This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(May 2022) |
"Our Town" | ||||
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Single by James Taylor | ||||
from the album Cars: The Soundtrack | ||||
Language | English | |||
Released | 2006 | |||
Recorded | 2005 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 4:07 | |||
Label | Walt Disney | |||
Songwriter(s) | Randy Newman | |||
Producer(s) | Randy Newman | |||
James Taylor singles chronology | ||||
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Audio | ||||
"Our Town" on YouTube |
"Our Town" is a song used in the 2006 Disney/Pixar animated film Cars . It was written by longtime Pixar contributor Randy Newman and recorded by James Taylor.
The song is a ballad that recounts the economic decline of the fictional town of Radiator Springs after the creation of Interstate 40.
At the 49th Grammy Awards, the song won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. The same night, Newman's work for Cars won for Music in an Animated Feature Production at the 34th Annie Awards. [1] The song was also nominated for Academy Award for Best Original Song.
As the track is a background song, not key for the understanding of the plot, "Our Town" was left untranslated in most foreign dubbings. However, it numbers a few translations in various language versions.
All official versions of "Our Town" | |||
---|---|---|---|
Language version | Performer | Title | Translation |
German | OleSoul | "Unsere Stadt" | "Our Town" |
English | James Taylor | "Our Town" | |
Spanish (European) | Toni Cruz | "Tu ciudad" | "Your Town" |
Portuguese (European) | Manuel Rebelo | "O Meu Lar" | "My Town" |
Randall Stuart Newman is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, film composer and conductor known for his non-rhotic Southern-accented singing style, early Americana-influenced songs, and various film scores. His hits as a recording artist include "Short People" (1977), "I Love L.A." (1983), and "You've Got a Friend in Me" (1995) with Lyle Lovett, while other artists have enjoyed success with cover versions of his "Mama Told Me Not to Come" (1966), "I Think It's Going to Rain Today" (1968), and "You Can Leave Your Hat On" (1972).
Toy Story 2 is a 1999 American animated adventure comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to Toy Story (1995) and the second installment in the Toy Story franchise. The film was directed by John Lasseter, co-directed by Ash Brannon and Lee Unkrich, and produced by Helene Plotkin and Karen Robert Jackson, from a screenplay written by Andrew Stanton, Rita Hsiao, Doug Chamberlin, and Chris Webb, and a story conceived by Lasseter, Stanton, Brannon, and Pete Docter. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Jim Varney, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, Annie Potts, R. Lee Ermey, John Morris, Laurie Metcalf and Jeff Pidgeon reprise their roles from the first Toy Story film. In the film, Woody is stolen by a greedy toy collector, prompting Buzz Lightyear and his friends to save him, but Woody is then tempted by the idea of immortality in a museum.
Riders in the Sky is an American Western music and comedy group which began performing in 1977. The band has released more than 40 full length albums, starred in a single-season self-titled television series on CBS, wrote and starred in an NPR syndicated radio drama Riders Radio Theater, and appeared in television series and films including as featured contributors to Ken Burns' Country Music. Their family-friendly style also appeals to children, exemplified in their recordings for Disney and Pixar. They have won two Grammy Awards and have written and performed music for major motion pictures, including "Woody's Roundup" from Toy Story 2 and Pixar's short film, For the Birds. The band also recorded full length companion albums for Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.
Cars is a 2006 American animated sports comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by John Lasseter, co-directed by Joe Ranft, produced by Darla K. Anderson, and written by Lasseter, Ranft, Dan Fogelman, Kiel Murray, Phil Lorin, and Jorgen Klubien based on a story by Lasseter, Ranft, and Klubien. The film stars an ensemble voice cast of Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Michael Wallis, George Carlin, Paul Dooley, Jenifer Lewis, Guido Quaroni, Michael Keaton, Katherine Helmond, John Ratzenberger and Richard Petty, while race car drivers Dale Earnhardt Jr., Mario Andretti, Michael Schumacher and car enthusiast Jay Leno voice themselves.
Cars (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2006 Disney/Pixar film of the same name. Released by Walt Disney Records on June 6, 2006, nine songs from the soundtrack are from popular and contemporary artists. The styles of these songs vary between pop, blues, country, heavy metal, and rock. The remaining eleven pieces are orchestral scores composed and conducted by Randy Newman. The soundtrack was released three days before the film's release into theaters. It was also the fifth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman. On November 25, 2006, the soundtrack's position on the Billboard 200 shot up from #126 to #47, with a 209% sales increase of 25,000 units. This was most likely due to the holiday season and the fact that Cars was released on DVD. This was the first Pixar soundtrack to ever achieve Gold Certification in the United States. It is now Platinum in the U.S.
