The VFX supervisor on Toy Story 5 revealed Friday that a “decoy version” of the animated film was created to keep Taylor Swift’s involvement a secret until this week.
Thomas Jordan said at a SXSW London panel that only “a very small group” working on the movie knew that Swift had recorded “I Knew It, I Knew You” for Toy Story 5, and that a version of the film without Swift’s track was shown to press and Disney/Pixar staffers.
“The crew that made Toy Story 5 did not know about this secret until last week,” Jordan said (via Variety), adding that a “decoy version” without “I Knew It, I Knew You” was used in early previews.
“Turns out, Taylor Swift is a huge Toy Story fan like many of us,” Jordan added of the singer’s involvement. “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.’ That was in February, so we’ve had to keep it a secret ever since then.”
“I Knew It, I Knew You,” which finds Swift returning to her country roots, was announced on June 1 and released June 5. “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,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “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?”
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Swift co-wrote and produced “I Knew It, I Knew You” with her frequent collaborator Jack Antonoff, marking their first work together since 2024’s The Tortured Poets Department.
“It’s incredible just how meaningful it’s been having Taylor write and perform this song,” Toy Story 5 director Andrew Stanton said in a statement. “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.”
