"You’ve got a friend in me" :Aristotle on “Toy Story”

“When the road looks rough ahead And you're miles and miles From your nice warm bed Just remember what your old pal said Boy, you've got a friend in me You've got a friend in me You've got troubles, well I've got 'em too There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you We stick together and we see it through You've got a friend in me

Some other folks might be A little bit smarter than I am Bigger and stronger too Maybe But none of them will ever love you the way I do It's me and you And as the years go by Boys, our friendship will never die You're gonna see It's our destiny You've got a friend in me”



The theme song to the movie, “Toy Story” is very indicative of what the movie is generally about. It’s a movie about friendship and how we treat our friends and how we should act in friendships. While Aristotle was around quite a long time ago he would have a lot to say about the friendships surrounding the main character, Woody. The movie Toy Story is a tale of friendship centered on Woody, the lovable cowboy doll who has up until now been the long time favorite of his boy owner, Andy. The story begins with Woody rounding up the group of toys to talk about how Andy is having a birthday party and reminds them that they’re moving to a new house soon. Andy’s birthday party is a big deal to all the toys because of the threat that Andy might get presents that are new toys, which might be bigger and better than the older toys. Everyone seems worried about the birthday party except Woody. Woody has been Andy’s favorite for such a long time; he doesn’t even think that anything could change that. Come to find out that Andy gets a new toy, Buzz Light-year, who ends up being Woody’s replacement. Much of the story revolves around Woody coming to terms with Buzz’s existence and his jealousy over losing Andy’s affection.

Aristotle’s theories about friendship are very relatable to the movie Toy Story and the main characters. The relationship between Buzz and Woody is interesting to analyze because the two really don’t get along at first. Mainly because Woody is so jealous of losing Andy’s love. The real climax of the movie occurs when Woody and Buzz end up in the hands of Sid, Andy’s evil next-door neighbor. It is clear that if the two toys don’t escape from Sid’s home then they might be destroyed. Also at this point Andy and his mom are moving to a new house and if Buzz and Woody don’t get back with him soon they could be left behind.


Aristotle, a classical philosopher, has said many things on the basis of friendship. He talks about three kinds of friendship, one for utility, another pleasure and lastly friendship that is genuinely good. There is also a discussion that Aristotle brings up in his Nicomachean Ethics about the friendship between someone in power and his subordinates. Aristotle also tries to decide what it means to be a good person because he says that true friendship can only exist between good people. Another major focus of Aristotle is the problem of self-love to attempt to decide if it is best for one love his friends most or love himself best. If Aristotle were around in the time that Toy Story was made, he would have a lot to say about the friendship dynamic between Woody and Buzz. Since Woody is the main character and the movie is seen through his eyes, it is only appropriate that Aristotle’s argument is focused on him.


Being inherently good, by Aristotle’s definition, is essential to true, and lasting, friendship. Because Aristotle says that friendship for good cannot exist if both friends are not good, a question to consider is whether Aristotle would consider Woody to be good. On friendship between good people, Aristotle says “It is the friendship of good people that is friendship most of all, as we have often said. For what is lovable and choiceworthy seems to be what is unconditionally good or pleasant, and what is lovable and choiceworthy for each person seems to be what is good or pleasant for him; and both of these make one good person lovable and choiceworthy for another good person” (Other selves, 36). Woody is presented as the lovable character who has made a few bad choices. In one example, as the long time “favorite” of Andy, he becomes overcome with jealousy over Andy’s new favorite toy, Buzz light-year. In one scene in particular, Woody wants Andy to take him on a trip and knows that he will probably choose Buzz over him. In this instance Woody plans on pushing Buzz off the bed so that Andy wouldn’t be able to find him right away and just concede to taking Woody. Unfortunately, Woody accidentally pushes Buzz out the window and puts him in danger of being lost forever.


It is quite obvious that this is an example that proves that Woody isn’t inherently good. It’s true that good people can do bad things, but he repeats these patterns over and over. Another reason to believe that Woody isn’t good is that after he accidentally pushes Buzz out the window he immediately backs up and becomes defensive towards the accusations about him trying to hurt Buzz. Perhaps a better person wouldn’t worry so much about themselves and focus on rescuing his friend. Already it seems as though Aristotle would agree that Buzz and Woody don’t have a true friendship, seeing as how both participants aren’t good. Perhaps Aristotle would say that this friendship is a better example of a friendship of utility, one of his three types of friendship.



