Taylor Swift may be ambitious, but she has a strict moral code.
Appearing on a Toy Story 5 Q&A panel in NYC on Sunday, November 1, the pop superstar revealed she made sure she didn’t “kick somebody off” the animated film’s songwriting team for her own shot at the end-credit song.
“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, 36, recalled.
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The 14-time Grammy winner further emphasised to the filmmakers, “I don’t want to kick somebody off of this project that you reached out to after [me]. I understand, but I’m not in the business of doing that.”
Toy Story 5 director Andrew Standton explained that Swift was his first choice to follow Randy Newman, who has composed music for the franchise since 1995. Even when the singer was unavailable due to her Eras Tour, he chose not to approach another songwriter.
Once Swift finally found some time to commit to the project, the song came together in just hours. Stanton said he was moved by the result, comparing it to hearing Newman perform You’ve Got a Friend in Me for the first time.
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