Taylor Swift had a whale of a time at the Toy Story 5 premiere in Los Angeles, just days after releasing her new song I Knew It, I Knew You for the soundtrack. The 36-year-old singer, who is due to marry fiancé Travis Kelce soon, joined the star-studded cast at the Dolby Theater, rubbing shoulders with Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Greta Lee, and Conan O'Brien.
Red Carpet Glamour
Swift arrived on the red carpet in a bejewelled, off-the-shoulder Erdem dress, paired with strappy gold heels and a horseshoe pendant. Her jewellery was very on theme as she posed for pictures with Tom Hanks and Joan Cusack, who play Sheriff Woody and cowgirl Jessie in the franchise, ahead of the screening.
Ultimate Fangirl Moment
Taylor proved to be the ultimate fangirl as she took the opportunity to get the A-listers to sign her original VHS tape of the first Toy Story film, which was released in 1995. Tom Hanks told USA TODAY of their red carpet chat: 'I didn't get a selfie, but I did sign her original VHS of the first Toy Story. I told her she should have brought an original VHS machine and we could have signed it. And that could go in the Smithsonian as well.'
Performance and Praise
After the premiere, Swift performed a duet of You've Got a Friend in Me with Randy Newman and hailed the sequel as a 'masterpiece'. 'It means the world to me to be a small part of the universe of these films,' she said via Deadline, before commending Joan Cusack for doing 'an extraordinary job' as the voice of Jessie. 'It was an honour to write for her, and I am very lucky that I got to write for this film,' she added. 'I am also lucky enough to be here because of someone else who is the architect of the Toy Story musical universe. He is the king of making us feel the absolute most and pulling at our heartstrings and making us laugh and making us like he's one of our friends, you know what I mean. I'm talking about Randy Newman.'
Behind the Song
Swift was linked to the iconic franchise earlier this year when billboards popped up in cities around the world, spelling out 'TS' in the Toy Story font. After whipping fans into a frenzy, she confirmed her new song on Instagram last week, alongside a video of her dressed in a cowgirl outfit as a child. 'Writing this song felt like a musical departure and coming home at the same time,' she told fans. 'Creating something for Jessie was a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. And being a @toystory kid from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on, to infinity and beyond. Thank you to the brilliant Andrew Stanton for imagining me for this, all those years ago when you wrote this newest film. Thank you to the incomparable @randynewmanofficial for the gorgeous sonic tapestry of songs and scores you've meticulously woven over the years. You created the Toy Story musical world, and we are lucky to get to live in it. By we, I mean myself and my pal @jackantonoff. We wrote this with so much adoration for these characters that made us laugh and helped us learn lessons and think outside the backyard all throughout our childhoods.'
Toy Story 5 Details
Toy Story 5, the fifth movie in the Pixar franchise, is released on June 19 and will see the gang battling technology. The official synopsis teases: 'Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the rest of the gang's jobs get exponentially harder when they go head to head with this all-new threat to playtime.'
