For the first time in a decade, Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios has let off 75 employees. These include two executives responsible for the rare box-office flop Lightyear, according to Reuters sources as reported on Saturday, June 3.
Layoffs Include Creators of the Toy Story Flop 'Lightyear'
Angus MacLane, the director of Lightyear and a 26-year animator, was among those let go.
According to SFGATE.com, MacLane worked as an animator at Pixar for nearly twenty years, contributing to such beloved films as Toy Story 2, The Incredibles, Coco, and Finding Nemo. In 2016, he co-directed the Finding Dory sequel before he directed his first full-length feature picture, Lightyear.
The Toy Story spinoff starring Chris Evans as Buzz Lightyear was a financial failure, with Deadline estimating a loss of over $100 million for the company.
Producer Galyn Susman of Lightyear has also left. Susman has worked at Pixar since before the premiere of the first Toy Story film in 1995.
According to the rumors, Michael Agulnek, Pixar's vice president of worldwide publicity since 2015, was also let go.
Pixar is well-known in the film industry for its several successful series, including Toy Story, The Incredibles, and Cars.
However, despite having a projected budget of $200 million, Lightyear only earned a meager $226.7 million at the box office globally and was met with mixed reviews. The 2018 Pixar sequel Incredibles 2, which reportedly had a comparable budget, only earned $1.2 billion at the box office globally.
Because of its portrayal of a same-sex romance, Lightyear was banned from release in 14 countries in the Middle East and Asia. As a result, the film's earnings were negatively affected.
CEO Bob Iger's Drive to Cut Costs Prompted the Layoffs
Disney has reduced its workforce across all its operations, including film and television, streaming services, and theme park businesses.
The layoffs, which began on May 23, are a part of Walt Disney CEO Bob Iger's previously disclosed goal to remove 7,000 positions and reduce $5.5 billion in expenses.
With this reorganization, the film and television departments were merged into a single Disney Entertainment division, and the distribution department was dissolved.
Even though the number of people losing their jobs is minimal compared to Pixar's total staff of about 1,200, it is significant since the studio is a creative powerhouse responsible for creating brands and characters that generate income throughout Disney.
In 2013, when The Good Dinosaur director Bob Peterson was fired, and the film's premiere was pushed back to 2015, Pixar laid off a few employees. It is estimated that about 30 jobs were lost.
In an effort to revive its floundering Disney Animation division, Disney purchased Pixar in 2006.
