At the June 9 L.A. premiere of Toy Story 5, Taylor Swift showed up with a 30-year-old 1995 VHS of the original Toy Story—and asked Tom Hanks and Tim Allen to autograph it.
Taylor Swift didn’t just walk the June 9 Los Angeles premiere of Toy Story 5—she arrived with a piece of nostalgia sharp enough to get Hollywood heavyweights to lean in.
She was photographed holding a 30-year-old VHS copy of the original Toy Story as she greeted Tom Hanks, who voices Woody, and Tim Allen, who voices Buzz Lightyear. The interaction turned into a quick, old-school collectible moment: Hanks and Allen signed Taylor Swift’s 1995 VHS.
Hanks later talked about the exchange in a red carpet interview with USA Today. He said he didn’t take a selfie with Swift, but he did sign the VHS she brought along. “I told her she should have brought in the VHS machine so that we could have signed it. as that could go into the Smithsonian Institute as well. ” he quipped.
The red carpet bit wasn’t the only Swift connection to Toy Story 5. She recorded an original track for the film, “I Knew It, I Knew You,” written with longtime collaborator Jack Antonoff. The song is her first release since her 2025 album The Life of a Showgirl.
“I Knew It, I Knew You” arrived on June 5 and quickly became a platform standout—Apple Music named it its “biggest country single of 2026” and said it broke the “all-time record for the biggest soundtrack single, based on first-day plays,” according to the streaming service.
Swift has also tied the inspiration to watching the movie in early form. In a June 1 Instagram post unveiling the song’s cover art. she wrote that the lyrics were inspired by an early screening of Toy Story 5. In the caption. she said. “I’ve always dreamed of getting to write for these characters who I’ve adored since I was a 5-year-old kid.”.
She added, “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. Sometimes you just know, right?”
As soon as the song came out. Swift took to Instagram again. posting a throwback clip of herself dressed as a cowgirl and describing her long-standing love for the franchise. She wrote that creating something for Jessie was “a new challenge and also felt like second nature all at once. ” and she noted her journey “from the age of 5 til now… is an adventure I plan to be on. to infinity and beyond.”.
She followed the release with the music video within hours.
Taken together. it’s a tidy through-line: a 1995 VHS she still keeps. the moment Hanks and Allen signed it. and a song Swift says she wrote right after seeing Toy Story 5 in its early stages—then watched the release surge from June 5 onward. right up to the Los Angeles premiere where the fandom became literal on-screen memorabilia in her hands.
Taylor Swift Toy Story 5 Tom Hanks Tim Allen Woody Buzz Lightyear VHS I Knew It I Knew You Jack Antonoff June 9 premiere Apple Music biggest country single of 2026
Why does she need Tom Hanks to sign a VHS lol, just buy a new one.
So she got the Toy Story 5 people to sign her 1995 tape… does that mean it’s like valuable now or is it just a cute promo thing. Feels like a flex.
I’m confused because VHS is like dead, so how is she even allowed to bring it to a premiere. Also Tom Hanks talking about the Smithsonian? That’s where they put like old movies not autograph drama. Unless the tape is actually from 1985 or something.
Not gonna lie, I love the VHS part. But then I read she recorded a song and it’s her first release since that 2025 album?? Apple Music calling it the biggest country single of 2026 like okay, sure. Half the time these numbers are made up anyway.