Disney - Toy Story 5: Taylor Swift - I Knew It, I Knew You Lyric Video
When a global artist releases a new song for one of the world's biggest film franchises, the visuals have to feel just as memorable as the music. Disney handed us Pixar's unreleased main-on-end artwork for Toy Story 5 and gave us this brief: turn these static illustrations into a lyric video that would introduce Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" while building anticipation for the film.
With only two and a half weeks (!!!) to concept, design, and animate a three-minute music video, we had to create a story from static artwork while protecting highly confidential Disney and Taylor Swift IP. Every creative decision needed to honor both brands and elevate the emotional arc of the song.
We developed an original narrative that flowed with the lyrics, then animated each scene using custom frame rates and handcrafted movement that preserved the charm of the original artwork. The result felt intentionally made by artists, not software, giving the video warmth that complemented the song's emotional tone.
The finished lyric video premiered on DisneyMusicVevo, where it has generated more than 1.3M views. We also created a :30 social cutdown that Taylor Nation shared on Instagram. That post has earned more than 3.3 million views, 192,000 likes, 9,625 reposts, 3,254 shares, and hundreds of comments.
Sometimes the biggest creative challenge isn't creating something from scratch, it's finding motion inside a still image. By transforming unreleased artwork into a handcrafted animated story, we helped launch a song, celebrate an iconic franchise, and give fans another reason to get excited for Toy Story 5.
When a global artist releases a new song for one of the world's biggest film franchises, the visuals have to feel just as memorable as the music. Disney handed us Pixar's unreleased main-on-end artwork for Toy Story 5 and gave us this brief: turn these static illustrations into a lyric video that would introduce Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" while building anticipation for the film.
With only two and a half weeks (!!!) to concept, design, and animate a three-minute music video, we had to create a story from static artwork while protecting highly confidential Disney and Taylor Swift IP. Every creative decision needed to honor both brands and elevate the emotional arc of the song.
We developed an original narrative that flowed with the lyrics, then animated each scene using custom frame rates and handcrafted movement that preserved the charm of the original artwork. The result felt intentionally made by artists, not software, giving the video warmth that complemented the song's emotional tone.
The finished lyric video premiered on DisneyMusicVevo, where it has generated more than 1.3M views. We also created a :30 social cutdown that Taylor Nation shared on Instagram. That post has earned more than 3.3 million views, 192,000 likes, 9,625 reposts, 3,254 shares, and hundreds of comments.
Sometimes the biggest creative challenge isn't creating something from scratch, it's finding motion inside a still image. By transforming unreleased artwork into a handcrafted animated story, we helped launch a song, celebrate an iconic franchise, and give fans another reason to get excited for Toy Story 5.
When a global artist releases a new song for one of the world's biggest film franchises, the visuals have to feel just as memorable as the music. Disney handed us Pixar's unreleased main-on-end artwork for Toy Story 5 and gave us this brief: turn these static illustrations into a lyric video that would introduce Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" while building anticipation for the film.
With only two and a half weeks (!!!) to concept, design, and animate a three-minute music video, we had to create a story from static artwork while protecting highly confidential Disney and Taylor Swift IP. Every creative decision needed to honor both brands and elevate the emotional arc of the song.
We developed an original narrative that flowed with the lyrics, then animated each scene using custom frame rates and handcrafted movement that preserved the charm of the original artwork. The result felt intentionally made by artists, not software, giving the video warmth that complemented the song's emotional tone.
The finished lyric video premiered on DisneyMusicVevo, where it has generated more than 1.3M views. We also created a :30 social cutdown that Taylor Nation shared on Instagram. That post has earned more than 3.3 million views, 192,000 likes, 9,625 reposts, 3,254 shares, and hundreds of comments.
Sometimes the biggest creative challenge isn't creating something from scratch, it's finding motion inside a still image. By transforming unreleased artwork into a handcrafted animated story, we helped launch a song, celebrate an iconic franchise, and give fans another reason to get excited for Toy Story 5.
When a global artist releases a new song for one of the world's biggest film franchises, the visuals have to feel just as memorable as the music. Disney handed us Pixar's unreleased main-on-end artwork for Toy Story 5 and gave us this brief: turn these static illustrations into a lyric video that would introduce Taylor Swift's "I Knew It, I Knew You" while building anticipation for the film.
With only two and a half weeks (!!!) to concept, design, and animate a three-minute music video, we had to create a story from static artwork while protecting highly confidential Disney and Taylor Swift IP. Every creative decision needed to honor both brands and elevate the emotional arc of the song.
We developed an original narrative that flowed with the lyrics, then animated each scene using custom frame rates and handcrafted movement that preserved the charm of the original artwork. The result felt intentionally made by artists, not software, giving the video warmth that complemented the song's emotional tone.
The finished lyric video premiered on DisneyMusicVevo, where it has generated more than 1.3M views. We also created a :30 social cutdown that Taylor Nation shared on Instagram. That post has earned more than 3.3 million views, 192,000 likes, 9,625 reposts, 3,254 shares, and hundreds of comments.
Sometimes the biggest creative challenge isn't creating something from scratch, it's finding motion inside a still image. By transforming unreleased artwork into a handcrafted animated story, we helped launch a song, celebrate an iconic franchise, and give fans another reason to get excited for Toy Story 5.
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Credits
Client
Walt Disney Studios
Director, Creative Content
Mike Sylvester
Executive Director of Creative Content
Kelly Li
Manager, Creative Content
Andrew Baron-Vartia
Creative Content Coordinator
Sierra Carelock
Agency
BIEN
Creative Director
Hung Le
Executive Producer
Ricardo Roberts
Senior Creative Producer
Nicole Beyer
Storyboard and Design
Hung Le, Audrey Sims, Daniel Cordero
Illustration
Walt Disney Studios
2D Animators:
Audrey Sims, Daniel Cordero
Music
I Knew it, I Knew You, Taylor Swift & Jack Antonoff, Walt Disney Records, Universal Music Group
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