Taylor SwiftArtist profile →
Taylor Swift turned up at the world premiere of Toy Story 5 on Tuesday night (June 9), and she did not just wave from the carpet. According to Complex, she surprised the crowd at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre with a live performance of the film’s end-credits song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” and then came back out to sing with Randy Newman.
Newman is the composer who has written the franchise’s songs from the beginning, and Swift introduced him as “the architect of the Toy Story musical universe.” Together they played the series’ signature tune, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.” Earlier, she told the audience that being part of these films meant a lot to her:
It means the world to me to be a small part of the universe of these films,
Taylor Swift, at the Toy Story 5 premiere, Complex
The ballad itself came out Friday, June 5. Swift co-wrote and produced it with Jack Antonoff, their first work together since The Tortured Poets Department, according to Rolling Stone. It was inspired by Jessie, the cowgirl voiced by Joan Cusack, and Billboard’s Friday guide called its sound country-leaning with vocals that stay “distinctly modern-era.” (We covered the surprise rollout the week it was announced.)
Read moreTaylor Swift, SZA and Phoebe Bridgers: The 2027 Best Original Song Race, Explained
Keeping it quiet took effort. Toy Story 5 visual-effects supervisor Thomas Jordan told a SXSW London panel that only “a very small group” on the film knew about the song, and that early previews used a “decoy version” without it. Press and Disney and Pixar staff saw that cut, per Rolling Stone. Jordan said Swift asked to see the film before it was finished:
She actually saw an early version of the film, she requested to see it before it was finished, and she wrote the song and then asked us if we wanted it.
Thomas Jordan, *Toy Story 5* VFX supervisor, at SXSW London, Rolling Stone
The awards talk has started, too. Complex reports that The Hollywood Reporter began the conversation and that the premiere performance amplified it. Every earlier Toy Story picked up at least one Best Original Song nomination, while Swift, despite 14 Grammys, has never been nominated for an Oscar. She is already part of the 2027 Best Original Song race.
Next up is the film itself, in which Bonnie’s toys face off against a tablet named Lilypad. The song also made it onto our best songs of 2026 so far, built from the midyear lists.
Added to the High Grailed archive on October 12, 2026.
