After A $1.2 Billion Box Office Year (So Far), Pixar Hit By Disney Layoffs Amid ‘Long And Lean’ Shift

UPDATE: According to The Wrap, the layoffs impacted roughly 150 staff, slightly fewer than 2023’s record layoffs of 175.

The Walt Disney Company is reportedly cutting hundreds more jobs in its third major round of layoffs this year under new CEO Josh D’Amaro, with Pixar, which has grossed more than $1.2 billion at the box office this year already, among the divisions hit hardest.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the cuts will affect corporate functions, ESPN, Disney Entertainment Television, and the company’s film studios. Pixar is said to be facing the largest reductions among Disney’s film operations, although the number of positions being eliminated at the animation studio has not been disclosed.

Speaking under the condition of anonymity, a verified source at the studio tells us that earlier this year, the company announced it would adopt a “long and lean” production schedule. Another longtime employee explained that the new production model will limit future films to 16,500 person-weeks of labor, down from 18,500 to more than 20,000 on previous productions.

This all comes after the largest round of layoffs in Pixar history just two years ago.

The latest cuts come during a huge year for the studio, which released two commercially successful features during the first half of 2026: the original Hoppers ($223.5 million) and franchise sequel Toy Story 5, one of the year’s biggest films to date that has already made $958 million globally and is still going very strong.

Employees affected by the cuts were being notified Tuesday morning.

This is Disney’s third major round of layoffs since D’Amaro became CEO and began restructuring the company around a “One Disney” model. Disney unified its marketing departments under Asad Ayaz in January, resulting in job losses, before eliminating approximately 1,000 positions across the company in April.

The latest round is smaller than the April reductions but will still eliminate hundreds of jobs.

During those previous layoffs, D’Amaro said Disney had been examining ways to streamline its operations and create what he described as “a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce.” We’ve not seen any evidence that the CEO issued a companywide memo addressing Tuesday’s cuts.