Producer Jessica Choi Shares Personal Letter That Convinced Taylor Swift to Join ‘Toy Story 5’
One of the most buzzed-about stories surrounding ‘Toy Story 5’ has nothing to do with the film’s plot. It’s the behind-the-scenes hustle that landed one of the biggest pop stars on the planet for the movie’s soundtrack, and it all started with a deeply personal piece of correspondence.
Producer Jessica Choi recently made waves by publicly sharing the letter she wrote to Taylor Swift, inviting her to contribute an original song to the upcoming Pixar sequel. According to the letter, Swift had originally declined the invitation, prompting Choi to outline exactly why she believed the singer was the right person for the project.
The move was unusually candid, offering fans a rare window into the kind of persuasion that happens well before a major Hollywood collaboration is announced.
The letter revealed that ‘Toy Story 5’ marks the first film in the franchise to centre Jessie, the beloved yodeling cowgirl, as the primary focus rather than Woody and Buzz.
Choi framed that shift as a deliberate creative choice to build the story around a strong female protagonist, and argued that Swift was uniquely positioned to amplify that vision. The producer drew a direct line between Swift’s own journey navigating a male-dominated industry and the resilience that defines Jessie as a character.
The pitch worked. Swift ultimately agreed to contribute the original end-credits song, titled ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’, which draws on her country roots as a tribute to the cowgirl at the film’s heart. The track was co-written with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff, and Swift reportedly penned it in a single day after watching an early screening of the film. The speed of the process only adds to the impressive nature of the final product.
Speaking on Good Morning America, Swift described the emotional weight she felt while watching Jessie’s story unfold, saying the character’s arc resonated with her on a personal level and sparked the creative direction for the song. The cowgirl’s history in the franchise, first introduced through the heartbreaking Randy Newman ballad in ‘Toy Story 2’, gave Swift plenty of emotional material to work with.
Swift is not the only surprise addition to the ‘Toy Story 5’ lineup. Bad Bunny also joined the film as a new character named Pizza With Sunglasses, after producer Lindsey Collins recalled seeing videos the reggaeton star posted during the Covid pandemic of himself playing with Toy Story dolls. Both recruitment stories have quickly become part of the film’s broader promotional mythology, speaking to the unusual and genuinely personal approaches the Pixar team took to assemble their cast.
The film officially hits theaters today, with the four previous entries in the franchise available to stream on Disney+. With its Jessie-centred story, a star-studded ensemble, and one of the most talked-about soundtrack recruitment stories in recent memory, ‘Toy Story 5’ seems poised to be far more than a nostalgic chapter in one of animation’s most beloved franchises.
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