The Walt Disney Company, particularly Pixar, has cut hundreds of jobs on Tuesday despite the success of “Toy Story 5.”
This marks the third round of employee cuts this year, which affects Disney Entertainment Television, Disney Studios, ESPN, and corporate divisions, the SFist reported.
The layoffs affected The Pixar animation studio in Emeryville, California, the most, mainly in production and operations. The studio has already experienced multiple rounds of job layoffs.
Disney has not confirmed the exact number of Pixar employees who lost their jobs, but a source told TheWrap that about 116 employees were let go. Disney reportedly employs around 230,000 people worldwide as of late 2025.
In 2024, Pixar cut around 175 employees, which account for roughly 14% of the studio’s workforce, according to the New York Post. The previous year, they cut 75 workers because of Disney’s shift toward theatrical content rather than streaming content.
In April, another round of cuts eliminated roughly 1,000 more jobs in television, ESPN, technology, marketing, studio operations, and corporate teams.
“These changes are part of our continual evaluation of how we manage resources and reinvest across the company as our industry continues to evolve,” said a Disney spokesperson.
These cuts follow the success of “Toy Story 5,” which premiered on June 19 in theatres and amassed around $312 million worldwide during the movie’s opening weekend. This included a domestic franchise record of $160 million.
Other original movies from Pixar, including “Hoppers” and “Elio,” reportedly produced weak and mixed reviews during their premieres. “Elio” generated the weakest opening weekend in Pixar history, and “Hoppers” fell short of other franchises created by the studio with slightly better ticket sales and reviews, according to The Post.
Even with the cuts, Pixar’s upcoming movies include “Incredibles 3” and “Gatto,” an original story directed by the “Luca” director, Enrico Casarosa.
Employees were informed of the layoffs on Tuesday morning.
“We’re building a company that’s more agile and better equipped for how the entertainment business is changing,” Josh D’Amero, Disney’s CEO, said to employees in April.
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