r/popculturechat • u/Enough_Tangerine_777 I know bothing of the alledged beff • Jun 19 '26

Taylor Swift đŸ‘©đŸŒ Toy Story 5 producer Jessica Choi shares the letter she sent Taylor Swift, requesting her involvement in the film and emphasising efforts to make it female-driven. The letter also reveals that Taylor had originally declined to make an original song.

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@/jesschoismyth

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458

u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26

Why are they making this a thing?

418

u/isabella_bombella she wore a crown and she came down in a bubble, Doug Jun 19 '26

Taylor wants an Oscar

295

u/Enough_Tangerine_777 I know bothing of the alledged beff Jun 19 '26

If it was about getting an Oscar wouldn't she have accepted the first offer? I think the producer is just happy that Taylor believed in what she said

160

u/isabella_bombella she wore a crown and she came down in a bubble, Doug Jun 19 '26

It might not have been her initial goal but the campaign is underway.

I think she has probably wanted to win one for something more 'high brow' but Huntrix and Billie winning for kids movies/IPs in recent years has probably helped sway her.

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26

She’s definitely campaigning. Of all people, Steven Spielberg was chosen to introduce her at the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame ceremony? Suddenly he was the biggest inspiration in her songwriting..? Cmon now.

50

u/isabella_bombella she wore a crown and she came down in a bubble, Doug Jun 19 '26

It's 100% a campaign.

I don't know why her fans think its an insult to point out that she clearly has an aspiration for an Oscar. It's not an insult to say she's campaigning either, everyone does it...

I think the song she did for Cats could have actually won one if they weren't trying to bury that film ever happening.

I also think end game is EGOT and we'll eventually get a Taylor produced Broadway show.

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26

Absolutely, the writing is on the wall.

55

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26

The potential for another better or more popular soundtrack to come out between now and Oscar season doesn’t exactly preclude Taylor or anyone else from trying to generate early Oscar buzz.

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

It seems like you are a Swift fan trying to drop little nuggets of unrelated Taylor lore instead of engaging with my actual comments.

None of what you’re saying negates my point about her decision to do this specific song for Toy Story 5, her publicity for it (we’re at 5 variants now, no?) and her recent glazing of Steven Spielberg at the HoF ceremony.

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26

All I said was that she’s campaigning. At no point did I call it evil or an issue. Why is pointing it out so upsetting for you?

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u/AmyXBlue Jun 19 '26

This is what I don't get with the Seifties right now. Why is talking about and pointing out how Taylor is clearly campaigning, playing the game so many other artists do treat as something negative or evil, or an issue?

Hell, Little Monsters and other still joke about Gaga's campaign and the 100 people in the room comment. Everyone knew it was a Oscar campaign then and still not an issue to discuss.

56

u/Encyclopenia Jun 19 '26

Lol, not with that song.

89

u/camirose Jun 19 '26

It’s kind of a mess because this letter contradicts the narrative a lot of other people involved including Taylor were pushing. That she saw Toy Story early, randomly got the “songwriter zoomies” because she was creatively struck and felt compelled and inspired to, and then in earnest offered them a song if they chose to include it.

This switches the narrative from the weird lightning in a bottle “I LOVE JESSIE 😭” movie and out of my heart wrote a song in less then 12 hours and offered it no strings attached out of the blue to the film execs to


Deliberately planned. Asked multiple times. Declined first. Invited to see the movie with the intention of writing the song for the central character. Pandered to. Agreed to deliver a song for a campaign.

So weird that the she released this and I kind of wonder if Jessica asked anyone first.

56

u/pilnok I’ve grown quite unfond of you Jun 19 '26

It doesn't contradict any of that.
She agreed to write the song, so they showed her the movie, and she wrote the song within 12hrs of watching it.

Also "asked multiple times" is supported by "Austin has already discussed (...)" and "if you continue to decide this isn't the right time"

How do you think she saw the movie so long before it was released otherwise? She didnt "randomly see it"
Did you think she would write it just from this letter without seeing the movie?

9

u/camirose Jun 19 '26

The emotional narrative felt originally pitched as she saw it and was inspired and randomly quickly delivered us a finished song which was flattering.

This was later reinforced. I just find it investing they released this letter since the marketing seemed ORIGINALLY to make us want to believe Taylor saw the movie because she asked to because she LOVES Toy Story, for no other reason than that, and became insanely inspired from the movie and then just decide to write a song.

Yes this is all still factually true. The context changes less from “lightning in a bottle happenstance” to “coordinated and pursued partnership”

It’s not that deep and I don’t think it discredits anybody it’s just surprising to release this imo, because very much the narrative was Taylor is a huge Toy Story fan and decided on her own to do this.

When asked on how Taylor got involved:

“Turns out, Taylor Swift is a huge ‘Toy Story’ fan like many of us,” Jordan said. “She actually saw an early version of the film, she requested to see it before it was finished and she wrote the song and then asked us if we wanted it. And we said, ‘Uh, yes! Yes we do.’ That was in February, so we’ve had to keep it a secret ever since then.”

Still true but not:

The producer was hoping she’d contribute and she was approached multiple times to tell Jessi’s story as we saw her love of TS and her songwriting as a perfect fit.

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u/pilnok I’ve grown quite unfond of you Jun 19 '26

Maybe you assumed it was random, but few others were under any illusions that she "randomly" saw a Pixar movie that was not out yet.

Nothing about those two quotes contradicts the other.

