Too little too late?
Disney chief Bob Iger wants to get the company back on track, so Pixar Animation Studios — the home of Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 and (unfortunately) Toy Story 4 (let's not talk about the upcoming Toy Story 5) — will stop making original shows for Disney+ and layoff 175 of its employees, or 14% of its total workforce.
Instead of working primarily on direct-to-streaming content, a cornerstone of Disney's doomed strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic, quality feature films will become the company's main focus.
What a novel idea!
It's also important to recognize that Pixar — whose past work has been invincibly good (A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, Ratatouille, WALL-E, Up, and Inside Out) — has also found itself spiraling the drain after being caught up by Disney's obsession with woke propaganda.
Turning Red was sent straight to the trashcan via Disney+, and Lightyear (the company's first post-COVID release in theaters) just … sucked.
Here's the full memo from Pixar's president, Jim Morris:
Hello everyone.
I have spoken to you many times over the last year about our pending move away from series production for Disney+, the return to our focus on feature films, and the reduction in our team that would accompany that. That day is here, and while it is not coming as a surprise to anyone, it is one of the hardest changes we've had to make, as it means we will be parting with a number of talented and dedicated colleagues and friends.
Today, leaders will begin the process of notifying employees whose positions are being impacted. Calendar invites to speak with a leader have already gone out to those individuals, and we anticipate we will have connected with everyone impacted by the end of the day.
I want to assure you that will be providing extensive support as our colleagues start to transition out of the studio. We are committed to ensuring that their departure is handled with the utmost respect and care at every stage. This is important to me, and I understand how important this is to all of us in the Pixar community. I will host a brief Studio Meeting via Zoom this afternoon at 5:00 to talk more about today's announcement.
Despite the challenges in our industry over the past few years, you have all consistently shown up to contribute, collaborate, innovate, lead, and do great work at this studio. I give you my deepest thanks, and for those who will be leaving us, I am hopeful that our paths will cross again, both professionally and personally.
Hopefully this means that the only tears that'll flow from now on will be tears of sadness at the end of Toy Story 3 or the start of Up — don't lie, you definitely cried — rather than tears of rage after somehow making it through whatever Lightyear was.
Follow Ian on Substack or X (@ighaworth).
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