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Disney Pixar’s ‘Inside Out 2’ Came at a Devastating Cost, True Price Revealed

Anxiety, Disgust, Sadness, Joy, Anger, and Fear in Inside Out 2 from Disney and Pixar
Credit: Disney/Pixar

In 1995, the small Northern California Pixar Animation Studios changed the film industry when it teamed up with The Walt Disney Company and released Toy Story. It was the first feature-length animated film done completely with computer animation.

Since then, the Mouse House and Pixar have teamed up to release nearly 30 more animated films, many of which were very successful. In 2006, Disney cemented its relationship and reliance on the studio when it purchased Pixar for $7.4 billion.

A group of friendly animated toys, including a cowboy, space ranger, cowgirl, dinosaur, and others, gather near a cardboard box inside a colorful room filled with toys and decorations. It feels like Toy Story Mania as they all appear to be looking or crawling toward something exciting.

Credit: Disney/Pixar

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Unfortunately, Pixar’s success hit a major roadblock when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020. Disney was forced to pull its newest release, Onward, from theaters and release it on Disney+. Its next three films — Soul (2020), Luca (2021), and Turning Red (2022) — were not even released in theaters.

Then, there was the disaster that was Lightyear. It was Disney and Pixar’s first theatrical release after the pandemic, and it was a massive flop. It is estimated that Disney lost more than $100 million on the Toy Story origin film. The company was so disappointed in Lightyear’s performance that it laid off a number of executives who worked on the film.

LIghtyear

Credit: Disney

Related: Disney Announces ‘Inside Out 2’ Streaming Release Date!

After Lightyear’s poor performance, there were reports that Pixar was on “life support.” But that all changed with the release of Inside Out 2 on June 14, 2024. The highly anticipated sequel was an immediate hit and is now not only Pixar’s and Disney’s most successful animated film, but it is the most successful animated film EVER, surpassing both Frozen II (2019) and The Lion King (2019) live-action remake.

While Disney and Pixar might have been celebrating the film’s success, a number of Pixar employees were left devastated and wondering what they would do next.

Sadness, Disgust, Envy, Anxiety, and Joy Inside Out 2

Credit: Disney/Pixar

The Catastrophic Cost of Inside Out 2

In a bombshell new report from IGN, Pixar employees revealed that it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows before or after the film’s release. In fact, Pixar chose to lay off multiple people who worked on the film, and the way they were treated left a lasting mark.

As many people know, the biggest message Inside Out 2 sends is one about the importance of mental health. However, according to the employees, Disney did not practice what the movie preached. They did not seem to care at all about the employees’ mental health, and that was evident in the way the employees were treated after they were let go.

An animated character with short auburn hair, wide blue eyes, and a hockey jersey is clutching the top of the jersey while looking frightened or nervous. The background shows stadium seating, reminiscent of Inside Out 2's success in capturing complex emotions.

Credit: Disney/Pixar

According to employees who spoke to IGN, they worked seven days a week to deliver what Disney needed, and they were thanked by being “hung out to dry” by the studio. Just one month before Inside Out 2 was released, 14% of Pixar employees were laid off, and the way they were treated wasn’t pretty.

Though expected, the news was a blow for many employees, at least in part because they would not receive a bonus for Inside Out 2’s eventual success. To qualify for the bonus, an employee would have to have worked on a project for a certain amount of time (which, as noted, was most of Pixar at the time), and be employed at the time when the bonuses are distributed.

“To be told by our HR reps that we were not going to qualify for that bonus felt like an ultimate ‘f*ck you’ from Disney,” one former employee says.

The bonus was particularly important because the animation studio — like Disney — is not known for its great pay and is located right outside San Francisco, California, which is a very expensive place to live. Pixar also really talks up bonuses when trying to recruit new employees, so to not deliver on that promise was a huge blow.

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Credit: Disney/Pixar

Related: Pixar Boss Reveals Fate of Live-Action Remakes

But taking away the bonus was not the only whammy that the now-unemployed Pixar employees felt. They shared that they were also not allowed back into the office to collect their belongings, since the company did not want to make other employees feel “awkward.”

Specifically, Pixar locked affected employees out of the network the day of the layoffs, cutting off access to work materials for demo reels, personal files, benefit information, and more. Even key card access was restricted outside of normal work-week hours, and laid-off employees were asked not to visit the office to pick up their belongings during those times so as to not make the remaining employees feel awkward.

While this behavior might be common at other companies, it was not standard practice at Pixar, multiple sources say, and left many of those affected feeling “suddenly exiled” and “blindsided.” Pixar did establish a system where laid-off employees could request material for their reels, but perhaps the shut-out was more significant for symbolic reasons.

Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, Anxiety, and Embarrassment Inside Out 2

Credit: Disney/Pixar

As if that was not enough, when those employees lost their jobs, they also lost the health insurance that went along with them. This meant that if they wanted to visit a professional for help with their mental health, that cost would have to be out of pocket. They found that incredibly ironic after they worked on a film about mental health.

However, many of the laid-off employees do not blame Pixar President Jim Morris or Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter for the significant layoffs. They blame Bob Iger and Disney, especially after the company’s $1.5 billion investment in Fortnite. An investment that could have saved all the jobs lost at Pixar.

Neither Disney nor Pixar commented on IGN’s massive tell-all.

Do you think Disney did the wrong thing when it came to the way they treated Pixar employees? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

About Krysten Swensen

A born and bred New England girl living the Disney life in Southern California. I love to read, to watch The Golden Girls, and love everything to do with Disney and Universal. I also love to share daily doses of Disney on my Disney Instagram @BrazzleDazzleDisney!

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