"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song by Randy Newman. Used as the main theme song for the Disney/Pixar animated film Toy Story (1995), it has since become a major musical component for its sequels, Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010), Toy Story 4 (2019), as well as a musical leitmotif throughout the 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 country singer Lyle Lovett in Toy Story; a diegetic instance by Tom Hanks, a version by Robert Goulet, and an instrumental by saxophonist 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" was used in the trailer for Toy Story 5 but did not appear during the film or credits, which instead featured "I Knew It, I Knew You" by Taylor Swift.
Contents
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 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
Lyle Lovett – co-lead vocals
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
Michael Bublé cover
The Canadian singer 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.