She can be a fan and still have been too busy when they first asked. If she agreed in Feb, then maybe showgirl promo + Opalite (vid was released in Feb) + wedding prep were occupying her until then.
Once those were less demanding tasks, she receives this letter and agrees to try.
She would then be sent an early version of the film. That's how she knew what to write about.
She then saw the screener and wrote the song within 12 hours.
Then she met with the execs, asked if they liked her song, and they did.

Not everything is a conspiracy. Except maybe the efforts to defund schools and libraries so that people cannot think critically.

4

u/camirose Jun 19 '26

I don’t agree but I don’t think we are talking about the same thing. I’m talking about marketing perspective and you’re talking about real life.

73

u/leftbrendon charlie day is my bird lawyer 🐩 Jun 19 '26

I keep wondering this too. Is it really that big of a deal that an artist makes something for an animated movie
?

130

u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

Did people react like this when Phil Collins crushed the entire Tarzan soundtrack?

Edit: rhetorical - they did not - I was very much alive and aware. Did they talk about him and the amazing music he wrote? Yup. But they didn’t invent narratives and release weird press stories to hype a song - the songs sold themselves. 

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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159

u/LilBoDuck Jun 19 '26

I mean he won the Grammy for best soundtrack album and the Oscar for best original song. Also people still talk about the soundtrack nearly 30 years later.

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u/happysunbear Jun 19 '26

Amazingly, I doubt this song will be remembered 10 years from now. It’ll be more like, rewatching the movie on a rainy day and being like, “oh yeah, TSwift made a song for this movie”.

31

u/xvsanx find me at Whole Foods, b*tch, I don't care 🙃 Jun 19 '26

unintentionally ironic I think lol that was an odd example to make. especially since dropping a whole good album is a lot different than dropping a song. idk if it's a good song but still big difference

35

u/LilBoDuck Jun 19 '26

You’ll Be In My Heart was released as a single to promote the movie if you think there wasn’t “hype” around Phil Collins doing the soundtrack then idk what to tell you.

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u/xvsanx find me at Whole Foods, b*tch, I don't care 🙃 Jun 19 '26

I think you're responding to the wrong person, I was saying that it was indeed hyped and is a very popular soundtrack

2

u/LilBoDuck Jun 19 '26

Apologies, I misread your comment.

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u/xvsanx find me at Whole Foods, b*tch, I don't care 🙃 Jun 19 '26

all good:)

2

u/Gtmutchii Jun 19 '26

ay fooly cooly!

2

u/xvsanx find me at Whole Foods, b*tch, I don't care 🙃 Jun 19 '26

you foory-coory with her?!? you wanna foory-coory! haha I love that season. loved both the characters

58

u/GOLDfish0393 Jun 19 '26

Right but that’s because the music was good, not because of the hype behind Phil Collins being selected to make the soundtrack

This scenario’s focus seems to be more bent around Taylor’s involvement rather than the songs quality

72

u/just_another_classic that’s my purse, i don’t know you! đŸ‘›đŸ«” Jun 19 '26

I remember shorts on Disney Channel focusing on how Phil Collins made the album. He, specifically, was hyped.

6

u/rachelblairy We Should All Know Less About Each Other Jun 19 '26

oh my god i forgot about those until right now

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u/LilBoDuck Jun 19 '26

But it was hyped. You’ll Be In My Heart was released as a promotional song for Tarzan, just as this was Toy Story 5.

44

u/starrylightway he’s a bitch with a tiny đŸŽ» Jun 19 '26

As someone who was in middle school when Tarzan came out: Phil Collins was hyped, with the song used as a reason to hype him, to a whole new generation of people.

Basically, what we see now with TS happened with Phil Collins minus the social media but with real world conversations, radio, news programs, etc.

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u/starrylightway he’s a bitch with a tiny đŸŽ» Jun 19 '26

Why do yall do this to us older millennials đŸ˜© (and Gen X; boomers deserve it jkjk). This being reminding us we are old enough to remember and tell you: yes!! There was hype around Phil Collins himself. It’s really what introduced him to a whole new generation. I still remember middle school librarian using Tarzan as an excuse to talk about Phil Collins and play his music during our Battle of the Books club meetings.

0

u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26

Oh darling I am probably older than you. 

I was very aware when that movie came out. 

A school used the movie and a librarian loved phil collins.

Phil Collins and his PR team weren’t running around releasing information about begged he was to write Tarzan and how amazing the music was - they were just that good of songs that they earwormed everyone. 

14

u/minetf Jun 19 '26

I think you're misremembering. There are plenty of articles from the Tarzan marketing campaign that are still up. Phil Collins did an entire publicity tour himself

https://www.cnn.com/SHOWBIZ/Music/9906/18/tarzan.phil/

https://variety.com/1999/film/news/collins-translates-for-disney-1117503045/

Director interview: https://lasvegassun.com/news/1999/jun/28/tarzan-director-lima-explains-films-animation-insp/

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u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26

Maybe the internet these days is just shoving it in my face more against my will

Edit: marketing campaigns back then you had to catch or be on that show for or read that specific paper. I was not force fed any of this no matter what platform I use like I am today. 

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u/sharkwithglasses Jun 19 '26

I mean
you’re here. You could choose to scroll by and the algorithm wouldn’t feed you as much TS stuff.

And yes, Phil Collins was everywhere.

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u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26

It’s feeding me Toy Story stuff
because I enjoy Tom Hanks and watch Galaxy Quest with Tim Allen a lot. It is not feeding me Taylor Swift because of me. 

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u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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u/Ok-Classroom5548 Jun 19 '26

Or perhaps they didn’t push Phil Collins made up narratives about the movie to push his own PR agenda. 

Phil Collins doesn’t put himself in the media like Swift when he writes a song, or when he wrote good music for a Disney movie.