Hundreds of employees have been laid off across Disney, with significant job losses reported at the Pixar animation studio. The cuts impact staff within Disney Studios, Television divisions, and corporate functions, according to a report from TheWrap.
A Disney spokesperson confirmed the redundancies, stating, "These changes are part of our continual evaluation of how we manage resources and reinvest across the company as our industry continues to evolve." The exact number of affected employees has not been officially confirmed.
These layoffs are reportedly the largest at Pixar since 2024, when approximately 175 employees, or 14 percent of the staff, were let go in response to a slowdown in content for the Disney+ streaming platform. The recent cuts are being attributed, in part, to the mixed performance of Pixar's original films in recent years.
While recent franchise entries like Toy Story 5 have achieved considerable box office success, original productions have struggled. The film Hoppers, for instance, grossed $389.5 million globally against a $150 million production budget, falling just short of breaking even. This follows the underperformance of Elio in 2025, which marked Pixar's lowest theatrical opening weekend on record.
Moving forward, Pixar aims to produce films at a more affordable price point, particularly for original stories. The studio has a slate of upcoming projects including Gatto in 2027, Incredibles 3 in 2028, Coco 2 in 2029, and a reported third film in the Monster Inc. series.