The director and producer of ‘Lightyear’, the Chris Evans-headlined ‘Toy Story’ spinoff film, are among those affected in the recent job cuts at Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studio, reports ‘Deadline’.
Director Angus MacLane and Producer Galyn Susman were among the 7,000 layoffs Disney had planned in late May.
Their film based on the ‘Toy Story’ character of Buzz Lightyear, attracted bans in several Islamic countries due to a scene featuring a same-sex kiss between Uzo Aduba’s female character Alisha Hawthorne and her partner Kiko, and caused a net loss of $106 million to the studio despite positive reviews, according to ‘Deadline’.
MacLane, a 26-year animator, was part of the senior creative team of ‘Coco’, ‘Incredibles 2’ and ‘Toy Story 4’, and Susman had been at the studio since the original Toy Story was released in 1995. The two were among the 75 employees laid off by Pixar.
Lightyear failed to impress at the box office, although it was well-received on the streaming platform Disney+. It made $226.7 million worldwide on a reported $200-million budget.
Layoffs at the animated studio last happened in 2013 and about 5 per cent of Pixar’s 1,200 workforce was cut.
After completing its round of layoffs in the US, Disney is now looking internationally to make more cuts, ‘Deadline’ said.
