Pixar Animation Studios, a studio owned by the Walt Disney Company, has laid off 75 of its employees, two of whom were with the studio for over 25 years.
The layoffs at the Disney-owned studio are part of the company’s plans announced in February to eliminate 7,000 jobs and slash $5.5 billion in costs. Disney is just one of the many companies in recent months that have begun major employee layoffs — joining the likes of Amazon, Microsoft, and Meta.
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The two veteran employees of the studio are Angus MacLane, an animator who directed Pixar’s most recent film, Lightyear, and Galyn Susman, who had been with the studio since its first film Toy Story released in 1995, according to an exclusive by Reuters.
MacLane’s layoff comes after Lightyear, released in June 2022, was a financial failure, with a smaller box office performance than those other Pixar films — coming in at just $51 million in its opening week, and grossing $226.4 million overall. The movie features Pixar’s first same-sex kiss, and faced public backlash for not having Tim Allen reprise his voice as the iconic Buzz Lightyear.
Susman is most known for her role in the production of Toy Story 2, in which she saved the 1999 film after it was accidentally deleted. She was on maternity leave at the time of the movie’s deletion and had a copy of the film saved on her home computer, according to Newsweek.
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This marks the first time in 10 years that Pixar cut jobs, with the most recent being in 2013, when 30 employees were laid off.
The Washington Examiner has contacted Pixar for comment.
