Disney Closing Blue Sky Studios, Nimona Film Cancelled

Movies

Disney is officially closing down Blue Sky Studios, the animation house behind the Ice Age and Rio movie series. Disney acquired their competitor studio in the Fox acquisition back in 2019. The studio’s last feature was Spies in Disguise, which starred Tom Holland and Will Smith, and came out on Christmas of 2019 under Disney’s distribution. Blue Sky shutting down displaces around 450 employees, and apparently, Disney is exploring the possibility of jobs at other Disney subsidiaries for them. In addition, Disney is unsurprisingly canceling Nimona, a 2022-slated animated feature from Blue Sky. It was based on the webcomic of the same name by Noelle Stevenson and had Patrick Osborne attached to direct. This cancellation comes less than a year before the film’s release date. Deadline got this exclusive statement from a Disney spokesperson: “Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios.”

I’m not surprised by this information and expected to hear something about it. However, I have some mixed emotions and thoughts now that it’s happening. In the 2000s, Blue Sky was a major competitor to the floundering Walt Disney Animation Studio. It’s strange to think about now that Disney’s had such a winning streak of a decade, in my opinion consistently releasing better films than Pixar. Meanwhile, the former box office juggernaut Blue Sky has become an afterthought to the extent that it’s being quietly swept under the rug. However, sadness and nostalgia aside, this makes sense under the circumstances. I can’t imagine why Disney would want three major animation studios during the best times; that sounds expensive and like their resources and animators would be stretched a little thin. But with the COVID-promoted closures of theaters and Disney’s theme parks and cruise line, they can’t afford the cost or risk associated with operating a third animation studio. Since Disney would own Blue Sky and any films they produced, their further operations would have added to their monopoly rather than providing competition. I mention this only to say that Disney eliminated their competition when they purchased them more so than now. Closing the studio makes sense financially, and this isn’t saving Disney from competition since they own the studio anyway. Their films tended to be mediocre, though they had some winners here and there, and Ice Age always did well at the box office. I mainly feel bad for the employees; I don’t know about you, but after seeing how Disney has treated its own employees during the pandemic, I’m a little worried here. They mention positioning the displaced Blue Sky workers with other Disney studios and holdings, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they ultimately couldn’t find 450 openings or just didn’t care that much behind closed doors. I know it’s a different industry, but less than a year ago, they left their park workers out to dry, and we shouldn’t forget that. Disney+ apparently has an Ice Age series in the works, and I sincerely hope that some of the displaced Blue Sky workers are allowed to work on that (if they want to).