Taylor Swift has announced a new original song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” for Disney and Pixar’s “Toy Story 5,” giving the film a fresh pop-culture marker weeks before it reaches theaters. The single is set for June 5, 2026, and will land on the soundtrack when “Toy Story 5” opens exclusively in cinemas on June 19.
That timing is why the song is drawing immediate attention: the release arrives just days before the film’s debut and after a week of teasing that sent fans searching across Swift’s website and a run of billboards in New York, Los Angeles, LA, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Toronto, Mexico City and London. Pre-sales also began on Swift’s website on June 1 for three exclusive CD editions, each built around the new track — the version heard in the film, a special acoustic cut and a special piano version.
The song was written and produced by Swift and Jack Antonoff, and it is inspired by Jessie’s ongoing journey in “Toy Story 5,” a storyline that began in “Toy Story 2.” Andrew Stanton said Swift’s connection to Jessie and her grasp of what the character is going through were obvious from the start, calling the song so closely tied to “Toy Story” that it felt like it had always belonged in the franchise.
That is the part fans will watch most closely. The announcement makes clear that “I Knew It, I Knew You” is on the soundtrack and will arrive as a single before the movie, but it does not say how central the song will be once the film starts rolling. It could play as a signature moment or remain mostly a soundtrack event; the rollout has not yet answered that.
“Toy Story 5” is directed by Stanton and co-directed by Kenna Harris, with Lindsey Collins producing and Randy Newman returning to score his fifth “Toy Story” feature. The film also brings back Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz Lightyear and Joan Cusack as Jessie, while Greta Lee voices Lilypad, the new tablet device at the center of the story. For Swift, the announcement turns a title that had already been building online into a dated release plan: the song on June 5, the previews on June 18 and the film and soundtrack on June 19.
