Taylor Swift is heading to infinity and beyond. The 14-time GRAMMY Award winner has announced "I Knew It, I Knew You," an original song written and produced alongside Jack Antonoff for Disney and Pixar's Toy Story 5, arriving in theaters June 19, according to The Walt Disney Company.
The track drops on streaming and digital purchase platforms this Friday, June 5, and will appear on the Toy Story 5 soundtrack when it releases on June 19. The song is rooted in cowgirl Jessie's storyline, which continues a thread first introduced in Toy Story 2. In the new film, Jessie returns to her former home to confront memories of her original owner Emily and grapple with abandonment. Disney's press release describes the track as "a return to Taylor Swift's country roots, blending styles that have defined her record-breaking career," per Variety.
Swift explained the origin of the song in an Instagram post. "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," she wrote. "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?"
Director Andrew Stanton was equally effusive. "Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable," he said in the official Disney release. "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."
The announcement capped off a week of teases. A series of "TS" billboards went up over the weekend in Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City, and London, playing on the shared initials of Toy Story and Taylor Swift. A Toy Story 5-themed countdown also ran on Swift's official website and on additional billboards in New York and Los Angeles. The campaign traces back further to late April, when fans spotted a cloud-patterned countdown on Swift's site, and to April 27, when Swift was photographed in a blue-and-white striped dress with a yellow purse matching the film's color scheme.
Three exclusive CD editions went on pre-sale via Swift's website, each featuring a different version of the song: the film cut, an acoustic take, and a piano version, all with unique vocals and production. Each edition includes its own photo of Swift and Toy Story cast artwork. The pre-sale window closes tomorrow, Wednesday, June 3, with the limited CDs shipping on June 19.
Swift joins a line of artists who have recorded original music for the franchise. Sarah McLachlan contributed "When She Loved Me" to Toy Story 2, a track that earned songwriter Randy Newman an Oscar nomination, while Chris Stapleton recorded "The Ballad of the Lonesome Cowboy" for Toy Story 4, as noted by The Hollywood Reporter. Antonoff's work on the new song marks his first collaboration with Swift since The Tortured Poets Department. Fans have also pointed out that the June 19 release date coincides with the 20th anniversary of Swift's debut single, "Tim McGraw."
