{"id":2554,"date":"2026-06-19T23:39:47","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T23:39:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554"},"modified":"2026-06-19T23:39:47","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T23:39:47","slug":"randy-newman-on-scoring-toy-story-5-using-a-male-choir-for-buzz-lightyear-and-having-less-than-an-hours-notice-to-duet-with-taylor-swift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554","title":{"rendered":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\n\tIt\u2019s been over a week since attendees at the world premiere of \u201cToy Story 5\u201d were treated to a surprise debut performance of \u201cI Knew It, I Knew You,\u201d the original song by Taylor Swift. As the film concluded and audiences heard the song play over the end credits, the screen lifted to reveal Swift seated at a piano, giving the first live performance of the track. <\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2552\">\u2018Dutton Ranch\u2019 Episode 7: [SPOILER] Gets Murdered, [SPOILER] Might Die and Everyone Else Is Either Drunk or in a Bar Brawl<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut the surprises didn\u2019t end there. After her performance, Swift introduced the film\u2019s composer, Randy Newman, and together they performed the beloved and iconic song \u201cYou\u2019ve Got a Friend in Me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSpeaking with <em>Variety,<\/em> Newman revealed how the spontaneous duet came together. \u201cThey asked if I would mind if Taylor Swift did this thing, and I said, \u2018No one\u2019s ever going to say no to her,\u2019\u201d Newman explained. \u201cWe had an hour, maybe an hour and a half [to rehearse].\u201d The composer wasn\u2019t concerned about Swift not knowing the lyrics, as she\u2019s a self-proclaimed lifelong fan of the franchise. \u201cShe knew the song. There wasn\u2019t anything to do,\u201d he said. However, Newman admitted to having one concern: he worried that one of the keys might be too high for her, as most of the song is written in E-flat major. He offered Swift an alternative. \u201cI said, \u2018Do you want to do it in another key?\u2019 But she said no.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNewman is a Pixar staple, having scored \u201cA Bug\u2019s Life,\u201d \u201cCars,\u201d \u201cMonster\u2019s Inc.\u201d and all the \u201cToy Story\u201d films. However, for a moment, he admitted he thought he might not be asked back for the fifth installment. \u201cI thought maybe Tommy would get the job, but I\u2019m glad I got it, and could round things up,\u201d he says referring to his cousin and fellow composer Thomas Newman.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHaving Randy Newman return was a no-brainer for the team. They noted that his music is as much a part of the franchise\u2019s DNA as the toys themselves. Director Andrew Stanton, who declared himself \u201cTeam Randy\u201d before the first film even had a composer, echoed the sentiment. \u201cHe\u2019s got this right level of romanticism and cynicism,\u201d Stanton told <em>Variety.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2550\">Why \u2018Widow\u2019s Bay,\u2019 Matthew Rhys and Breakout Kate O\u2019Flynn Should Scare the Rest of the Emmy Comedy Field<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn \u201cToy Story 5,\u201d the film focuses on a clash between technology and toys. The film opens with 50 new, technologically advanced Buzz Lightyear toys washed up and abandoned on a desert island. As they make their way off the island, they eventually become part of a larger rescue mission. For their musical motif, Newman created the cue \u201cMaking Land,\u201d which he describes as having \u201ca real military feel with brass and percussion.\u201d He also incorporated a male choir reminiscent of a marine choir. \u201cIt\u2019s part of their whole makeup,\u201d Newman explained. The choir was a fitting sound for their escape sequence, which involves machines and cranes. Newman recalled being influenced by the 1957 film \u201cLucky Jim,\u201d which featured a chorus singing, \u201cAh, Lucky Jim, how I envy him.\u201d \u201cThat may have had some influence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tFor Bonnie, Newman primarily used strings from the symphony orchestra to underscore her journey as she grapples with the idea of screen time and what real friendship means. <\/p>\n<p>\n\tAs for the film\u2019s newest character Lilypad, voiced by Greta Lee, Newman initially envisioned an aggressive electric sound. However, in the end, Lilypad was given her own gadgetry noises by the film\u2019s sound team.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tNewman composed over 25 new cues for the film but did not weave elements from Swift\u2019s song into the score or into Jessie\u2019s theme, which he describes as \u201cup-tempo cowboy music.\u201d He explained, \u201cWhen she wrote the song, it was late in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2548\">\u2018Taxi\u2019 Star Tony Danza Pays Tribute to Director James Burrows: \u2018We Have Lost the Greatest of All Time\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tThe soundtrack is released on June 19. Preview the score below.<\/p>\n<p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Randy Newman on Scoring &#8220;Toy Story 5,&#8221; using a male choir and pulling off a live duet with Taylor Swift.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2174,755],"class_list":["post-2554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-randy-newman","tag-toy-story-5"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Randy Newman on Scoring &quot;Toy Story 5,&quot; using a male choir and pulling off a live duet with Taylor Swift.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Relocation Observer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"headline\":\"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554\"},\"wordCount\":709,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"Randy Newman,\",\"Toy Story 5\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Film\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554\",\"name\":\"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":563},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?p=2554#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Relocation Observer\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/relocationobserver.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer","og_description":"Randy Newman on Scoring \"Toy Story 5,\" using a male choir and pulling off a live duet with Taylor Swift.","og_url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554","og_site_name":"Relocation Observer","article_published_time":"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"headline":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift","datePublished":"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554"},"wordCount":709,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp","keywords":["Randy Newman,","Toy Story 5"],"articleSection":["Film"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554","name":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift - Relocation Observer","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp","datePublished":"2026-06-19T23:39:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/4a9ff7b7eac47b3951428af5c6e15db4.webp","width":1000,"height":563},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=2554#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Randy Newman on Scoring \u2018Toy Story 5,\u2019 Using a Male Choir for Buzz Lightyear and Having Less Than an Hour\u2019s Notice to Duet With Taylor Swift"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/","name":"Relocation Observer","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2243ff062b31c5195cd0d9f83884e83e","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/relocationobserver.com"],"url":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2554"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2554\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2554"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2554"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2554"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}