On Tuesday, Pixar Animation Studios made the announcement that approximately 14% of its workforce, which amounts to around 175 out of 1,300 employees, would be laid off.
The studio clarified that there are no plans for rehiring these affected workers. In a note to employees, Pixar’s president, Jim Morris, confirmed that the impacted individuals were notified on Tuesday about the layoffs. Although downsizing was anticipated since the beginning of the year, the actual number of affected workers was lower than initially predicted. Previous estimates had projected a percentage of 20% and around 260 employees to be affected.
It is worth noting that the recent layoffs mark the largest in Pixar’s history. However, it is important to mention that the upper management of the studio remains unaffected by these job reductions. Pixar was originally founded in 1979 as the graphics division of Lucasfilm, but it became an independent corporation in 1986 with significant involvement from Steve Jobs, who was its majority shareholder. In 2006, Disney acquired Pixar and has since utilized it to create content for the Disney+ streaming platform.
Under the leadership of Bob Chapek, who served as Disney’s CEO for approximately three months towards the end of 2022, Pixar has been involved in the production of content for Disney+. Despite this, Disney’s attempts to return to the big screen have faced challenges. The spinoff of Toy Story, Lightyear, and the 2020 theatrical release of Onward both underperformed at the box office, with the latter being impacted by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In November 2022, the current Disney CEO, Bob Iger, resumed his former leadership position. Iger emphasized the importance of quality theatrical releases over quantity for Disney’s streaming service, highlighting the intense competition among streaming platforms. In terms of recent successes for Pixar, Elemental stands out, generating approximately $500 million in box office revenue last year and gaining popularity on Disney’s streaming platform.
Looking ahead, Pixar has upcoming releases planned, including Inside Out 2 on June 14, Elio in 2025, and Toy Story 5 in 2026.
