Director and producer behind $200 million Toy Story flop ‘Lightyear’ among Disney layoffs: Pixar executives are part of first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade
- Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions, including that of the director of and producer of the box office disappointment Lightyear
- Among those targeted in a round of layoffs were Angus MacLane, a 26-year veteran animator who was part of the senior creative team
- Producer Galyn Susman, who has been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995 was also laid off
Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios has eliminated 75 positions including those of two executives behind box office flop Lightyear in what are the the first significant job cuts at the studio in a decade.
The cuts included Lightyear director Angus MacLane, a 26-year animator who was part of the senior creative team on such acclaimed films as Toy Story 4 and Coco.
Michael Agulnek, Pixar’s vice-president of worldwide publicity since 2015, was also laid off. Also departing the studio is Galyn Susman, a producer on Lightyear.
Susman had been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995 and was hailed as a hero at the company after she was found to have a backup of the film Toy Story 2 on her home computer when the company mistakenly wiped its own version off its servers while the film was in the early stages of production.
The story was revealed last year in a tweet: ‘Someone at Pixar deleted all of Toy Story 2 and the backup hadn’t worked for a month, and the only reason we saw that movie was b/c someone on maternity leave had a copy of it on her home computer. Her name is Galyn Susman and she is now the producer for the new Lightyear movie!’
Lightyear director Angus MacLane, a 26-year animator who was part of the senior creative team on such acclaimed films as Toy Story 4 and Coco. So too has producer Galyn Susman, left, who has been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995
Michael Agulnek, Pixar’s vice-president of worldwide publicity since 2015, was also laid off
An error had been made with a system commonly used to clear unwanted files but by mistake the server began deleting files that were actively being used.
Oren Jacob, Pixar’s former chief technical officer explained how someone likely ran the command ‘at the root level of the project and the system was recursively tracking down through the file structure and deleting its way out like a worm eating its way out from the core of an apple.’
‘He [producer Larry Cutler] looked at the directory and it had like 40 files, and he looked again and it had four files. Then we saw sequences start to vanish,’ he told The Next Web.
Susman was out on maternity leave but had been provided with a home computer to keep working on the film. The computer contained an incomplete backup of the film but it was still better than an empty file directory.
Among those targeted in a round of layoffs were Angus MacLane, a 26-year veteran animator who was part of the senior creative team
Susman had been at Pixar since the release of the original Toy Story movie in 1995 and was hailed as a hero at the company after she was found to have a backup of the film Toy Story 2 on her home computer when the company mistakenly wiped its own version off its servers
The current cuts, which took place May 23, are part of Walt Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger’s previously announced plan to eliminate 7,000 jobs and slash $5.5 billion in costs.
The restructuring combines the film and television groups into a single Disney Entertainment unit and eliminates a division charged with distribution.
While small compared to Pixar’s employee base of about 1,200, the layoffs are significant because the studio is a creative force generating franchises and characters that drive revenue across Disney.
Pixar is famous for cinematic franchises including Toy Story, The Incredibles and Cars.
But Lightyear, released one year ago with a reported budget of $200 million, brought in a modest $226.7 million in worldwide ticket sales and received a decidedly mixed reception
Toy Story 4 was a return to form for Disney/Pixar grossing $1.07 billion worldwide, becoming the eighth-highest-grossing film of 2019
But Lightyear, released one year ago with a reported budget of $200 million, brought in a modest $226.7 million in worldwide ticket sales and received a decidedly mixed critical reception.
By contrast, Pixar’s Incredibles 2 in 2018, which was reported to have had a similar production budget, had worldwide box office sales of $1.2 billion.
Lightyear could not be shown in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries because of its depiction of a same-sex relationship. This had an impact on its global box office performance.
Disney has implemented layoffs in every division including film and television, streaming services and theme parks.
The last time Pixar cut jobs was in 2013, after the studio postponed the release of the 2015 film The Good Dinosaur, and removed its director, Bob Peterson. About 30 positions were eliminated.
Disney acquired Pixar in 2006 to revitalize its struggling Disney Animation.
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