Pixar FIRES ‘Lightyear’ Director & Producer Among Disney Pixar Layoffs

Disney let someone important at Pixar go.

According to Deadline, the director and producer of Lightyear were among the Pixar employees that lost their jobs as a result of cutbacks at the Walt Disney Company.

As part of the 7,000 layoffs Disney had planned, director Angus MacLane, a 26-year animator who worked on animated features like Coco, Incredibles 2, and Toy Story 4, was fired from the studio in late May. The layoffs also included Galyn Susman, who had worked at the studio since the 1995 release of the first Toy Story.

On May 23, 75 positions were eliminated in total, according to the initial report from Reuters. It's important to note that cuts at the animation studio are uncommon; The Good Dinosaur was delayed in 2013 the last time one occurred. Director Bob Peterson was among the 5% of Pixar's 1,200 employees who were let go at the time.

MacLane and Susman left the creative team of Lightyear, a Toy Story prequel movie based on the astronaut who served as the model for the Buzz Lightyear toy. Chris Evans was chosen by the movie to voice the lead role.

On a reported $200 million budget, Lightyear underperformed at the box office, earning $226.7 million globally. Numerous issues surrounded the animated feature, including the absence of Tim Allen (who plays Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story) and the portrayal of a same-sex couple, which prevented nations in the Middle East and Asia from screening it.

Disney is now looking globally to make additional cuts after completing its round of layoffs in the United States.