After days of cryptic billboards, countdown clocks, and eagle-eyed Swifties piecing together clues, Taylor Swift has officially confirmed what fans suspected all along: she has written an original song for Toy Story 5 .
“It’s a Toy Story 🤠 You knew it!” Swift wrote on Instagram on June 1, 2026, confirming her involvement with the beloved Pixar franchise . “My new original song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ for Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 will be yours on June 5th” .
A childhood dream fulfilled
For Swift, now 36, contributing to the Toy Story universe has been a lifelong aspiration. “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 shared in her announcement .
She revealed that she was given an early screening of the upcoming film, which immediately sparked her creativity. “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,” Swift wrote. “Sometimes you just know, right?” .
The song: ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’
The track, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” was written and produced by Swift alongside her longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff . According to a press release, the song marks a return to Swift’s country roots and is inspired by the ongoing journey of the beloved cowgirl character Jessie, a storyline that dates back to Toy Story 2 .
Director Andrew Stanton, who helmed the upcoming sequel, praised Swift’s deep understanding of the material.
“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” Stanton said. “Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable. The song is so deeply connected to ‘Toy Story.’ So much so that on first listen, it instantly felt like it had always belonged there, like a long-lost family member. It was kismet” .
Release details: Three versions
Fans won’t have to wait until the film’s release to hear the new music. “I Knew It, I Knew You” will be available on all streaming platforms starting June 5, 2026 .
For collectors, Swift is offering three different physical CD editions of the single exclusively on her website for $3.99 each . These collector’s editions feature:
- Original version: The song as it appears in the film
- Acoustic version
- Piano version
Each version features unique vocals and production .
How fans cracked the case
The confirmation caps off weeks of intense speculation that began when fans noticed billboards popping up in cities like Los Angeles, Chicago, London, and Toronto . The ads featured the classic Toy Story blue sky backdrop with the giant letters “TS” in the franchise’s signature yellow font .
Further clues included the Pixar social media team posting a video of Jessie dancing in front of the mysterious billboard with the caption, “She’s making those moves up as she goes!” — a direct lyric reference to Swift’s hit “Shake It Off” .
Additionally, eagle-eyed fans counted exactly 13 clouds in the billboard art, a nod to Swift’s favorite number, which appears throughout her career .
About ‘Toy Story 5’
The film, which sees the return of Tom Hanks as Woody and Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear, finds the iconic toys competing for playtime against a new high-tech tablet called Lilypad .
The soundtrack will be released alongside the film on June 19, 2026, featuring Swift’s contribution alongside the score . Physical copies of the “I Knew It, I Knew You” single include artwork that appears to tease Swift’s connection to the character of Jessie .
This marks Swift’s first involvement with an animated film since she voiced a character in 2012’s The Lorax .
