Taylor Swift has officially confirmed her participation in the upcoming Toy Story movie. After weeks of fan speculation following cryptic billboards and mysterious website countdowns, the 36-year-old singer announced Monday that she was indeed involved in Toy Story 5, set to hit theaters on June 19.
“You knew it!” Swift shared with her fans on Instagram, announcing that her new song for the movie, titled “I Knew It, I Knew You,” will be released on June 5.
“I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first Toy Story movie,” she said.
“I fell instantly in love with Toy Story 5 when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening. Sometimes you just know, right?”
Fans can pre-order collector’s edition CDs of Swift’s new song on her website until June 3. The editions will feature the single as it appears in the film, a special acoustic version, and a special piano version.
Although the brand new song has a similar name to Gracie Abrams’ 2024 song “I Knew It, I Know You,” Swift clarified in her announcement that the new song is original. A press release confirmed that the song, written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, is a return to the star’s country music roots and is based on the story of beloved cowgirl character Jessie.
The confirmation comes after new promotional billboards put up over the weekend fueled rumors of Swift’s involvement in the movie because the signs featured giant letters “TS” — which left fans debating whether it was an acronym for the singer’s name or for the film franchise.
The letters were surrounded by 13 animated clouds, which is famously Swift’s favorite number.
Pixar’s official Instagram account shared a video of Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack) dancing on the billboard and captioned the clip with a lyric from Swift’s 2014 hit song “Shake It Off,” writing: “She’s making those moves up as she goes!”
The new installment of the Toy Story franchise follows young Bonnie as she starts to ignore her old toys after she is gifted a digital tablet. The sequel’s core voice cast includes returning stars Cusack, Tom Hanks as Woody, and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear.
This is not Swift’s first time writing an original song for a movie. Most recently, her song “Carolina” was included in the 2022 film Where the Crawdads Sing.
Other popular songs penned for movies include “Crazier,” which was featured in Hannah Montana: The Movie in 2009, “Safe & Sound” featuring The Civil Wars for The Hunger Games in 2012, and “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” with Zayn for Fifty Shades Darker in 2017.
