Less than a week after its release, Taylor Swift’s Toy Story 5 ballad “I Knew It, I Knew You” is emerging as an early awards-season contender, with industry insiders already pointing to the song as a potential player in the race for Best Original Song at next year’s Academy Awards.
The conversation, which was started by The Hollywood Reporter, intensified Tuesday night, June 9, at the world premiere of Toy Story 5 at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, where Swift surprised attendees with a live performance of the film’s end-credits track. The singer-songwriter later returned to the stage alongside legendary composer and longtime Toy Story musical architect Randy Newman for a duet of the franchise’s signature song, “You’ve Got a Friend in Me.”
For Swift, the project marks a rare venture into animated film songwriting. The track, which she co-wrote with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, was inspired by Jessie, the cowgirl character voiced by Joan Cusack.
Disney and Pixar previously revealed that Swift wrote the song after seeing an early version of the film, which centers on a new “toys versus technology” storyline as Bonnie becomes increasingly attached to a tablet named Lilypad.
Speaking at the premiere, Swift made it clear the collaboration meant more to her than simply contributing a soundtrack cut. “It means the world to me to be a small part of the universe of these films,” she told the audience.
She also praised Cusack’s performance as Jessie and thanked director Andrew Stanton and producer Kenna Harris for bringing her into the project.
Later, while introducing Newman, Swift called him “the architect of the Toy Story musical universe” before joining him onstage for the duet.
The Oscar chatter is not happening in a vacuum. The Toy Story franchise has a long history with the Academy. Every previous installment received at least one Best Original Song nomination, while both Toy Story 3 and Toy Story 4 won major Academy Awards. Toy Story 3 even broke through into the Best Picture race, a rare achievement for an animated film.
That pedigree helps explain why so much attention has shifted from the film’s viral marketing campaign to its awards prospects. Earlier this spring, Disney and Pixar fueled speculation about Swift’s involvement through cryptic “TS” billboards, cloud imagery that appeared across streaming platforms, and countdowns tied to the film’s promotion.
Interestingly, despite winning 14 Grammys and becoming one of the most decorated artists of her generation, Swift has never received an Oscar nomination.
