Walt Disney's Pixar cuts 75 jobs

Walt Disney's Pixar Animation Studios has cut jobs for the first time since 2013. A total of 75 jobs have now been eliminated, including that of "Lightyear" director Angus MacLane, who has been an animator for 26 years and was part of the lead creative team for box office hits like "Toy Story 4" and "Coco." Galyn Susman, who had been part of the company since the release of the first "Toy Story" movie in 1995, and most recently producer of "Lightyear," also left. "Lightyear" was not allowed to be shown in 14 countries in the Middle East and Asia because it depicts a homosexual relationship. This significantly impacted the film's box office performance. Also affected by the cuts is said to be Pixar vice president Michael Agulnek, who had been in charge of worldwide public relations since 2015. The cuts are happening as part of Walt Disney chief Bob Iger's efforts to cut costs. The plan calls for cutting a total of 7,000 jobs, reducing costs by $5.5 billion. As part of the restructuring, the film and television groups have been combined into a single Disney Entertainment unit and the department responsible for distribution has been eliminated. Disney has made layoffs in all departments, including film and television, streaming services and theme parks.

Source: www.reuters.com