Taylor Swift Delivered Toy Story 5 Song in 24 Hours, Producers Say
One day, one song: After an early Toy Story 5 screening, Taylor Swift wrote I Knew It, I Knew You — and producers tease a surprising origin story.
Taylor Swift saw an early cut of Toy Story 5 and, by sundown, the movie had a brand-new song. Not an idea. Not a chorus. A finished track. Even for Swift, that turnaround is wild.
How this went from screening to song in about a day
- Swift watched an early screening of Toy Story 5 and immediately reached out to the filmmakers over FaceTime.
- The directors and producers say she told them she wanted to write a song on the spot.
- By the end of that same day, the track was done. Title: 'I Knew It, I Knew You.'
- The team says it clicked right away because it ties directly into Jessie’s arc and the film ’s bigger themes.
- Variety shared a clip of the filmmakers telling the story on June 10, 2026.
"We were in a meeting and somebody wants to talk to you. And by the end of that day she had written the song. She is a beast," the producers told Variety.
What the song is doing in the movie
'I Knew It, I Knew You' is built around Jessie, which is why it apparently hit the creative team so hard, so fast. They say it folds into the story without forcing it, and it became a favorite inside the production almost immediately. If you’ve followed this franchise, that tracks: Jessie is an emotional linchpin, so a song anchored to her journey is going to carry weight.
Swift’s Jessie connection goes way back
On June 5, Swift posted a throwback home video to X and Instagram: five-year-old Taylor in a cowboy hat and boots, basically mini-Jessie energy. It’s a not-subtle nod to where this song is coming from emotionally, and it lines up with something else she’s doing here — dipping back into the country-leaning storytelling that defined her early years, this time with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff back in the mix.
"Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. And being a Toy Story kid from the age of 5 till now is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond," she wrote on Instagram.
So the quick version: Swift saw the movie, FaceTimed the team, wanted in, and had 'I Knew It, I Knew You' written that same day. It’s personal for her, it’s centered on Jessie, and the filmmakers are already treating it like a core piece of Toy Story 5 rather than a bolt-on single. Hard to argue with that timeline or that fit.