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Pixar Canada Shuts by Karl Cohen
Pixar Canada's logo seems a little simplistic for Pixar. photo: courtesy Pixar
THE CLOSING CAME WITHOUT NOTICE TO
their small studio in Vancouver and its staff of just under 100 people. It had opened in 2010 to work on shorts and television specials, utilizing well-established franchises including "Toy Story" and "Cars". The studio worked on the animation and technical aspects of several shorts including “PartySaurus Rex” and “Small Fry”.
The official e-mail statement sent to workers and the press was vague:
“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.”
The lack of other details has led to a lot of speculation as to why the sudden closing. Variety said Vancouver is reducing their tax incentives, but several letters to the editor said that statement was untrue. One person added that some tax incentives are scheduled to increase next year in British Columbia, not decrease.
Another unfounded rumor is that Pixar might move the Vancouver operation to Ontario or Quebec where Pixar could obtain more favorable tax subsidies. The only realistic suggestion so far is a vague „it wasn’t financially worthwhile to keep the studio in Canada doing shots and TV.
Although 'Monsters University' (2013), 'doesn't scale the heights of Pixar's finest efforts,' and only got an 83% audience approval according to Rotten Tomatoes, it earned a formidable 3/4 billion worldwide thus far. photo: courtesy Pixar
A few people pointed out that there will be no new film from Pixar in 2014 ("Good Dinosaur" is being moved to a late 2015 release date from 2014 and Finding Dory is being moved from 2015 to 2016), and that might hurt the value of Disney stock.
One letter said, “The all important investors must be appeased with minimal losses as possible per quarter, if not yearly. The investors only care about money, which is all the animation business is about now anyway.”
Would no new release on 2014 hurt the stock's value and would Pixar close the studio mainly to keep investors happy?
Pixar/Disney will probably re-release something to keep investors feeling good about their Disney stock and Pixar merchandise from previous releases will continue to bring the corporation impressive royalty checks. Disney stock has risen sharply from a low in 2009 around $15 a share to well over $60 a share all of this year.
It is also diversified into several divisions so it doesn’t seem likely no new releases in 2014 will be a serious issue.
While closing Pixar Canada may bring a few jobs to the Bay Area, it was done in a heartless way. Disney apparently gave no advanced notice, nor did they announce they will provide their former employees a generous severance package. They really could have done a better job providing an understandable explanation for their actions.
Karl Cohen is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .