In what may be a preview of things to come this awards season, Toy Story 5the latest installment in Disney/Pixar’s beloved 31-year-old animated franchise, was the toast of Hollywood Tuesday night at the Dolby Theater, home of the Academy Awards.
A-listers from the Duffer Brothers to Teyana Taylor to Jimmy Kimmel (and their kids) gathered for the world premiere of what proved to be a smart, funny and poignant film about screens replacing toys in young children’s lives. Attendees of all ages were thrilled when the film was followed by a surprise live performance by Taylor Swift, the biggest pop star on the planet, of her end-credits original song “I Knew It, I Knew You” (which Swift co-wrote with Jack Antonoff), and then Swift and Randy Newman’s duet of Newman’s classic tune from the first. toy story“You have a friend in me.”
At a post-premiere party outside Dolby on the enclosed, festively decorated Hollywood Boulevard, industry insiders — including Academy members — spoke to me about both the film and the song, commenting on the clear commitment by everyone involved to give the film a big boost, whether in its nationwide theatrical release on June 19 or awards season. One commented: “They did everything they could to make this happen.”
In fact, come awards season, Toy Story 5 It will be hard to stop in all the races for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song, and it could also be entered into the competitions for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Aside from being highly entertaining, the film also has something profound to say about the world today. It’s extremely well made, which is unsurprising considering it’s produced by Pixar and co-written and directed by Andrew Stanton, who was also a writer on the previous four installments. toy story Films and directing 2003 Finding Nemo And 2008 WALL-EBoth won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.
As for the original tune by Swift and frequent collaborator Antonoff? It’s a sad, country-infused love song that evokes Swift classics like “Our Song” and “Betty,” and in my humble opinion it would fit perfectly into Swift’s concert setlist. Just as importantly, in terms of awards prospects, Swift — who is 36 and grew up with… toy story Movies – He seems really excited about this movie and the song, invested in it, and ready to support it.
And I actually walked on the red carpet. Photos were posed with the film’s cast and crew, as well as Disney and Pixar executives; He sat in for much of the film before heading backstage. And then, when the curtain came down, she didn’t just sing, she flowed. “It means to me to be a small part of the world of these films,” she declared after her performance of “I Knew It, I Knew You.” “and Toy Story 5 It is my favorite of all toy storyQ. I’m so lucky to get to be a part of this. I would like to thank all the creative people at Disney and Pixar for all the work they put into this film. It’s insanely beautiful, it’s a masterpiece, we’re so lucky to have made this film, your work is amazing, and I hope you’re all proud of yourselves – if you’ve been in this room and worked on this film, thank you so much!
She continued: “I would say Joan Cusack did an exceptional job as Jesse [the two-time Oscar nominee voiced the film’s central character]…I’m very lucky to be able to write for this movie, and it’s all thanks to Andrew Stanton and Kenna Harris … who thought of me and reached out to me and allowed me to experience it and be inspired by it. But I’m also lucky enough to be here because of someone else who is the project architect toy story Musical universe. He is the king who makes us feel more than anything else, tugs at our hearts, makes us laugh, and makes us feel like he is one of our friends. I’m talking about Randy Newman.
Then another curtain opened to reveal Newman sitting at the piano, and Swift walked up to him. She said, “Hey Randy!” “Hi! That’s so sweet of you, thanks for the kind words,” he replied, before saying: “I deserve it!” After the audience’s laughter subsided, he quickly added: “No, I don’t deserve them.” You Make a great song.” She replied: “Oh, thank you very much!” He confirmed: “It was truly Nice—good.” She blushed and said, “This seems like a really good day, just in person!” They then exchanged verses of “You’ve got a friend in me.”
No animated film has had a greater success at the Academy Awards than the animated film toy story Movie franchise. 1995 original toy storywhich predated the Best Animated Feature category by six years, was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song (“You’ve Got a Friend in Me,” music and lyrics by Newman). A special achievement award was also presented to Pixar’s president at the time: “To John Lasseter, for his inspiring leadership of Pixar. toy story team, resulting in the production of the first feature-length computer-animated film.
1999 toy story 2 It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song (“When You Loved Me”, music and lyrics by Newman). But 2010 Toy Story 3 Up for Best Picture Oscar nominations, it was the third animated film to be a finalist in the top category overall, after the 1991 film. beauty and the beast And 2009 higher – Plus Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song (“We Belong Together,” music and lyrics by Newman) and Best Sound Editing. It won Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.
2019 toy story 4Meanwhile, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away”, music and lyrics by Newman), and won Best Animated Feature.
In short, all the previous four toy story The films were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song, and both toy story Films released after the establishment of the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature have been nominated for and won that award.
Due to the quality Toy Story 5 And the relatively thin field of animated features this year (others to look out for include Disney/Pixar films Hoppers and Netflix’s acquisition of Cannes In waves), it seems almost certain that this latest release will also be nominated for Best Animated Feature – and perhaps win.
Although “I Knew It, I Knew You” is the first original song to compete for an Oscar toy story The movie that was no Written by Newman, Swift is certainly well-positioned to earn the first Oscar nomination of her illustrious career (on the heels of two controversial songs from low-profile films that didn’t quite pan out, “Only the Young” from 2020). Miss Americana And “Carolina” from 2022 Where Crawdads Sing).
Consider how highly her peers hold her in high esteem (she has received 58 Grammy nominations and won 14 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year four times, something no other artist has ever done) and by critics ( New York Times I just listed it – and surprisingly, no Newman – included in her list of the 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters).
Consider the Academy’s recent history of honoring popular young singer-songwriters, including Adele (2012 Academy Award for “Skyfall”), Pharrell (2013 Academy Award for “Happy”), Common and John Legend (2014 Academy Award for “Glory”), Sam Smith (2015 Academy Award for “Writing’s on the Wall”), and Justin Timberlake (2015 Academy Award for “Writing’s on the Wall”). Songs such as “I Knew It, I Knew You” in a movie like Toy Story 5 She certainly wouldn’t look out of place in this company.
