Animation Studios, pronounced , is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Its films have made over $6.3 billion worldwide...
animated film Toy Story
Toy Story
Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated film released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is Pixar's first feature film as well as the first ever feature film to be made entirely with CGI. The film was directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen...
, it has since become the theme song for its sequels, Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2
Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American computer animated film directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon. It is the sequel to the 1995 film Toy Story, released by Walt Disney Pictures and the third film to be produced by Pixar...
(1999) and Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3
Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
(2010). The song was nominated for both the 1996 Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and the 1995 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
but lost both to another Disney song, "Colors of the Wind
Colors of the Wind
"Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie...
" from Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
.
Like many other Disney theme songs, "You've Got a Friend in Me" has been covered numerous times. Cover versions featured in the three Toy Story films include a duet with Newman and Lyle Lovett
Lyle Lovett
Lyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
in Toy Story, a version by Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
and an instrumental by Tom Scott
Tom Scott (musician)
Tom Scott is an American saxophonist, composer, arranger, conductor and bandleader of the west coast jazz/jazz fusion ensemble The L.A. Express.-Biography:Scott was born in Los Angeles, California...
in Toy Story 2, an Italian language
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
version by Riccardo Cocciante
Riccardo Cocciante
Riccardo Cocciante, also known in French-speaking countries as Richard Cocciante , is an Italian singer-songwriter and actor. His oeuvre includes recordings in Italian, French, and Spanish; he has recorded some of his songs in all three languages.He was born in Saigon, French Indochina, now Ho Chi...
, and a Spanish language
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
version by the Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
in Toy Story 3.
The song in Toy Story
The song is played during the opening credits for Toy Story and Toy Story 3, establishing the importance of Woody to Andy in the first film and the importance of all his toys in the third. Toy Story 3 also uses it for irony and dramatic effect, as the opening credits harken back to the first film and the song abruptly fades out with "As the years go by/Our friendship will never die", before showing Andy's remaining toys in the present day are boxed up and unused.In the two sequels, the song is listened to by the characters as part of the story. Two of these are cover versions done at the end of the film for thematic reasons: at the end of Toy Story 2, the character Wheezy starts to sing it to the other toys; during the end credits of Toy Story 3, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie (now a couple) perform a pasodoble
Pasodoble
Pasodoble is a typical dance from Spain march-like musical style as well as the corresponding dance style danced by a couple. It is the type of music typically played in bullfights during the bullfighters' entrance to the ring or during the passes just before the kill...
to a Spanish version of the song, deliberately played by Jessie to get Buzz to dance.
The most significant use of the song was in the third act of Toy Story 2, where an episode of Woody's Roundup (the 1910s puppet show he was based on) shows the puppet Woody singing the song, directed at the young audience and featuring a small child hugging the puppet. Woody sees this and has an epiphany, realising that his mission as a toy is to be there for a child. (In-universe, the song was presumably written for Woody's Roundup.)
The Woody's Roundup version was performed by Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks
Thomas Jeffrey "Tom" Hanks is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. Hanks worked in television and family-friendly comedies, gaining wide notice in 1988's Big, before achieving success as a dramatic actor in several notable roles, including Andrew Beckett in Philadelphia, the title...
, with acoustic guitar backing; Wheezy's version was sung by Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
(though the character was voiced by Joe Ranft
Joe Ranft
Joseph Henry "Joe" Ranft was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor who worked for Pixar and Disney. His brother, Jerome Ranft, is a sculptor who also worked on several Pixar movies....
); and the Spanish version, "You've Got a Friend in Me (Para el Buzz Español)", performed by the Gipsy Kings
Gipsy Kings
The Gipsy Kings are a group of musicians from Arles and Montpellier, who perform in Spanish with an Andalucían accent. Although group members were born in France, their parents were mostly gitanos, Spanish Romani people who fled Catalonia during the 1930s Spanish Civil War. Chico Bouchikhi is of...
.
Cover versions
- George JonesGeorge JonesGeorge Glenn Jones is an American country music singer known for his long list of hit records, his distinctive voice and phrasing, and his marriage to Tammy Wynette....
covered the song for the 1996 tribute album The Best of Country Sing the Best of DisneyThe Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney-Chart performance:...
. - Pixar posted two music videos to their official YouTube channel which consist of an "official" and a "hyper" remix of this song. (Both are by someone credited as "DJ Synd".)
- More recently, Pixar posted a new remix of the song, based on the Robert Goulet version. This version was remixed by DJ Sam SpiegelSam Spiegel (musician)Sam Spiegel, also known as Squeak E. Clean, is an American producer/DJ/composer from New York who grew up in Manhattan and Westchester County.As a child, Sam studied classical voice, cello, and flute, but by his teens, he enjoyed hip hop music....
, a.k.a. Squeak E. Clean. - Riders in the Sky performed a cover of this song on the album Woody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite SongsWoody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite SongsWoody's Roundup: A Rootin' Tootin' Collection of Woody's Favorite Songs is a studio recording released by the Western band Riders in the Sky on August 29, 2000...
. The album won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for ChildrenGrammy Award for Best Musical Album for ChildrenThe Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children was an honor presented to recording artists for quality children's music albums at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards...
. - Randy Newman arranged the song (along with "Strange Things" and other themes from the films) for the Buzz Lightyear attractions (Like Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters) at Disney parks. One of the places it can be heard is on The Official Album of the Disneyland ResortThe Official Album of the Disneyland ResortThe Official Album of the Disneyland Resort, subtitled The Happiest Homecoming on Earth, is an expanded, two-disc edition of theme park music available only for purchase at the Disneyland Resort. It is no longer being manufactured.-Disc 1:...
