"You've Got a Friend in Me" is a song by Randy Newman. Used as the

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for the 1995 Disney/Pixar animated film ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

'', it has since become a major musical component for its sequels, ''

Toy Story 2 ''Toy Story 2'' is a 1999 American computer-animated film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The second installment in the ''Toy Story'' franchise and the sequel to '' Toy Story'' (1995), it was directed by John ...

'' (1999), ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to '' Toy Story 2'' (1999). It wa ...

'' (2010) and ''

Toy Story 4 ''Toy Story 4'' is a 2019 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the fourth installment in Pixar's ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to ''Toy Story 3'' ( ...

'' (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 The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of a ...

, but lost both to "

Colors of the Wind "Colors of the Wind" is a song written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz for Walt Disney Pictures' 33rd animated feature film, ''Pocahontas'' (1995). The film's theme song, "Colors of the Wind" was originally recorded by Am ...

" from

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

's ''

Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...

''. 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 ''

; '' a diagetic instance by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

, a version by Robert Goulet and an instrumental by Tom Scott in ''

'', and a

Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a global language with more than 500 million native speakers, mainly in th ...

version by the

Gipsy Kings Gipsy Kings are a group of flamenco, salsa, and pop musicians from Arles and Montpellier in southern France, who perform mostly in Catalan but also mix in Spanish with southern French dialects. Although the group members were born in France, th ...

in ''

''.

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 harken 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 Pasodoble ( Spanish: ''double step'') is a fast-paced Spanish military march used by infantry troops. Its speed allowed troops to give 120 steps per minute (double the average of a regular unit, hence its name). This military march gave rise ...

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 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. (In-universe, the song was presumably written for ''Woody's Roundup''.) The ''Woody's Roundup'' version was performed by

, with acoustic guitar backing; Wheezy's version was sung by Robert Goulet (though the character was voiced by

Joe Ranft Joseph Henry Ranft (March 13, 1960 – August 16, 2005) was an American screenwriter, animator, storyboard artist and voice actor. He worked for Pixar Animation Studios and Disney at Walt Disney Animation Studios and Disney Television Animation ...

); and the Spanish version, "You've Got a Friend in Me (Para el Buzz Español)", was performed by the

Chart performance

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions

*It was performed by

George Jones George Glenn Jones (September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013) was an American country musician, singer, and songwriter. He achieved international fame for his long list of hit records, including his best-known song " He Stopped Loving Her Today", ...

and

Kathy Mattea Kathleen Alice Mattea (born June 21, 1959) is an American country music and bluegrass singer. Active since 1984 as a recording artist, she has charted more than 30 singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts, including four that reac ...

on '' The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney''. *In 2006,

Steve Tyrell ''yes'Steve is a masculine given name, usually a short form (hypocorism) of Steven or Stephen Notable people with the name include: steve jops * Steve Abbott (disambiguation), several people * Steve Adams (disambiguation), several people * Steve ...

and Dr. John did a duet of the song on Tyrell's CD "The Disney Standards". *

Michael Bublé Michael Steven Bublé ( ; born September 9, 1975) is a Canadian singer. A four-time Grammy Award winner, he is often credited for helping to renew public interest and appreciation for traditional pop standards and the Great American Songboo ...

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. *A remix of "You've Got a Friend in Me" was released on April 22, 2014, by Alfred Montejanhyper on the remix album '' Dconstructed''. *On May 31, 2018,

Rex Orange County Alexander James O'Connor (born 4 May 1998), known professionally as Rex Orange County, is an English singer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter. O'Connor rose to prominence in 2017 following multiple features on Tyler, the Creator's Grammy-n ...

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 is a Japanese composer and pianist primarily known for her work in video games. She graduated from the Osaka College of Music in 1988 and began working in the video game industry by joining Capcom the same year. She wrote music for several game ...

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 Robin Daniel Skinner (born 15 December 1998), known professionally as Cavetown (sometimes stylized in all lowercase), is an English singer-songwriter, record producer, and YouTuber. His style blends elements of indie rock, indie pop and bed ...

was published on YouTube and released all streaming platforms. *A covered version of the song appears in '' Just Dance 2021''.

References

External links

Best Song Academy Award Nominations - Newman
* , Pixar press release, May 2, 2005. (Archived from the original on May 7, 2005.) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Youve Got a Friend in Me Film theme songs Songs about friendship 1995 songs 1995 singles 1996 singles 1990s ballads Songs from Toy Story Lyle Lovett songs Walt Disney Records singles Songs written by Randy Newman Randy Newman songs Male vocal duets