Pixar Disney layoffs have reportedly affected a significant number of employees, even as Toy Story 5 continues its strong box office run and approaches the $1 billion mark worldwide. Disney began another round of companywide cuts this week, impacting several divisions, including Pixar, National Geographic, ESPN and other entertainment units.
Pixar appears to be one of the divisions hit hardest. Reports suggest the animation studio let go around 100 to 150 employees, mainly across production and operations teams. The new cuts come after a major round of Pixar layoffs in May 2024, when about 14% of the studio’s workforce was reduced.
The timing has drawn attention because Toy Story 5 is performing extremely well in theaters. The film has earned more than $957 million worldwide and is expected to cross $1 billion, making it one of Pixar’s biggest recent box office wins. That puts Pixar’s latest success in the same wider box-office conversation as other 2026 hits, including reports that Michael nears $950M milestone globally.
However, the layoffs appear to reflect Disney’s broader cost-cutting strategy rather than the performance of Toy Story 5 alone. Reports say Pixar’s original film Hoppers, released earlier this year, received strong reviews but did not reach the commercial level expected from the studio. This continues a pattern in which Pixar sequels have performed strongly, while several original films have struggled to pull large audiences back into theaters.
Pixar’s post-pandemic box office record has been uneven. Inside Out 2 became a massive global hit, while Elio underperformed, and some earlier Pixar films such as Luca and Turning Red were released directly on Disney Plus. Industry observers have argued that those streaming-first releases may have trained some audiences to wait for Pixar films at home instead of watching them in cinemas.
The contrast is now clear. Familiar franchises such as Toy Story and Inside Out remain powerful theatrical brands, but original Pixar movies face a more difficult path. That puts the studio in a challenging position as it tries to balance creative risk with Disney’s demand for reliable financial results.
Pixar’s next original movie is Gatto, which is expected to arrive in March 2027 and stars Mark Ruffalo as a black cat living in Venice. The studio is also developing The Incredibles 3, currently scheduled for June 2028.
For Pixar, the latest layoffs show that even major box office success does not fully protect a studio from wider corporate restructuring. Toy Story 5 may be close to a billion-dollar milestone, but Disney is still tightening costs as it reshapes its entertainment business for the next phase.