 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 and Lasseter tapped Randy Newman to compose the film . The edited Toy Story was due to Newman and Gary Rydstrom in late September 1995 for their final work on the score and sound design , respectively . 
