Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist. He has composed the film scores and iconic songs for several Disney films, although mainly for Pixar releases. He won two Academy Awards for Best Original Song for Monsters, Inc. and Toy Story 3.
Born in Los Angeles to an extended family of Hollywood film composers, Newman began his songwriting career at the age of 17 upon graduating from University High School. After writing for artists, such as Dusty Springfield, The Fleetwoods, Cilla Black, Gene Pitney, and the Alan Price Set, Newman began recording his own music which included songs, like "Short People" and "I Love LA".
Having already created background music for television shows, such as Lost in Space, Peyton Place, and Judd For The Defense, Newman transitioned into composing film scores. His scores can be heard in films, like Cold Turkey, Ragtime, Avalon, Parenthood, Seabiscuit, The Paper, Meet the Parents, Marriage Story, and Pleasantville.
Toy Story - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score and Best Song "You've Got a Friend in Me"
James and the Giant Peach - Nominated for Best Musical or Comedy Score
A Bug's Life - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Musical or Comedy Score
Toy Story 2 - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song "When She Loved Me"
Monsters, Inc. - Won Academy Award for Best Original Song "If I Didn't Have You"
Monsters, Inc. - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Score
Cars - Nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song "Our Town"
Toy Story 3 - Won Academy Award for Best Original Song and World Soundtrack Award for Best Original Song written directly for a Film for the song "We Belong Together"
Newman accepting the Oscar for Best Original Song for "If I Didn't Have You." Randy Newman at premiere of The Princess and the Frog in November 2009. Newman accepting the Oscar for "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3. Newman performing "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away" at the 92nd Academy Awards ceremony.
Trivia
Newman is the first out of six composers to work on a Pixar film, and the first Pixar composer to have worked for Disney.
In a live performance at the Jazz Open Stuttgart festival in 2006, Newman admitted that when working on the music for Toy Story in 1995, he didn't initially notice that the picture was animated because he was thinking mainly about the music: "I knew the guy didn't look exactly like Tom Hanks but it was like close".
