Randy Newman is one of the many people that have been into music since they were very young, and his own career started out when he was just a teenager ready to take on the world. You might notice that he does a lot of work with animated films, but some of his songs, even if he doesn’t sing them, are those that have gone on become a part of the identity of each movie they belong to. If you haven’t heard of him it’s likely that you don’t gain interest in anyone that’s not seen on a regular basis when it comes to films. But Newman has been nominated for 20 Academy Awards, which means that he’s got the kind of skills that are highly valued and is able to produce works that many people are willing to pay top dollar for. He’s also won a few Emmy’s and Grammy’s for his works as well, so it goes without saying that he knows what he’s doing when it comes to producing and creating music for any project that he’s brought into. [/caption]
Here are some of his best songs as heard in TV and movies.
5. The Simpsons – You’ve Got a Friend in Me
The song gets a bit twisted in this episode from “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” to “You’ve Got an Enemy” considering that Bart is now seen as competition by the rest of the crew and therefore has earned the enmity that some might see as feasible when it comes to award shows. But it’s pretty funny to consider how the paparazzi treats people when they see famous celebrities come by as opposed to those that are considered to be nobodies. Of course in real life you might see the cameras continue to flash, but many of those might actually be ignored when it comes time to edit them for the publications.
4. Cars – Our Town
Cars was one of those movies that some folks really enjoyed and other folks didn’t understand at first. Some people thought it might have been a regular world in which the cars spoke to one another much like animals do in cartoons without people being able to understand them. But the world of Cars is just that, a world run by, inhabited by, and just for vehicles of all sorts. Lightning McQueen’s story started off in this movie showing him as a young and very arrogant racer that didn’t think about anyone but himself, at least until he had to buckle down and really act like a decent individual.
3. Meet the Fockers – We Gonna Get Married
Just when you thought the first movie had given you all the flak there was to give between Jack and Greg, this movie comes along and introduces the couple that were responsible for bringing Gaylord into the world. On one hand they’re a bit odd and not at all worried about it, but on the other they’re still odd but they’re a lot of fun. This movie really went into showing how Jack was such a stiff that he couldn’t just lighten up and have a good time, finally revealing, once again, that he was the one that needed to change while the rest of them were just having a good time and finally kicking back a bit.
2. Monsters, Inc. – If I Didn’t Have You
This is one of the most interesting takes on monsters that any film has ever done since it definitely reinforces the idea of monsters being scary and out to terrify children, but it also takes it a bit further and shows how the monsters are actually dependent on the screams of children. The energy they get from scream canisters powers their world after all, but when there’s a conspiracy that emerges from within the scare factory where Mike and Sully work as a team it becomes evident that the monsters are going to have to uncover the plot and find a way to survive on something other than the terror of children.
1. Toy Story – You’ve Got a Friend in Me
The life of a toy isn’t something we always consider as kids because, well, they’re toys. They’re our way to escape a world that we don’t quite understand yet and a means to enjoying our time while young in a manner that allows for imagination to run wild. But as we grow older and the toys don’t entertain us much it becomes evident in some cases that we remain attached to them all the same. Obviously a lot of people come to realize that we can’t keep all the toys that we loved as kids, but there are always those few favorites that we can’t bear to part with since they held a spot that was near and dear to us for one reason or another.
You can thank Randy Newman for some of the best childhood memories ever bolstered by music.
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