This has been a rough few months for Pixar’s artists. Hot on the heels of Pixar Canada’s closure last month, the studio’s headquarters in Emeryville will be laying off nearly 5% of its staff due to The Good Dinosaur‘s delay.
An official statement reads: "At Pixar, we are constantly re-evaluating the creative and business needs of our studio. With the release date change of The Good Dinosaur, we have realigned our production and support priorities, which includes a small reduction in our staffing levels."
The Pixar Times theorizes that the bulk of the layoffs will be focused on technical departments, which will be left without a major project to work on until Inside Out and The Good Dinosaur are closer to completion. Regardless, it’s very sad news, especially for a studio that has prided itself on keeping layoffs to a minimum. Stay tuned for updates on the situation as they come.
(Via LA Times; image via Stitch Kingdom)
Last modified: November 22, 2013
My friend and former coworker was hired as an animator, move out by Pixar, and was laid off soon after. Sad day. These types of situations are happening across the animation industry, in much more serious cases. I think there’s a brighter future ahead, however, because there are some of us artists taking matters into our own hands.
Sadlly they’ll probably have more layoffs as they send more work to Asia. The good thing is, it’s only technical jobs, as those are easier to outsource. The important creative jobs of story and designing the films will stay in Emeryville.