One of Aristotle’s three types of friendships, friendship of utility, is one that he says is most commonly practiced, along with friendship of pleasure, among young people. Aristotle admits that friendship for good can only occur between good people and is very rare. More commonly though, friendships of utility can be seen everywhere. For example, a student who is particularly bad at math might become friends with someone in their math class that is good in the subject so they can help them with their homework. In many situations this is a really fake friendship that will have no need to continue after the class is over; the person who is bad at math won’t need the utility of friendship to get their homework done if they’re not in the class anymore. In Toy Story, there are also examples of how Woody tries to use Buzz. In the scene where Woody is trapped under the crate because a toolbox is on top, Woody befriends Buzz for the first time in hopes that he will help him.


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It would be one thing if Woody was trying to be Buzz’s friend the whole time, but ever since they met Woody was just trying to get Buzz out of the picture. In the lasts scenes from this point on, Woody and Buzz work together to get out of Sid’s house to be back with Andy. When the movie ends, the viewer is left with a feeling that the two toys have found a common ground and are now friends. Aristotle would probably see their friendship as building on nothing more than utility. Going back to the first scene where Woody pushes Buzz out the window, and the rest of the toys jump all over him accusing him of trying to hurt Buzz, Aristotle would view this as a by-product of a friendship of utility. Aristotle would explain Woody’s friendship with the rest of Andy’s toys to be of utility as well, “Accusations and reproaches arise only or most often in friendships for utility” (Other selves, 47). Woody seems to have only friendships of utility, as explained by Aristotle.


Aristotle would not consider the relationship between Woody and any of the other toys to be a good friendship because of his superior status. It is very clear from the beginning of the movie that Woody is Andy’s favorite toy and consequently the leader of all the toys.

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From this scene it is clear that Woody is the one in charge. He talks down to the other toys and runs the “town meeting”. Aristotle says that someone only aims to be friends with someone who in a position of superiority if along with greater power they have greater virtue, he says this is quite rare (Other Selves, 38). Therefore Woody’s character is predisposed to not have healthy friendships with any of the other toys. As per the examples where Woody makes bad decisions like pushing Buzz out the window, it’s clear that Woody does not possess superior virtues to any of the toys. I would also assume that Aristotle would agree that a person might want to be friends with a superior if they could gain something; a friendship of utility. This would be support of the theory that the relationship between Woody and Buzz is one of utility.

A key aspect of Aristotle’s theory is the problem of self-love. Aristotle’s solves the problem of self-love by explaining that if everyone loves himself or herself in the right way, then people’s good actions will reciprocate each other’s and all the world’s problems will be solved. He says, “…if all men were to compete for what is noble and put all their efforts into the performance of the noblest actions, all the needs of the community will have been met, and each individual will have the greatest of goods…” (Nic. Eth., 1169a7-10). In this he is saying that if everyone does what he or she is supposed to do, with their own best interest in mind than the collective good will fall into place like puzzle pieces. Another part to Aristotle’s argument is that if each person acts in the highest morality, everyone will benefit. The assumption that a community acting in a self-loving way will work is based on the idea that each person will act with high morality and many of the actions will actually come across as selfless, though the person will get honor and nobility in return. Looking at Toy Story, Aristotle would see examples of self-love with Woody. Woody obviously loves himself and thinks that he should be Andy’s favorite. The problem with Woody is that he isn’t entirely virtuous and makes many mistakes. Often his mistakes are the result of his self-love and jealousy, which comes at the expense of others. Aristotle concludes that if everyone loves himself or herself most and acts in the noblest way then everyone’s needs will be taken care of. Though Woody is a toy he acts in a human way and human beings aren’t perfect - they make mistakes. Along with Aristotle’s self-love theory in relation to Woody, I’m not sure there are any examples of Woody trying to be friends with anyone. All his actions in fact are pretty selfish, until the end of the movie where he rescues Buzz from Sid. Even in helping Buzz in this scene he is acting a bit selfishly. Woody’s ultimate motive for helping Buzz is because he can’t go back with the other toys if he doesn’t have Buzz with him because they’ll all blame him for leaving Buzz behind. In the end Aristotle’s self-love solution isn’t ideal, as exemplified by Woody, even when people act strictly for themselves things don’t work out perfectly, especially when it is at the expense of others.