. In the rides, it can be heard in the exit queue. - Jennifer Hammond arranged this song and other themes from the films for the Toy Story Midway Mania!Toy Story Midway Mania!Toy Story Midway Mania! is an interactive 4-D theme park attraction, currently located at two Disney theme parks: Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida and Disney California Adventure at the Disneyland Resort.Designed by Walt Disney Imagineering and inspired by...
attraction (in a more carnivalCarnivalCarnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
-style). It or another version of it can be heard at the official Toy Story website, under "Games" and "Toy Story Mania!". - Mannheim SteamrollerMannheim SteamrollerMannheim Steamroller is an American music group founded by Chip Davis and Jackson Berkey, known primarily for its modern recordings of Christmas music. The group has sold 28 million albums in the U.S. alone.-Beginnings:...
covered the song on their 1999 album, Mannheim Steamroller Meets the MouseMannheim Steamroller Meets the MouseMannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse: Unique Musical Creations Based on Disney Songs is a music album by Mannheim Steamroller, released by Walt Disney Records and American Gramaphone in 1999 on CD and DVD.-Track listing:# "Chim Chim Cher-ee" – 2:31...
. - Voice MaleVoice MaleVoice Male is a six-man contemporary a cappella group based in Utah. The group performs covers of contemporary popular songs as well as traditional Latter-day Saint music and some original material. Voice Male formed at Utah State University in 1994 as a nine man group, Over the next two years...
made an a cappellaA cappellaA cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
version of this song on their album At the Movies. - Similarly, Dick Van Dyke and The VantastixDick Van Dyke and The VantastixDick Van Dyke and The Vantastix is an a cappella quartet based in Los Angeles, CA. Formed in 2000, after a chance meeting at a coffee shop, the group has performed at a number of benefit and charity events, and has recently released a children's album, 'Put On A Happy Face' produced by BAMP...
did their own a cappella version of this song for their album Put on a Happy Face. - American rock band The FrayThe Fray-Literature:*Fray, a phenomenon in Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People*Fray , a comic book series by Joss Whedon**Melaka Fray, titular character of the comic book series-Music:*"Fray", a song from the album 14 Shades of Grey by Staind...
has also performed their own rendition of the song during the 2007 Disney Grad NiteGrad NiteDisney's Grad Nite is an event hosted in April, May, or June for graduating high school senior classes who can gather for an exclusive, all-night party at Disneyland and at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom featuring live performances by some of the...
event. They have also covered it at other live shows. - DZECDZECDZEC is the Flagship AM station of Eagle Broadcasting Corporation in the Philippines. The station's studio is located at #9 Central Ave., Brgy...
's program Tambalang OK, anchored by Onin Miranda and Ros Olgado, used this song as a background music. - Another Spanish version of the song, titled "Yo Soy Tu Amigo Fiel!" (Spanish for "I Am Your Faithful Friend!") was covered by Aleks SyntekAleks SyntekRaúl Alejandro Escajadillo Peña , better known as Aleks Syntek, is a Mexican singer, songwriter and producer. He is married to Karen Coronado, sister of talkshow host Ingrid Coronado.-Biography:...
and Danna PaolaDanna PaolaDanna Paola Rivera Munguío is a Mexican actress and singer better known as Danna Paola. She is best known for playing Amy in the Amy: La Niña de la Mochila Azul with the Mexican singer Tatiana. She has also performed in other telenovelas like Querida Enemiga and Muchachitas...
. - The German version of the song is titled "Du hast 'nen Freund in mir". The title and the song itself is a fairly direct translation of the English original. Artists such as Klaus LageKlaus LageKlaus Lage is a musician from Soltau, Germany. He is known for his 1984 single "1000 und 1 Nacht ".-Discography:* Klaus Lage * Positiv * Stadtstreicher * Schweißperlen...
and Izumo Kotetsu have posted cover versions on the internet. - Kenny LogginsKenny LogginsDuring the next decade, Loggins recorded so many successful songs for film soundtracks that he was referred to as, King of the Movie Soundtrack.He began with "I'm Alright" , "Mr. Night", and "Lead the Way" from Caddyshack...
covered it on his 2009 album All Join InAll Join InAll Join In is the thirteenth studio album and third childrens album by Kenny Loggins.The first Kenny Loggins childrens album to be released by Walt Disney Records in 2009.His previous childrens albums Return to Pooh Corner was released by Columbia Records/Sony Wonder and More Songs From Pooh...
. - Donny OsmondDonny OsmondDonald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
covered it on his album "This is the Moment". - Brian WilsonBrian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group...
covered it on his album In the Key of Disney, which was released on October 25, 2011. - The UK version of cartoon channel Cartoon NetworkCartoon NetworkCartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
used a shortened version of the song for a advert.
Chart performance
| Chart (1996) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary | 40 |
| Chart (2010) | Peak position |
| UK Singles Chart | 119 |
Release history
| Format | Release date | Catalog |
|---|---|---|
| Cassette | April 12, 1996 | #60367 |
| CD | ||
External links
- Best Song Academy Award Nominations - Newman
- Covering the Mouse - Cover versions of "You've Got a Friend In Me"
- Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition, Pixar press release, May 2, 2005. (Archived from the original on May 7, 2005)