View source for You've Got a Friend in Me

{{Short description|1996 single by Randy Newman}}
{{More citations needed|date=July 2010}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name        = You've Got a Friend in Me
| cover       = You've Got a Friend in Me cover.jpg
| alt         = A 3D render of a small-size man in a cowboy costume and a small-size man in an astronaut costume holding each other
| caption = Cover for the duet version
| type        = single
| artist      = [[Randy Newman]] and [[Lyle Lovett]]
| album       = [[Toy Story (soundtrack)|Toy Story (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)]]
| released    = April 12, 1996<ref name="single">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r297423|pure_url=yes}}|title=You've Got a Friend in Me &gt; Overview|publisher=[[Allmusic]]. [[Macrovision]]|access-date=July 30, 2009}}</ref>
| recorded    = 1995
| studio      =
| venue       =
| genre       =
*[[Country music|Country]] 
*[[Pop music|pop]]
| length      = 2:04<br>2:42 <small> (duet version)</small>
| label       = [[Walt Disney Records|Walt Disney]]
| writer      = [[Randy Newman]]
| producer    = Randy Newman<br/>[[Don Was]] <small>(duet version)</small>
| chronology  = [[Randy Newman]]
| prev_title  = It's Money That Matters
| prev_title2 = Falling in Love
| prev_year   = 1988
| next_title  = [[We Belong Together (Randy Newman song)|We Belong Together]]
| next_year   = 2010
| misc        = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Lyle Lovett]]
 | type       = single
 | prev_title = [[The Road to Ensenada|Don't Touch My Hat]]
 | prev_year  = 1996
 | title      = You've Got a Friend in Me
 | year       = 1995
 | next_title = Private Conversation
 | next_year  = 1997
}}
}}

"'''You've Got a Friend in Me'''" is a song by [[Randy Newman]]. Used as the main [[theme music|theme song]] for the 1995 [[Pixar|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)|''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 (saxophonist)|Tom Scott]] in ''[[Toy Story 2]]'', and a [[Spanish language]] version by the [[Gipsy Kings]] in ''[[Toy Story 3]]''.

==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 (Toy Story)|Woody]] and [[Andy (Toy Story)|Andy]] in the first film and the importance of [[list of Toy Story characters#Andy's main toys|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 (Toy Story)|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 (Toy Story)|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 (Toy Story)|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 (feeling)|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 (bassist)|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 (musician)|James Hutchinson]] – bass
* Jim Keltner – drums
* [[Gabe Witcher]] – violin

==Chart performance==
{|class="wikitable"
!align="left"|Chart (1996)
!align="center"|Peak<br />position
|-
|align="left"|Canadian ''RPM'' Adult Contemporary<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.2984.pdf| title=RPM AC Tracks - June 3, 1996}}</ref>
|align="center"|40
|}

===Certifications===
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=New Zealand|type=single|title=You've Got a Friend in Me|artist=Randy Newman|award=Platinum|access-date=December 15, 2024|relyear=1996|certyear=2024|certref=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.radioscope.co.nz/2024/00/00/single-cert-search/|title=New Zealand single certifications – Randy Newman – You've Got a Friend in Me|publisher=[[Recorded Music NZ]]|access-date=December 15, 2024}}</ref>}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|title=You've Got a Friend in Me|artist=Randy Newman|type=single|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2021|id=13972-1193-1|access-date=July 8, 2021}}
{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|title=You've Got a Friend in Me|artist=Randy Newman|type=single|award=Platinum|number=3|relyear=1996|certyear=2023|access-date=November 22, 2023}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true|noshipments=true|streaming=true}}

==Release history==
{| class="wikitable"
!Format
!Release date
!Catalog
|-
|Demo
|rowspan="1"|Unreleased
|rowspan="1" {{N/A|none}}

|-
|Cassette
|rowspan="2"|April 12, 1996<ref name="single"/>
|rowspan="2"|#60367
|-
|CD
|-
|}

==Notable covers==
*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.<ref>http://www.billboard.com/song/michael-buble/7674579/youve-got-a-friend-in-me {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.romanization.com/personal/randy/bestsong.html Best Song Academy Award Nominations - Newman]
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050507172246/http://corporate.pixar.com/releaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=162197|date=May 7, 2005|title=Toy Story 10th Anniversary Edition}}, Pixar press release, May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on May 7, 2005.
* {{YouTube|CvDkELxTFac|Listen to the duet version of "You've Got a Friend in Me"}}

{{Randy Newman}}
{{Robert Goulet}}
{{Lyle Lovett}}
{{Toy Story}}
{{Pixar music}}
{{Gipsy Kings}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:You've Got a Friend in Me}}

[[Category:Film theme songs]]
[[Category:Songs about friendship]]
[[Category:1995 songs]]
[[Category:1995 singles]]
[[Category:1996 singles]]
[[Category:1990s ballads]]
[[Category:American pop songs]]
[[Category:Pop ballads]]
[[Category:Songs from Toy Story]]
[[Category:Lyle Lovett songs]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Records singles]]
[[Category:Songs written by Randy Newman]]
[[Category:Randy Newman songs]]
[[Category:Male vocal duets]]