Report: ‘Lightyear’ Director Angus MacLane And Veteran Producer Galyn Susman Among Walt Disney’s Pixar Animation Studios Layoffs
Jacob Smith
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Lightyear was Disney and Pixar’s cinematic dive into progressive politics. A year later, their gamble has them going full tilt.
TO INFINITY — Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear” is an all-new, original feature film that presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans)—the hero who inspired the toy—introducing the legendary Space Ranger and his dutiful robot companion, Sox (voice of Peter Sohn). Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), the sci-fi action-adventure opens in U.S. theaters on June 17, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
RELATED: Top Pixar Executive Pete Doctor Blames Moviegoers For ‘Lightyear’s’ Box Office Bomb
One year ago, Pixar employees used Disney Lightyear as a vehicle to promote LGBTQ values in a children’s film…one year later, they have been let go. Last year, Lightyear director Angus MacLane lashed out at critics who compared his failing movie to Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru in an attempt to point the finger at critics for his movie’s woes.
This year, he is out of a job.
LIGHTYEAR, slated to open in theaters on June 17, 2022, is a sci-fi action-adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans)—the hero who inspired the toy. The film reveals how a young test pilot became the Space Ranger that we all know him to be today. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Films such as Lightyear, Strange World, Amsterdam, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania have been massive box office flops, prompting The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger to devise a plan aiming to slash 5.5 billion dollars in costs by eliminating 7,000 jobs from its international workforce as a means to balance their books in 2023.
As part of Iger’s plan to cut costs, MacLane and veteran Pixar producer Galyn Susman, who has been with the company since the original 1995 Toy Story film, were fired as part of the layoffs, sources told Reuters.
TEAMING UP – In Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear,” Izzy Hawthorne (voice of Keke Palmer), the eager leader of a team of cadets called the Junior Zap Patrol, teams up with Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans) and his dutiful robot companion, Sox (voice of Peter Sohn), on a mission to figure out exactly what—or who—is behind a mysterious alien spaceship hovering above their planet. Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), the sci-fi action-adventure opens in U.S. theaters on June 17, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
The downfall of Disney began with their public war with Florida Governor Rob DeSantis over the Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans the teaching of sexuality and transgenderism to children between kindergarten and third grade.
Pixar employees used their war with DeSantis to market Lightyear and promote LGBTQ values, which included a same-sex kiss between two women — one of whom, at one point in the film, gets pregnant without the presence of a male in the relationship.
FULL PRESS CONFERENCE: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis debunking book ban hoax via FOX 35 Orlando, YouTube
This didn’t sit well with parents, who ultimately opted not to take their children to the movie. The backlash to this particular scene caused Lightyear star Chris Evans to throw a temper tantrum and condemn those who opposed it.
“The real truth is those people are idiots,” said the actor at the time. “There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs.”
Unsurprisingly, Evans’ comments rubbed consumers the wrong way.
Chris Evans says critics of diversity in ‘Lightyear’ are ‘idiots’ via Reuters, YouTube
This turned out to be a fatal error in marketing as Disney’s Lightyear turned out to be a financial fiasco, grossing a mere $118.3 million at the domestic box office and $100.4 million internationally for a disappointing global gross of $218.7 million.
With a production budget of $200 million, Lightyear was, by all accounts, a box office failure for Pixar and The Walt Disney Company.
Disney has suffered multiple box office bombs over the course of the last year as audiences are fleeing away from the House of Mouse as a brand that can be trusted with their children.
SCI-FI ACTION ADVENTURE – The definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans), the hero who inspired the toy, “Lightyear” follows the legendary Space Ranger on an intergalactic adventure. Also featuring the voices of Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Keke Palmer, Efren Ramirez, Peter Sohn, Dale Soules, Taika Waititi and Isiah Whitlock Jr., Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear” releases June 17, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
The news doesn’t get any better for Disney which has reportedly sunken over 200 million dollars in production costs for their upcoming film Elemental.
The Wrap reports that box office projections for Elemental rank the upcoming animated film among Pixar’s lowest box office releases with a mediocre 40 million on it’s opening weekend — even worse than 2022’s Lightyear, which reportedly lost over 100 million with the same production budget.
Disney is currently looking at making more financial cuts to their international organization — reportedly expecting to lay off up to 2,500 employees — meaning that the financial bloodletting is far from over at the House of Mouse.
Leah Lewis and Mamoudou Athie in Elemental (2023). PIXAR – © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
What are your thoughts of the firings at Pixar as a result of disastrous box office performances?
NEXT: Lightyear Director Confirms That LGBTQ Character Was Not A Part Of The Early Development Of The Film
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