Disney Fires Pixar’s Lightyear Director And The Producer Known For Saving Toy Story 2
Written by on June 9, 2023
After Lightyear proved to be a massive flop for Pixar, Disney is officially firing much of Pixar’s office, including the Toy Story spinoff’s director. Lightyear followed the adventures of the eponymous cosmic adventurer, serving as a movie within the Pixar universe that inspired Tim Allen’s iconic toy. On a budget of $200 million, Lightyear brought in just over $225 million, proving to be a serious flop for Disney, and now resulting in major changes at the animation studio.
Nearly a year after it first hit theaters, Reuters has brought word that Disney has fired Lightyear director Angus MacLane along with Pixar’s Vice President of Worldwide Publicity Michael Agulnek. The House of Mouse has also fired producer Galyn Susman, who famously saved Toy Story 2 from destruction when the entire film was mistakenly deleted, along with a reported 70-plus other executives. MacLane is the most shocking firing, as the director has enjoyed a 26-year tenure at Pixar had worked his way from animator to blockbuster director.
Why Did Disney Cut Pixar’s Employees?
Lightyear wasn’t the start of Disney’s problems. After his initial retirement, Bob Iger has frequently discussed Disney’s financial issues that arose from Bob Chapek’s brief tenure as CEO, resulting in the former Bob retaking the position from his successor, one whom he reportedly didn’t want in the first place. With Disney+ not serving as the financial boon that Disney hoped it would be, the company has been in a bad spot, especially after reportedly pushing both Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm to produce content for the streamer instead of the big screen.
With the future of streaming in serious danger, Disney turned to its theatrical side in the hopes of producing greater revenue. Unfortunately, the twin flops of Strange World and Lightyear only escalated Disney’s struggles. The issue is hardly because of any loss in audience interest, as fellow animated feature The Super Mario Bros. Movie stunned Disney by bringing in over $1 billion at the box office in less than a month and besting Frozen. Strange World‘s failure has been blamed on poor marketing and its status as a new IP, whereas Lightyear was a Pixar-led project with an established IP.
With these failures, and Disney’s cost-cutting efforts being made at Disney+ and Hulu, it may not come as a surprise that such firings as that of Lightyear‘s Angus MacLane and Galyn Susman are happening. As Toy Story 5 embarks on its development, the company needs to ensure that it can get Pixar back on track, as well as its separate animation studio, before its financial woes worsen and brings down one of the industry’s biggest names.
Source: Reuters
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