We're not pulling your string: this year marks 30 years since Disney and Pixar rewrote the rules of animation with Toy Story. A new LP will collect nine tracks from all four of the films in the series since then - all from the pen of the one and only Randy Newman. Toy Story: Songs to Infinity and Beyond is a sonic love letter to the series, offering rare concept drawings and new art on the set's front cover and gatefold and a zoetrope vinyl pattern that features moving images of the series' lovable characters when spinning on your turntable.

Released in the fall of 1995, Toy Story was a devilishly simple concept: what if your childhood toys came to life when you were out of the room? How would they feel about being played with? Would they get jealous of other toys? That's what happens when Andy Davis gets a brand-new action figure of Buzz Lightyear, a self-important space ranger voiced by Tim Allen. His arrival threatens to unbalance the order of the playroom, where Andy's loyal cowboy ragdoll Woody (Tom Hanks) keeps the toys together, from the sardonic Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles) and the pragmatic piggy bank Hamm (John Ratzenberger) to the anxious plastic dinosaur Rex (Wallace Shawn) and the friendly Slinky Dog (Jim Varney). But when the unthinkable happens and a feuding Woody and Buzz are misplaced, they learn some powerful lessons about the value of working (and playing!) together.

What made Toy Story so memorable was its medium: Disney partnered with Pixar, a former computer division of Industrial Light & Magic bought in the mid-'80s by Apple Computer impresario Steve Jobs. The plucky studio had made plenty of short films and commercials by the time they signed onto the project, including 1986's Luxo Jr. - which featured the studio's hopping lamp and ball logo, the latter of which emblazons this album's label - and the Oscar-winning Tin Toy (1989). But a full-length, 81-minute computer-animated film, even after the visual triumph of CGI-aided blockbusters like Jurassic Park, was as unlikely as the fully-animated Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs some 60 years prior. Yet Pixar pulled off the improbable: a cross-generational blockbuster that outgrossed both of Disney's traditional animated films that year: Pocahontas and A Goofy Movie. Newman, the sardonic singer-songwriter who'd added acclaimed film scoring to his resume in the '80s, was the perfect choice for the film, which Pixar did not want to be a traditional Disney musical. Theme song "You've Got a Friend in Me" was memorably incorporated into the score, and earned a nomination for Best Original Song.

At the time, Disney's modus operandi was to make direct-to-video sequels to their animated fare - but the promise of an in-development Toy Story 2 inspired the studio to change its mind. In turn, Pixar felt they needed to step the film up, redeveloping the story and crunching production into a nine-month window. This time, Buzz and friends would band together to save Woody from an unscrupulous collector; our cowboy hero subsequently learns about the famed '50s TV show that inspired his creation, and meets a ragtag group of ragdolls from the series. Newman was again on hand for the score, but ceded singing duties to others: Sarah McLachlan's "When She Loved Me" scores a tearjerking origin story for the cowgirl Jessie (Joan Cusack), and "Woody's Roundup," sung by Western swing troupe Riders in the Sky, served as the theme to the show within the film. Toy Story 2 was another blockbuster - regarded by some critics as better than the original - and another Oscar nominee for "When She Loved Me."

A third Toy Story was an incredible gamble: Pixar, at this time, rarely indulged in even one sequel, let alone two. (The filmmakers nearly engaged in a messy divorce with Disney, and the House of Mouse nearly put a third film into production themselves until fences were mended and Pixar became a full division of the studio.) But Toy Story 3 bowled everyone over, spinning a tale of Woody, Buzz and a grown-up Andy's remaining toys mistakenly donated to a daycare. A hilarious and touching film that reflected the then-15-year relationship audiences had to the characters, the gang saved themselves from hair-raising and outright doomsday situations before closing a chapter as Andy's toys in emotional fashion. Toy Story 3 threaded the needle a third time, grossing more than $1 billion worldwide - an unprecedented feat for an animated film - and becoming the third such picture (after Disney's Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Pixar's Up (2009)) to be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. (By this time, a category had been devised for Best Animated Feature - an award the film handily won - and Newman earned only his second Oscar of 20 nominations for the tune "We Belong Together.")

In the ensuing years of Pixar's imperial phase (and an admittedly lesser period dominated by sequels to their classic films), Toy Story became a media juggernaut. The characters returned for everything from short films and TV specials to rides at Disney theme parks (and, of course, many different kinds of real-life toys). In 2019, Toy Story 4 premiered after a troubled production that included a myriad of script overhauls and the departure of series creative and Pixar chief creative officer John Lasseter after allegations of misconduct. In this fourth go-round, Woody struggles with no longer being his new owner's obvious favorite. Adding more misadventure in the mix is Forky (Tony Hale), a doll made from a spork who can't see his own value as an object of play, and the return of Bo Peep (Annie Potts), a former member of Andy's toy gang. While this film was perhaps received slightly less rapturously than its predecessors, it was still a critical and commercial hit, earning Newman another Oscar nomination for his latest tune for the series, "I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away."

Toy Story fans can anticipate more playtime very soon: a fifth film is in production for a release next June, written and directed by longtime Pixar creative Andrew Stanton (who has writing credits on most of the series and a story credit on Toy Story 3) and featuring Hanks and Allen once more as the seemingly inseparable duo. In the meantime, Songs to Infinity and Beyond is a fine LP tribute to some of the most beloved animated heroes of the last few decades. It's available June 27 and can be pre-ordered below. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

Toy Story: Songs to Infinity and Beyond (Walt Disney Records, 2025) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Side A

1. You've Got a Friend in Me - Randy Newman
2. Strange Things - Randy Newman
3. I Will Go Sailing No More - Randy Newman
4. When She Loved Me - Sarah McLachlan
5. Woody's Roundup - Riders in the Sky

Side B

1. You've Got a Friend in Me (Para Buzz Español) - Gipsy Kings
2. We Belong Together - Randy Newman
3. I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away - Randy Newman
4. The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy - Chris Stapleton

Tracks A1-3 released on Toy Story (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) - Walt Disney Records 60883-7, 1995
Tracks A4-5 released on Toy Story 2 (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) - Walt Disney Records 60647-7, 1999
Tracks B1-2 released on Toy Story 3 (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) - Walt Disney Records (digital), 2010/Disney/Intrada D0017344-02, 2012
Tracks B3-4 released on Toy Story 4 (An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack) - Walt Disney Records D0031214-02, 2019