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Taylor Swift is revisiting her childhood memories with a little help from Pixar.<\/p>\n
The singer-songwriter released a new country song last week, titled “I Knew It, I Knew You,” from the Toy Story 5<\/em> soundtrack. However, as with any new Swift song, there’s a whole lot more to unpack.<\/p>\n Let’s start with the basics. Swift has been a fan of Toy Story<\/em><\/a> from a young age, and her fandom was on full display at the movie’s Los Angeles premiere<\/a> on Tuesday. She made a surprise red carpet appearance, posed with the stars and even asked Tom Hanks to sign her VHS copy of the original 1995 movie.<\/p>\n The musician also treated fans to a live performance of the song before duetting with Randy Newman, who soundtracked the OG film.<\/p>\n Swift’s new track, inspired by the franchise’s cowboy character Jessie (voiced by Joan Cusack<\/a>), was released last Friday. It has already broken streaming records<\/a> on Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.<\/p>\n It is her first new material since last year’s album The Life of a Showgirl<\/em>, as well as her first collaboration with longtime producer Jack Antonoff since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department<\/em>.<\/p>\n The release followed weeks of speculation from Swifties, who spotted a trail of Easter eggs<\/a>, including mysterious billboards and countdowns, which hinted at Swift’s involvement with Toy Story 5<\/em> before the song was officially announced.<\/p>\n Here’s all you need to know about the song.<\/p>\n Long before there was Disney+, there were VHS tapes, and Swift proved her fangirl status at the Toy Story 5 <\/em>premiere when she arrived with a well-worn VHS copy of Toy Story <\/em>\u2014 a true 90s throwback. She couldn’t resist asking Hanks, the voice of cowboy doll Woody, to sign it.<\/p>\n “I didn’t get a selfie, but I did sign her original VHS of the first Toy Story<\/em>,” Hanks told USA Today. “I told her she should have brought an original VHS machine and we could have signed it. And that could go in the Smithsonian as well.”<\/p>\n Costar Tim Allen appeared to write “To infinity and beyond,” the catchphrase of his character, space ranger Buzz Lightyear.<\/p>\n The moment felt especially fitting, given how the evening ended. After the credits rolled, Swift took the stage to perform “I Knew It, I Knew You” before joining Newman for a rendition<\/a> of “You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” the theme song from the original movie \u2014 completing her 30-year journey from Toy Story<\/em> fan to part of the franchise.<\/p>\n To mark the track’s release<\/a>, Swift posted a childhood home video of herself stomping her feet while sporting a red cowgirl hat and a western-inspired outfit. In a clear nod to Jessie, the video reinforces Swift’s Toy Story<\/em> credentials.<\/p>\n Swift, who was five years old when the original Toy Story<\/em> was released in 1995, said the ballad was inspired by Jessie’s journey, and described writing it as both “a musical departure and coming home at the same time.”<\/p>\n “Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once,” Swift wrote in her Instagram caption. “And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now \u2026 is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond.”<\/p>\n The song was written “with so much adoration for these characters that made us laugh and helped us learn lessons” throughout childhood, she added.<\/p>\n Director Andrew Stanton reinforced Swift’s link to Jessie. “It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” he said. “Her connection to Jessie and the immediate way she understood what the character was going through was undeniable.”<\/p>\n Cusack told USA Today<\/a> that the “beautiful” song “fits perfectly” into Toy Story 5<\/em>. “I love this movie so much, so I’m so glad that it resonated with her and she wanted to write a song for it, because it means so many more people come to see the movie,” she said.<\/p>\n Swift’s Instagram post also sparked speculation about how closely the song might tie in to Jessie’s story in Toy Story 5<\/em>.<\/p>\n In Toy Story 2<\/em>, Jessie belongs to a girl named Emily, who adored her as a child before eventually leaving her behind \u2014 an experience that left the doll with a lasting fear of abandonment. She later finds a new home with Andy, the boy at the heart of the Toy Story<\/em> films.<\/p>\n Jessie’s character is widely expected to take center stage in Toy Story 5<\/em>. The sequel “operates mainly as a Jessie movie,” according to Entertainment Weekly<\/a>, and sees the doll revisiting parts of her past, including her connection to Emily<\/a>.<\/p>\nSwift’s nostalgic moment with Tom Hanks<\/h2>\n
The childhood video that got fans talking<\/h2>\n
What ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ means for ‘Toy Story 5’<\/h2>\n