Disney-Owned Firm Moves to Burbank

After completing its last project, “Mission to Mars,” the special-effects company Dream Quest Images has departed Simi Valley for Burbank.

The Walt Disney Co., which owns Dream Quest Images, wants most of its creative teams--visual-effects artists and producers--in Burbank to work under a new digital special-effects unit. Most of the Dream Quest workers left a month ago.

The number of employees at the operation, which moved to Simi Valley in 1989, has ebbed and flowed over the years as projects such as “Armageddon” and “Mighty Joe Young” made their way to the big screen. Both films received Academy Award nominations for visual effects for the work done in Simi Valley.

The Walt Disney Co., which bought Dream Quest in 1996, moved as many as 150 employees from Simi Valley to the Secret Lab, officials said. The Secret Lab is a unit within Walt Disney Feature Animation and will receive its first credits on the upcoming computer-animated film “Dinosaur.”

“We did have a very sizable operation [in Simi Valley], but Disney is trying to find synergies within its corporation,” Secret Lab spokeswoman Mary Reardon said.

Disney plans to hold on to two stage buildings in Simi Valley, where it will continue to make props and do some film production. Much of the specialized stage facilities will be leased out.

City officials said that, although they regret seeing jobs leave Simi Valley, they don’t expect Dream Quest’s move will hurt the local economy much.