1995 Soundtrack – 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 franchise, it was the first entirely computer-animated feature film, as well as the first feature film from Pixar. It was written by Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow from a story by Lasseter, Stanton, Pete Docter, and Joe Ranft. The film features music by Randy Newman, was produced by Bonnie Arnold and Ralph Guggenheim, and was executive-produced by Steve Jobs and Edwin Catmull. The film features the voices of Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf, and Erik von Detten.

Lasseter did not want to make Toy Story into a musical, as he felt that it would make the film feel less genuine. Whedon later agreed, saying “It would have been a really bad musical because it’s a buddy movie. It’s about people who won’t admit what they want, much less sing about it. … Buddy movies are about sublimating, punching an arm, ‘I hate you.’ It’s not about open emotion.” However, Disney preferred to make it a musical, as they had had much success with incorporating Broadway-style musical numbers into their animated films, and encouraged Pixar to do the same. As a compromise, although the characters would not sing, the movie would feature non-diegetic songs as background music. Randy Newman was hired, and composed three original songs for the film. The film’s signature song “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”, was written in one day. On Newman, Lasseter said, “His songs are touching, witty, and satirical, and he would deliver the emotional underpinning for every scene.” The soundtrack for Toy Story was produced by Walt Disney Records and was released on November 22, 1995, the week of the film’s release.