"If I Didn't Have You" is a song written by singer-songwriter Randy Newman, that appears during the end credits of the 2001 Disney·Pixar animated film, Monsters, Inc. Sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal, the song won the 2001 Academy Award for Best Original Song. This was Newman's first Oscar. Previously, Newman had been nominated fifteen times in the Best Score and Best Song categories, but had never won. Arguably "the film's lone song", the tune serves as the major motif for the film.
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Toy Story 2: An Original Walt Disney Records Soundtrack is the soundtrack album to the 1999 Disney/Pixar film Toy Story 2. The score for the film is composed by Randy Newman, who previously composed for its predecessor, Toy Story. It was released by Walt Disney Records on November 9, 1999. Although out of print in the U.S., the CD is available in the U.S. as an import and all but one song is available digitally.
Ratatouille (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2007 Disney/Pixar film of the same name composed by Michael Giacchino. The film marked Giacchino's second Pixar film after The Incredibles, which was also directed by Bird and also the second Pixar film not to be scored by Randy Newman or Thomas Newman. The album features original score cues, with an original song "Le Festin" written by Giacchino and performed by Camille, and was released by Walt Disney Records on June 26, 2007.
The Princess and the Frog (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack of the 2009 Disney animated film The Princess and the Frog. It was released by Walt Disney Records on November 23, 2009, just a day before the limited release of the film in New York City and Los Angeles. It contains ten original songs and seven score pieces, all but one of which were composed, arranged and conducted by composer Randy Newman, who previously worked with the film's executive producer John Lasseter on Pixar's films Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc. and Cars. "Never Knew I Needed" was written and performed by Ne-Yo. The song had an accompanying music video which featured rotation on Disney Channel. The song was also sent to rhythmic radio on October 27, 2009. The songs are performed by various artists most of which lend their voices to characters in the film. The score features African-American-influenced styles including jazz, zydeco, blues and gospel.
Toy Story 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to Disney/Pixar's 2010 film of the same name composed by Randy Newman. The score was composed by recurrent Pixar composer Randy Newman, who also scored for the previous instalments in the franchise. The score album, featuring an original song "We Belong Together" performed by Newman, and instrumental tracks were released on June 15, 2010 by Walt Disney Records. It was also the sixth Pixar film not to be scored by Michael Giacchino or Thomas Newman. The track "You've Got a Friend in Me" from the first instalment is also featured in the album, performed by The Gipsy Kings.
Cars is an American animated film series and Disney media franchise set in a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles created by John Lasseter, Joe Ranft and Jorgen Klubien. The franchise began with the 2006 film, Cars, produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was followed by the sequels Cars 2 (2011) and Cars 3 (2017). The now-defunct Disneytoon Studios produced the two spin-off films Planes (2013) and Planes: Fire & Rescue (2014).
"When She Loved Me" is a song written by American musician Randy Newman and recorded by Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan for Pixar's animated film Toy Story 2 (1999). The song is sung from the perspective of character Jessie, a toy cowgirl, as she reveals her backstory by reflecting upon her defunct relationship with her original owner, by whom she was outgrown. Heard in the film during a flashback sequence, the filmmakers decided to incorporate a song into the montage during which Jessie details her backstory to Woody after multiple attempts to show the character relaying her experience verbally proved unsuccessful.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez is an American songwriter. She is known for co-writing the songs for the 2013 animated musical film Frozen and its 2019 sequel Frozen II with her husband Robert Lopez. The couple won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Let It Go" from Frozen and "Remember Me" from Coco (2017) at the 86th and 90th awards respectively. She also won two Grammy Awards at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, and she is signed to Disney Music Publishing.
Cars 3 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album for the 2017 American computer-animated sports comedy-adventure film Cars 3 that features compilation of incorporated and original songs. The album was released by Walt Disney Records on June 16, 2017, coinciding with the film's theatrical release. A separate film score album, Cars 3 (Original Score), composed by Randy Newman, was also released by Walt Disney Records on the same date, also coinciding with the film's theatrical release. The film, directed by Brian Fee and produced by Pixar Animation Studios and Walt Disney Pictures, is the third installment of the Cars film series and the sequel to Cars 2 (2011). In May 2017, Walt Disney Records officially announced the release of two soundtracks: separately for the songs and score, unlike for the previous films, where both the songs and original scores by Newman and Michael Giacchino, had compiled into a single album. Fee said that both the score and the soundtrack "really help support the story we are telling".
Monsters, Inc. is the soundtrack to the 2001 Disney/Pixar film of the same name. The original score is composed by Randy Newman, marking his fourth collaboration with Pixar following Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), and Toy Story 2 (1999). Along with Newman's score, the album features an original song, "If I Didn't Have You," sung by John Goodman and Billy Crystal. It was released on October 23, 2001, by Walt Disney Records.