Blue Sky Studios is being shut down by The Walt Disney Company. The animation wing of 20th Century Fox which Disney recently acquired was behind movies like Ice Age (and its subsequent sequels) The Peanuts Movie, Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who!, and 2019’s Spies in Disguise. Disney confirmed the news to Deadline saying, “Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios.”
This news comes as Disney continues to deal with the harsh economic realities that have been imposed by COVID-19. Running three animation studios simply does not make financial sense. Blue Sky Studios’ library and IP will continue to be a part of Disney. There are 450 employees that will be impacted by this closure. Disney is working with these employees to see if there are options for them elsewhere within The Walt Disney Company.
Blue Sky Studios was founded in 1987 by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown, and Eugene Troubetzkoy. Throughout the course of its existence, it released 13 animated feature films. A future film called Nimona was slated to be released in 2022 and will no longer continue forward in production.
It is expected that the last day for Blue Sky Studios will be sometime in April.
What do you think of the closure of Blue Sky Studios? Does it make sense? Do you think one of Disney’s other studios should pick up some of its projects? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments below!
