For 1999’s Toy Story 2, Randy Newman teamed up with Sarah McLachlan to deliver one of the most emotional moments in animated film history. Hell, film history, period.
Sitting on a windowsill, cowgirl doll Jessie confides in Woody that she is wary of child owners because of a bad experience she had with her owner, Emily. As Woody tries to explain what’s so great about Andy, she interrupts.
“Let me guess. Andy’s a real special kid and to him you’re his buddy, his best friend. And when Andy plays with you it’s like… even though you’re not moving you feel like you’re alive, because that’s how he sees you.”
“How did you know that?” Woody asks.
“Because Emily was just the same. She was my whole world.”
That’s all the set-up we get, and the rest is told through a beautiful montage, as well-edited and “shot” as any I’ve seen. The familiar scenario of a child outgrowing a toy and giving it to charity (something we do in my house several times a year), when told from the perspective of the toy, becomes a heartbreaking tale of abandonment.
‘When She Loved Me’ is the perfect musical accompaniment, McLachlan’s aching vocals teasing every bit of emotion from Newman’s music and lyrics.
I dare you to watch this and not get a lump in your throat.
Everything was beautiful.
Every hour we spent together,
Lives within my heart.
And when she was sad,
I was there to dry her tears,
And when she was happy so was I.
When she loved me.
Through the summer and the fall,
We had each other that was all.
Just she and I together,
Like it was meant to be.
And when she was lonely,
I was there to comfort her,
And I knew that she loved me.
So the years went by,
I stayed the same.
But she began to drift away.
I was left alone.
Still I waited for the day,
When she’d say “I will always love you”
Lonely and forgotten,
Never thought she’d look my way,
And she smiled at me and held me,
Just like she used to do.
Like she loved me,
When she loved me.
When somebody loved me,
Everything was beautiful,
Every hour we spent together,
Lives within my heart.
When she loved me.
Meet Me In Montauk 
Watch it? I’ve got a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes just reading your blog! Of course, I’ve seen it enough times to immediately be able to conjure the images and Joan Cusack’s voice, so perfectly hurt and bitter in that scene.
I’ve been lucky enough to see Randy Newman perform this song live in concert, and, like “Feels Like Home,” another song he wrote that others with arguably better voices have performed, it is perhaps even more powerful when he sings it.
Still, nothing can match the impact of lyrics and images that combine to make this montage, one, I agree, is the best of its kind. Even before Jessie’s ultimate abandonment, the way she is thoughtlessly tossed under the bed to collect dust, only to be retrieved when a bottle of nail polish (I think, I’ve going by memory here, as I don’t want to wake my sleeping family by playing the video just yet) rolls in her general direction, is the part of the montage that always catches me. That smile on her face as Emily’s fingers find her… just heartbreaking.
I imagine that you’ll include the other animated montage that I find a close second to this one (well, maybe not a close second) before the week is out.
Randy Newman, you are a genius, sir. As are the Pixar writers, animators, editors and directors who put this scene together.
ok, a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes; it’s so poignant and touching. I remember your review of this movie and how touching that was too.
You’re probably thinking of Toy Story 3, Peg (another poignant Pixar movie).
Can’t add much to what has been said above (and Amy is insisting that I get off the computer to pack up for our departure from New Orleans).
Newman is, indeed, the bomb! As is Pixar (at least when they make movies and scenes like this–not so much when they make Cars 2:))
i can’t even read this one. i think the world has passed it over, too difficult to really think about, and too beautiful to believe.
I have watched this sooo many times, and whenever I am with my mom it never fails to make her sob. 🙂
Even in the car listening to it appart from the montage, it is so touching.
So I just agree with what everyone has said before. It is awesome as a song and as a beautifully animated sequence in the movie.