Taylor Swift made sure no other artist would lose the Toy Story 5 end-credits assignment before she agreed to write “I Knew It, I Knew You.”

Speaking alongside director Andrew Stanton during a Q&A after a special screening on Sunday, Nov. 1, Swift said she repeatedly asked whether the production had approached someone else during the months she was unavailable because of the Eras Tour.

“Be honest: Did you guys replace me?” Swift recalled asking. She also made her position clear: “I don’t want to kick somebody off of this project that you reached out to after [me]. I understand, but I’m not in the business of doing that.”

Stanton’s answer was unusually straightforward. Rather than seek another artist, the director had decided that Toy Story 5 simply would not have an original end-credits track if Swift could not participate.

Stanton said he had wanted to change the franchise’s musical approach from the beginning of the fifth film and viewed Swift as the only person who made sense for the assignment. “Nothing else made sense,” he told the audience.

A Carefully Handled Musical Transition

Swift’s involvement, first announced in June, prompted excitement from fans but also questions about Randy Newman. Newman had written the franchise’s original music since Toy Story began in 1995, making any new musical direction a notable shift.

According to Stanton, however, Swift was not brought in after another artist had been removed. His decision to wait for her meant that the project remained open until her schedule allowed her to enter discussions.

Once Swift saw an early screening, the process moved quickly. She went directly to the studio with Jack Antonoff and finished “I Knew It, I Knew You” before the end of that day. Swift later performed the song with Newman at the film’s Hollywood premiere.

Stanton heard the completed track a few days after it was written and said the song immediately affected him.

“I got choked up when I heard it,” the director recalled. He compared the experience to hearing Newman play “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” on piano, saying that was the only other time he had heard a song arrive seemingly fully formed and perfect.

“I Knew It, I Knew You” went on to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

How Austin Swift Brought the Film to Her

Swift also revealed that her brother, Austin Swift, was the first person to direct her attention toward Toy Story 5. She said Austin handles her music synchs and that their conversations sometimes shift between sibling banter and business.

During one call, Austin told her she needed to see the film and predicted that she would love it. When Taylor asked why, he said he could not explain because he had signed a nondisclosure agreement.

That response prompted a teasing exchange between the siblings, but the recommendation ultimately led Swift to watch the movie and connect deeply with the characters Bonnie and Blaze.

Swift said their relationship reminded her of her longtime friendship with Abigail Anderson. She recalled moving to Nashville at 14 and facing the uncertainty of being the new student at school. Abigail, who Swift noted also has curly hair like Blaze, became the person with whom she could share her particular sense of humor.

The two still talk in Napoleon Dynamite voices, Swift said, something their husbands continue to experience. She described the emotional impact of finding someone who fully understands “the strange, little genre that is you at your purest,” explaining that the idea hit her hard while watching the movie.

ShowBiz Take

Swift’s account settles the central question surrounding her Toy Story 5 role: this was not a case of a star displacing another songwriter. Stanton had selected her from the outset and was prepared to abandon the idea of an original end-credits song rather than hand it to someone else.

That context also makes Newman’s continued presence in the song’s story significant. Although Swift supplied the new track, she later shared the Hollywood premiere performance with the musician whose work had been part of the franchise since 1995. Stanton’s comparison between Swift’s song and Newman’s “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” further connects the new recording to that history without suggesting Newman had been pushed aside.

The track’s No. 1 debut and its emerging awards conversation have since expanded what began as a carefully managed creative choice into a major music-and-movie moment.

What Happens Next?

“I Knew It, I Knew You” has generated significant Oscar buzz for best original song at next year’s awards, though no nomination is confirmed. Swift’s campaign has already included special performances at the Academy Museum Gala in mid-October and at a Grammys Icon Session in August.

Whether that momentum produces an Oscar nomination remains unresolved, but Swift has now explained that before the song could be written, she needed one assurance: nobody else was losing the opportunity so she could take it.