Music
How long did it take the singer-songwriter Randy Newman to compose the hit song "You've Got a Friend in Me"?
Toy Story
Disney was concerned with Lasseter's position on the use of music. Unlike other Disney films of the time, Lasseter did not want the film to be a musical, saying it was a buddy film featuring "real toys." Joss Whedon 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 favored the musical format, claiming "Musicals are our orientation. Characters breaking into song is a great shorthand. It takes some of the onus off what they're asking for." Disney and Pixar reached a compromise: the characters in "Toy Story" would not break into song, but the film would use songs over the action, as in "The Graduate", to convey and amplify the emotions that Buzz and Woody were feeling. Disney tapped Randy Newman to compose the film. The edited "Toy Story" was due to Randy Newman and Gary Rydstrom in late September 1995 for their final work on the score and sound design, respectively. Lasseter claimed "His songs are touching, witty, and satirical, and he would deliver the emotional underpinning for every scene." Newman developed the film's signature song "You've Got a Friend in Me" in one day.