Aristotle would believe that the friendship between Woody and Buzz is not an ideal example of what friendship should be. Four of his main points exemplify this argument. The first fact is that that true friendship can only happen between two good people. Through examples of Woody being selfish and expressing that jealousy in a malicious way are sufficient to conclude that Woody is not good, by Aristotle’s standards. A second point that Aristotle would argue would be that the friendship between Woody and Buzz is simply a friendship of utility. Thirdly Aristotle says that relationships between superior and inferiors cannot exist unless along with their superiority the person possesses greater virtue. Exemplified through his ignoble actions; Woody does not possess superior virtue than any of the other toys. If Aristotle’s explanations between Woody and the other characters can conclude that he isn’t the best candidate to have relationships with other people, then perhaps he has a better relationship with himself. Aristotle’s idea about self-love proves that Woody doesn’t even have a good relationship with himself. A central argument about self-love is that the person should act in the noblest way, and Woody definitely doesn’t do that. Aristotle would conclude that the friendship between Woody and Buzz is not an ideal friendship and Woody’s relationship with himself is flawed too. It seems as though Woody isn’t a good candidate to be friends with anyone.

After analyzing Aristotle’s theories, it leaves me a bit confused as to why Disney and Pixar would use Woody as a character in a movie where the theme song is titled “You’ve got a friend in me” if he isn’t really a good friend to anyone. I’m not saying that the relationship between Woody and Buzz is completely ideal but I think there are good lessons to take away from the story. I agree and disagree with Aristotle’s theories but ultimately conclude that Woody is fallible but lovable and though he makes mistakes, he learns from his mistakes and is good after all.

First of all I would disagree that friendship can only happen between good people. Most people try to be the best that they can be and that I think is enough to make them good. Aristotle’s definition of “good” seems to only include individuals who act nobly all the time. The thing with human beings is that we all make mistakes at one point or another. The fact that Woody makes mistakes here and there is understandable. Most people, even kids, can relate to Woody’s jealousy. I’m not endorsing Woody’s reaction of pushing Buzz out the window; I don’t think that the solution to problems is removing the cause of the problem. In the end I think that even though Woody makes mistakes he in the end is good.
In reaction to Aristotle’s theory of friendships of utility, I would agree that the relationship between Woody and Buzz is a friendship of utility. I think that Aristotle was correct in his theory that there are three different types of friendship. There are many everyday examples of friendships of utility pleasure and friendship of good. Though I would disagree that only friendships of good are desirable. Friendships for utility and pleasure have their place in society and in our everyday lives. The way our society works is that we’re all pretty dependable on each other for different things. The dependency that we have on the local dry cleaner or the guy who plows the street isn’t the same as friendships of utility but they are similar. The main problem that I have with Aristotle’s classification of three types of friendship is he doesn’t leave a gray area. Most things in life are not cut and dry, black and white. Many friendships of utility probably consist of a bit of friendship of pleasure and even some friendship of good. I don’t think that it’s fair to say that the relationship of utility between Woody and Buzz isn’t a good or desirable friendship. Part of friendship is being able to depend on each other in times of need. When it came down to it Woody helped Buzz escape from Sid and get back with the rest of the toys and in the possession of Andy.

To conclude my reaction to Aristotle’s theories I don’t think that the filmmakers of Toy Story did the American youths a disservice by presenting this type of friendship. Aristotle was around a long time ago and perhaps his theories are a bit outdated. The story of the characters in Toy Story show everyone that it’s ok to make some mistakes as long as you rectify them in the end and do the right thing. An important thing for kids to learn is that we all make mistakes and to be a good friend you have to learn from them and challenge yourself to be a better person the next time a problem presents itself. I’m not sure Aristotle would agree with the overall theme behind this movie but perhaps he, too, would find the good in the end.