You've Got a Friend in Me

"You've Got a Friend in Me"
Song

"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 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 1995 Academy Award for Best Original Song and the 1996 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song but lost both to another Disney song, "Colors of the Wind" from Pocahontas.

Like many 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, and a Spanish language version by the Gipsy Kings in Toy Story 3.

Other versions

• Bryan White covered the song for the 1996 tribute album The Best of Country Sing the Best of Disney.
• 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 Spiegel, 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 Songs. The album won the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Musical Album for Children.
• Randy Newman arranged the song (along with "Strange Things" and other themes from the films) for the Buzz Lightyear attractions (Like Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters) at Disney parks. One of the places it can be heard is on The Official Album of the Disneyland Resort.
• Jennifer Hammond arranged this song and other themes from the films for the Toy Story Midway Mania! attraction. It or another version of it can be heard at the official Toy Story website, under "Games" and "Toy Story Mania!".
• Within Toy Story 2, there is a scene from Woody's Roundup where the Woody doll on the show sings this song on a guitar, and then a kid on the set hugs him. (Performed by Tom Hanks.)
• Mannheim Steamroller covered the song on their 1999 album, Mannheim Steamroller Meets the Mouse.
• Voice Male made an a cappella version of this song on their album "At The Movies".
• Similarly, Dick Van Dyke and The Vantastix did their own a cappella version of this song for their album "Put On A Happy Face".
• American rock band The Fray has also performed their own rendition of the song during the 2007 Disney Grad Nite event.
• DZEC's program Tambalang OK, anchored by Onin Miranda and Ros Olgado, used this song as a background music. {{citation}}: Empty citation (help)
• At the end of Toy Story 2, Wheezy (after getting his squeaker fixed), sings this song. While the character was voiced by Joe Ranft in the film, his singing voice was the previously mentioned Robert Goulet.
• Due to Buzz Lightyear being reset into Spanish in the movie, Toy Story 3 has a Spanish language version of the song, "Hay Un Amigo En Mí", performed by the Gipsy Kings. During the end credits, Buzz Lightyear and Jessie perform a pasodoble to the song.
• Another Spanish version of the song, titled "Yo Soy Tu Amigo Fiel!" (Spanish for "I Am Your Faithful Friend!") was covered by Aleks Syntek and Danna Paola.
• 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 Lage and Izumo Kotetsu have posted cover versions on the internet.
• Kenny Loggins covered it on his 2009 album All Join In.

Chart performance

Chart (1996)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary	40

Release history

Format	Release date	Catalog
Cassette	April 12, 1995	#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)