Pixar's Inside Out 2 hit by toxic workplace claims with staff 'forced to work 7 days a week' and laid off 'before they could claim bonus' on $1bn film Have YOU got a story? Email t [email protected] By Eve Buckland For Dailymail.Com Published: 22:49, 16 September 2024 | Updated: 23:01, 16 September 2024 e-mail View comments Pixar 's box office behemoth Inside Out 2 has been described as a toxic workplace by former employees in the wake of the movie becoming the most successful animated film of all time.
The movie, which features Amy Poehler and Maya Hawke in the respective roles of Joy and Anxiety has grossed a stellar $1.67billion at the box office - but staff have claimed the film's success came at the expense of their health and finances. Per a new report by IGN , 10 former Pixar employees have laid bare the allegedly 'crushing 24/7 pressure' of working to make the film a hit for the flailing studio - with their efforts never rewarded after they were laid off - and they are now ineligible to receive a bonus on the film.
The employees claim they were 'left hung out to dry' by Pixar - which is a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios - after the 'largest crunch in the studio's history' saw 175 workers - 14 per cent of staff laid off in May. It was claimed that Pixar were determined to make the film a success due to fears the studio would go under after years without a monster hit. Pixar 's box office behemoth Inside Out 2 has been described as a toxic workplace by former employees in the wake of the movie becoming the most successful animated film of all time Read More Inside Out 2 overtakes beloved children's movie to become top animated film of all time globally One source said 'everybody felt pressure' adding: 'Even now, I think people are gone, still feeling that pressure of like, ‘Oh my God, we did it.
We did it.’ “ Inside Out was allegedly 'mismanaged' leading to a larger amount of 'last minute' changes - requiring tools 'to be developed on the fly.' A source said the animators were working seven days a week for a 'month or two' adding: 'Ridiculous amounts of production workers, just people being tossed into jobs they'd never really done before.
.. It was horrendous.
' A senior executive at Pixar told the publication that the crunch at the end of Inside Out 2 was 'no different from those on many other films from the studio.' Those were worked long hours were paid overtime and offered time off in lieu - but sources said the rigorous demands and production structure left everyone exhausted. Sources claimed the studio is ' overly reliant' on Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, - to the extent that 'You cannot do anything without Pete.
Literally nothing.' The movie, which features Amy Poehler and Maya Hawke in the respective roles of Joy and Anxiety has grossed a stellar $1.67billion at the box office - but staff have claimed the film's success came at the expense of their health and finances Sources claimed the studio is ' overly reliant' on Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter, - to the extent that 'You cannot do anything without Pete.
Literally nothing' Several sources also claim Pixar wanted to make Inside Out 2 'less gay' after the box office failure of 2022's Lightyear which featured a same-sex kiss and was banned or censored in numerous countries - with sources claiming the scene was roundly blamed for the film's failure A former employee said: ' The internal culture of Pixar right now is really rough. There is just an incredible amount of people who are like, "I can't do this anymore."' Several sources also claim Pixar was on a mission to make Inside Out 2 'less gay' after the box office failure of 2022 film Lightyear.
The film featured a same-sex kiss and was banned or censored in numerous countries - with sources claiming the scene was roundly blamed for the film's failure. It was alleged the film was subject to numerous edits that 'ramped up' in September 2023 after the WGA strike ended and just nine months before the film's release date - with 'special care' put into making main character Riley's relationship with supporting character Val seem 'as platonic as possible.' It was claimed edits t o the lighting and tone of certain scenes were done to remove any trace of 'romantic chemistry; with a source saying: '[it was] just doing a lot of extra work to make sure that no one would potentially see them as not straight.
' Employees were informed layoffs would be happening in January 2023 with Disney announcing a 'strategic realignment' in May of that year which would include 7000 layoffs across the whole company. in June 2023 75 employees were let go. Further lay-offs began in May 2024 weeks before Inside Out 2's release - it was the biggest cull in the company's history.
A further source said being told by HR that the bonus was only for active employees felt like a f**k you from Disney Docter told Ankler earlier this month of the layoffs: ' That was another thing that made this year really weird' - saying the cull was a result of moving away from streaming-only Pixar projects 'Unfortunately now Disney has come to the point where they realized, you know what? The amount we have to spend to do the quality we do doesn't make sense.' Former employees blasted the studio for its 'out of touch' celebration of the film's box office success while those who had worked on it had been laid off, saying 'it's like watching an ex be with a movie star, basically. It's like, ‘I'm happy for you, but why?’ They said that delayed feature Elio - which was originally set for release in March 2024 before being pushed to June 2025 - had caused the same issues, leading to staff 'working crazy hours to get Elio fixed.
' Employees were left 'sobbing' at the lack of bonus, saying 'we work all year for that bonus' with another source saying 'at least 95% of the people that got laid off are financially f***ed right now.' Another said: 'We work all year for that bonus. That is what partially makes working at Pixar worth it.
.. we depend on that.
' A further source said allegedly being told by HR that the bonus was only for active employees felt like a f**k you from Disney. Sources said the bonus was crucial as Pixar's base pay for many positions is 'considered low' for Emeryville, CA where they are based. Employees speaking to the publication did praise the company's health and mental health benefits Pixar employees are also not unionized under The Animation Guild (TAG) and Pixar currently remains 'outside of union coverage, and without union rates.
' They added the executives are acting 'in a fear-based way...
to preserve their own power in their own jobs. So I think morale is really low because people no longer trust that they're being led with their best interests at heart.' DailyMail.
com has contacted representatives for Disney and Pixar for comment. In June Inside Out 2 surpassed the 2019 Disney film Frozen II ($1.45 billion) at the global box office Frozen II, from Disney Animation, made a global total of $1.
451 billion upon its release in November of 2019. It made $477 million in domestic revenue and $972 million in international box office, according to Box Office Mojo . Following Inside Out 2's claiming of the top spot, Frozen II takes the second spot for highest-grossing animated movies ever, according to THR.
They said that delayed feature Elio - which was originally set for release in March 2024 before being pushed to June 2025 - had caused the same issues, leading to staff 'working crazy hours to get Elio fixed' It is followed by 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie with $1.36 billion; 2013's Frozen with $1.
27 billion; 2018's Incredibles 2 with $1.24 billion; 2015's Minions with $1.15 billion; 2019's Toy Story 4 with $1.
07 billion; 2017's Despicable Me 3 with $1.03 billion; and 2016's Finding Dory with $1 billion. Overall, Inside Out 2 is the 13th highest-grossing film in history, as it also surpassed the 2023 smash hit Barbie ($1.
44 billion) on Monday, and is the best-earning film since it hit theaters last summer. The movie became the highest-earning Pixar film ever in worldwide box office earlier this month, without inflation adjustment, when it eclipsed what Incredibles 2 made worldwide. The huge success of Inside Out 2, the year's highest-grossing film to-date, is a spike for Pixar and Disney after a string of underperforming films such as 2022's Lightyear, 2022's Strange World and 2023's Elemental.
Inside Out 2 was directed by Kelsey Mann and features a supporting cast consisting of Ayo Edebiri, Kensington Tallman, Liza Lapira, Tony Hale, Lewis Black, Phyllis Smith, Lilimar and Grace Lu. The storyline of the movie is centered around the emotions of a 13-year-old girl named Riley (Tallman) who is dealing with a number of new emotions as she's going though puberty and starting high school. The emotions represented in the initial movie (Joy, Sadness, Fear, Anger and Disgust) are now accompanied by new emotions including Anxiety, Envy, Embarrassment, Ennui and Nostalgia.
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