You've Got a Friend in Me

"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song by Randy Newman. Used as the theme song for the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story, it has since become a major musical component for its sequels, Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019) as well as a musical leitmotif throughout the whole Toy Story franchise. The song was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Like many other Disney theme songs, "You've Got a Friend in Me" has been covered numerous times. Cover versions featured in the first three Toy Story films include a duet with Newman and Lyle Lovett in Toy Story; a diagetic instance by Tom Hanks, a version by Robert Goulet and an instrumental by Tom Scott in Toy Story 2, and a Spanish language version by the Gipsy Kings in Toy Story 3.

"You've Got a Friend in Me"
Single by Randy Newman and Lyle Lovett
from the album Toy Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Released	April 12, 1996^[1]
Recorded	1995
Genre	Country pop
Length	2:04 2:42 (Duet version)
Label	Walt Disney
Songwriter(s)	Randy Newman
Producer(s)	Don Was
Randy Newman singles chronology
"It's Money That Matters" / "Falling in Love" (1988) "You've Got a Friend in Me" (1996) "We Belong Together" (2010)
Lyle Lovett singles chronology
"Don't Touch My Hat" (1996) "You've Got a Friend in Me" (1996) "Private Conversation" (1997)

In Toy Story

The song is played during the opening credits for Toy Story, Toy Story 3, and Toy Story 4, establishing the importance of Woody and Andy in the first film and the importance of all his toys in the third and fourth. Toy Story 3 also uses it for irony and dramatic effect, as the opening credits hark back to the first film and the song abruptly fades out with "And as the years go by, our friendship will never die", before showing that Andy's remaining toys in the present day are boxed up and unused. When they were unused, Andy was 17 years old. In Toy Story 4, the song is heard during the opening montage, that features Andy playing with Woody, giving him to Bonnie as a teenager, and Bonnie playing with him, but soon starting to neglect him.

In two sequels, the song is listened to by the characters as part of the story, as 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 in the style of Frank Sinatra; 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.

In the third act of Toy Story 2, an episode of Woody's Roundup (the fictional 1950s 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, realizing that his mission as a toy is to be there for a child.

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)", was performed by the Gipsy Kings.

Personnel

Original version

• Randy Newman – lead vocals, piano, orchestral arrangements
• Randy Kerber – keyboards
• John Goux, Dean Parks – guitars
• Jimmy Johnson – bass
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Yvonne Williams, Bobbi Page, Luana Jackman – background vocals

Duet version

• Randy Newman – lead vocals, piano
• Lyle Lovett – co-lead vocals
• Kevin Savigar – Hammond B-3
• Mark Goldenberg – guitar
• James Hutchinson – bass
• Jim Keltner – drums
• Gabe Witcher – violin

Chart performance

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary^[2]	40

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)^[3]	Platinum	600,000^‡
United States (RIAA)^[4]	3× Platinum	3,000,000^‡
^‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Release history

Format	Release date	Catalog
Demo	Unreleased	none
Cassette	April 12, 1996^[1]	#60367
CD

Covers

• It was performed by George Jones and Kathy Mattea on The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney.
• In 2006, Steve Tyrell and Dr. John did a duet of the song on Tyrell's CD "The Disney Standards".^[5]
• Michael Bublé covered "You've Got a Friend in Me" on his 2013 album, To Be Loved. The track became a U.S. Adult Contemporary chart hit, spending 14 weeks on the chart and peaking at number 10.^[6]
• A remix of "You've Got a Friend in Me" was released on April 22, 2014 by Alfred Montejanhyper on the remix album Dconstructed.^[7]
• On May 31, 2018, Rex Orange County released a cover of "You've Got a Friend in Me", performing along with Randy Newman, the creator of the song.
• An instrumental remix of "You've Got a Friend in Me" plays in the Toy Box world of Kingdom Hearts III, arranged by Yoko Shimomura and released in 2019. The track also appears as a playable stage in Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory.
• On December 13, 2019, a cover by Cavetown was published on YouTube and released on all streaming platforms.^[8][9]
• A cover of the song appears in Just Dance 2021.

References

1. "You've Got a Friend in Me > Overview". Allmusic. Macrovision. Retrieved July 30, 2009.
2. "RPM AC Tracks - June 3, 1996" (PDF).
3. "British single certifications – Randy Newman – You've Got a Friend in Me". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 8, 2021.
4. "American single certifications – Randy Newman – You've Got a Friend in Me". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
5. The Disney Standards (2006), Walt Disney Records
6. http://www.billboard.com/song/michael-buble/7674579/youve-got-a-friend-in-me ^{[dead link]}
7. Dconstructed by Various Artists, retrieved November 23, 2019
8. "You've Got a Friend In Me (Cavetown Cover)". YouTube. Cavetown. December 12, 2019. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021. Retrieved December 29, 2019.
9. "You've Got a Friend In Me - Single by Cavetown". Apple Music. Retrieved December 29, 2019.

External links

• Best Song Academy Award Nominations - Newman
• at the Wayback Machine (archived May 7, 2005), Pixar press release, May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on May 7, 2005.
• Listen to the duet version of "You've Got a Friend in Me" on YouTube