Lin-Manuel Miranda hails Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ song, acknowledges potential Oscars showdown
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Lin-Manuel Miranda praised Taylor Swift’s ‘Toy Story 5’ song ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’ during the premiere of ‘Moana’ in Los Angeles on Tuesday, July 7.
The singer, 41, who wrote a new song titled ‘Along the Way’ for the new Disney film, also acknowledged being potentially nominated for the 2027 Oscars alongside the pop icon.
Lin-Manuel Miranda says Taylor Swift's 'Toy Story 5' song 'was really fun'
Miranda told PEOPLE, “I love Taylor, and I love that song. I thought her song for 'Toy Story 5' was really fun. Listen, when you’re writing for characters, you’re not thinking about the Oscars. You’re thinking like, ‘How on earth do I pull this off? How can it feel honest and true?’”
“And I think she did a wonderful job doing that in 'Toy Story 5', and I was really proud to do that for our film,” he added.
Lin-Manuel Miranda was nominated for Best Original Song Oscar in 2017
The songwriter and actor had first received his Oscar nomination in 2017 for writing the song ‘How Far I’ll Go’ for Disney’s original 2016 animated hit ‘Moana’. He was not part of ‘Moana 2’ in 2024 but returned to the franchise for this year’s movie, releasing on July 10.
During the interview, Miranda also revealed how he got to know that the ‘Along the Way’ song would work for the film.
“My poor kids have to listen to me singing to myself all the time and they understand that that’s daddy’s job, but when I caught them singing it on their own, I realized, ‘Okay, this is catchy enough that it can live alongside the other songs I wrote all those years ago,’” he explained.
Miranda also added, “When I heard Frankie, my eight-year-old going, ‘Along The Way,’ I was like, ‘Okay, we got it. Great. This passes the smell test.’”
The filmmaker is the father of two sons — Sebastian and Francisco — whom he shares with his lawyer wife, Vanessa Nadal.
Taylor Swift wrote 'I Knew It, I Knew You' soon after watching film 'in its early stages'
Meanwhile, Swift had earlier shared her story behind writing ‘I Knew It, I Knew You’.
In a lengthy Instagram post, the recently married pop megastar wrote, “I fell instantly in love with ‘Toy Story 5’ when I was lucky enough to see it in its early stages, and I wrote this song as soon as I got home from the screening.”
“I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid watching the first ‘Toy Story’ movie,” the 36-year-old had stated.
