After theatrical failures, Pixar fires 14% of its staff to focus on cinema

Disney subsidiary Pixar animation studios began laying off 14% of their employees on Tuesday, announcing in the process that they would abandon the production of content for the Disney+ streaming platform to concentrate on the production of animated films.

In total, about 175 people are affected, less than initially expected when the American group, at the beginning of the year, explained that it wanted to reduce Pixar’s costs.

In an internal email seen by the New York Times, Pixar president Jim Morris explained to employees that the studio wanted to “refocus on movies.”

difficult years

Pixar, long untouchable in the Disney galaxy, found itself in difficulties after the failure of Buzz the lightninga film released in 2022, which focused on one of the main characters in the film. toy story. Ultimately, it only generated $226 million at the box office, on a $200 million budget.

Next year, Elementary also disappointed, with just under $500 million in box office receipts, on a roughly identical budget.

At the same time, Pixar produced several animated series in order to strengthen the Disney+ offering, during the launch of the platform, such as Cars: On the roadfrom the trilogy of the same name, or Welcome to Dougwhich features the dog from the film. Up there.

New successes are expected

The studio plans to regain success with the release of Vice versa 2which will allow the viewer to once again follow the tribulations of Riley’s emotions, becoming a teenager, then eliostory of a boy who struggles to integrate into his school and who becomes Earth’s ambassador to extraterrestrial civilizations, scheduled for 2025.

Disney embarked on a full cost squeeze last year, with the return of its former boss, Bob Iger, leading to the layoffs of more than 8,000 people, mainly in its media arms, including Disney+.

In the second quarter of its staggered financial year, the group announced that, for the first time, its streaming service was turning a profit, after having only experienced losses since its launch in 2019.

Disney’s net profit, however, fell to $216 million, compared to $1.5 billion in the same period in 2023, mainly due to the depreciation of assets and despite the reduction in its business volume.