Toy Story 5 Hid a Brand-New Taylor Swift Song for Months
Toy Story 5 pulled off a rare Hollywood secret: Taylor Swift recorded a new song for the sequel earlier this year, and the team kept it under wraps until now. A key figure behind the film is finally explaining why they stayed silent.
If you thought the Toy Story franchise had run out of surprises, think again. Turns out, Toy Story 5 has been keeping an enormous secret for months—one involving Taylor Swift, of all people. And yes, the story behind it is every bit as odd and cloak-and-dagger as you might hope.
How Did They Swing a Taylor Swift Secret?
News only just broke that Taylor Swift has recorded a special track for Toy Story 5, despite the fact that all of this actually happened way back in February. The song, called 'I Knew It, I Knew You', was apparently written by Swift herself after she sat down for an early watch of the still-unfinished film. She’s a massive Toy Story fan (who knew?), and after seeing the rough cut, Taylor turned around, wrote the new song, then offered it to the filmmakers, who—as you'd expect—snapped it up immediately.
Visual effects supervisor Thomas Jordan was the one who finally let slip about the whole saga during a recent SXSW London panel. He laid out just how extreme the secrecy was, noting that barely anyone at Pixar or Disney was in the know—not even the general crew. Quoting Jordan directly:
'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. And we said, "Uh, yes! Yes we do." So we’ve had to keep it a secret ever since then.'
Layers of Secrecy (Even for Pixar/Disney Standards)
This wasn't your run-of-the-mill secret-keeping. The team was so concerned about leaks that they created an entirely different, "decoy" version of Toy Story 5 to show to press and studio staff—a cut of the film with zero Swift involvement, just in case word got out early. That's paranoia on a whole new level, and a fair few people who've given their lives to Buzz Lightyear had no clue a global pop icon was involved. You can't really blame them for being extra careful; Taylor Swift secrets tend to have a bit of a half-life in the wild, after all.
Who's Voicing Your Favourite Toys (and Who's Back)?
- Buzz Lightyear – Tim Allen
- Woody – Tom Hanks
- Jessie – Joan Cusack
- Duke Caboom – Keanu Reeves (returning from the last film)
- Annie Potts, Wallace Shawn, Ernie Hudson, John Ratzenberger and more round out the rest of the classic toy cupboard
Directing duties are handled by Andrew Stanton this time around, so there’s at least some continuity behind the camera too. The official release window is set for 19 June 2026.