Pixar undergoes layoffs due to ‘The Good Dinosaur’ delay

Pixar Animation Studios has laid off an undisclosed number of people at its Emeryville, Calif., headquarters due to the delay of its forthcoming film “The Good Dinosaur.”

The layoffs affect less than 5% of the company’s 1,200-person workforce, according to a source close to the studio.

In September, “The Good Dinosaur” was pushed back from its original release date of May 30, 2014, to Nov. 25, 2015.

About a month before the project was delayed, the studio, a unit of Walt Disney Studios, removed director Bob Peterson from the project.

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“At Pixar, we are constantly re-evaluating the creative and business needs of our studio,” a Pixar representative said. “With the release date change of ‘The Good Dinosaur,’ we have realigned our production and support priorities, which includes a small reduction in our staffing levels.”

“The Good Dinosaur” is based on the premise that an asteroid never hit Earth, causing the creatures and humans to live together.

The project is being retooled, but Pixar has not named a replacement for Peterson.

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Delaying the film has left Pixar without a movie for 2014. In September, Ed Catmull, president of Pixar, told The Times, “Nobody ever remembers the fact that you slipped a film, but they will remember a bad film. Our conclusion was that we were going to give the [dinosaur] film some more time.”

In October, the animation studio closed Pixar Vancouver Studios, resulting in about 80 layoffs.

“The team at Pixar Canada is incredibly talented and we are so proud of the excellent work we have produced there. However, as we look at the creative and business needs of our studio, we’ve made the decision to refocus our efforts and resources under one roof in Emeryville and will be closing the studio in Vancouver,” a Pixar representative said in October.

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