Taylor Swift wanted to contribute an original song to “Toy Story 5,” but she made sure not to take the opportunity away from another songwriter whom the filmmakers might have already approached.
During a Q&A with director Andrew Stanton on Sunday, November 1, the 14-time Grammy winner revealed that she repeatedly asked whether the directors had hired someone else while she remained unavailable to discuss the project.
Taylor Swift explains why she worried about replacing another songwriter in ‘Toy Story 5’
Swift joined Stanton for a special screening and discussion of the animated film, where they spoke about how her end-credits song, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” came together. The track has already made a major impact, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 after the film’s team announced her involvement in June.
However, the announcement also raised questions among fans about Randy Newman, who had composed the music for the Toy Story franchise since its beginning in 1995. Stanton explained that he had wanted to introduce a different musical direction for the fifth instalment from the beginning. Swift was the only artist he considered for the end-credits song. “Nothing else made sense,” the director told the audience.
When she eventually had time to consider the project, she repeatedly asked whether the team had already found someone else. “I was repeatedly asking, ‘I know that it took me a couple months to come back to this project. Be honest: Did you guys replace me?’” Swift recalled.
She explained that she did not want to take another artist’s place after the filmmakers had already contacted them. “‘I don’t want to kick somebody off of this project that you reached out to after (me),’” she said. “I understand, but I’m not in the business of doing that.”
Although Swift took some time to confirm her involvement, she quickly took the song after watching an early version of the film. The singer previously revealed that she went straight to the studio with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff after the screening. The pair completed “I Knew It, I Knew You” within hours, finishing the track before the day ended.
