Taylor Swift Gets Emotional Discussing Her Song for “Toy Story 5”: 'Don't Mind Me'
Taylor Swift Gets Emotional Discussing Her Song for “Toy Story 5”: 'Don't Mind Me'
Tommy McArdleWed, June 10, 2026 at 4:47 PM UTC
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Taylor Swift at the Toy Story 5 premiereCredit: Kevin Mazur/Getty -
Taylor Swift is the first songwriter besides Randy Newman to create music for a Toy Story film
Swift performed her new song "I Knew It, I Knew You" and "You've Got a Friend in Me" at the Toy Story 5 premiere
The country-inspired track was inspired by the character Jessie and marks a return to Swift's musical roots
Taylor Swift appeared to grow a little emotional while discussing the song she wrote for Toy Story 5.
On Wednesday, June 10, Good Morning America shared a sneak peek at Disney and ABC's upcoming special celebrating Pixar's animated film franchise ahead of the new entry's release on June 19. The special includes interviews with cast members Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O'Brien and Swift, 36, who released her new track for the movie "I Knew It, I Knew You" on Friday, June 5.
In the interview, Swift noted that she is the only songwriter to create music for a Toy Story movie besides composer Randy Newman, who famously wrote its iconic theme "You've Got a Friend in Me" for the original 1995 Toy Story.
"I felt wonderful knowing that I had Randy's blessing to write for this film given that I'm the first songwriter to get to partake in the Toy Story world outside of Randy," she said. "I was absolutely dazzled by it. It is my favorite Toy Story movie."
Swift appeared to wipe a tear from her eye during the interview. "Don't mind me," she added. "Just really liked the movie."
Swift attended Toy Story 5's premiere in L.A. on June 9 and even surprised those in attendance with a performance of "I Knew It, I Knew You" after the movie's credits rolled and a performance of "You've Got a Friend in Me" with Newman, 82. The premiere came just over a week after she announced that she wrote an original song for the movie on June 1.
Bullseye and Jessie in Toy Story 5Credit: Disney/Pixar
The singer-songwriter wrote on Instagram at the time that she saw an early screening of Toy Story 5 and "wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening." "I Knew It, I Knew You" is inspired in part by the Toy Story character Jessie, voiced by Cusack, 63.
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"Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time," Swift wrote of the track — a country-inspired tune more akin to her earlier music — on Instagram on June 5. "Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond."
A VFX supervisor who worked on the movie recently said at a SXSW London event that Swift first wrote the tune in February and that even the movie's crew "did not know about this secret until last week," as Variety previously reported.
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Tim Allen, Conan O'Brien, Tom Hanks, Joan Cusack and Taylor Swift at Toy Story 5's premiere on June 9, 2026Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
Toy Story 5 sees Hanks, Tim Allen and Cusack reprise their iconic voice roles from Pixar's flagship franchise, along with returning cast members John Ratzenberger as Hamm, Wallace Shawn as Rex, Blake Clark as Slinky Dog, Jeff Bergman and Anna Vocino as Mr. And Mrs. Potato Head, Annie Potts as Bo Peep, Bonnie Hunt as Dolly, Melissa Villaseñor as Karen Beverly, John Hopkins as Mr. Pricklepants, Kristen Schaal as Trixie and Ernie Hudson as Combat Carl.
Tony Hale returns as Forky, who was introduced in 2019's Toy Story 4, and Conan O'Brien joins the cast as a toilet-training toy named Smarty Pants.
The new movie revolves around a conflict between the toys and a high-tech, frog-shaped smart tablet voiced by Greta Lee, who is introduced as the child Bonnie's latest toy.
Toy Story 5 is in theaters June 19.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
