Disney Is Cutting Several Hundred Jobs Tuesday And Pixar Is Taking The Biggest Hit

Walt Disney Company began notifying several hundred employees of layoffs Tuesday morning, the third distinct round of Disney layoffs in 2026, with Pixar Animation Studios, National Geographic and ESPN bearing the largest share of the cuts.

The moves come as CEO Josh D'Amaro continues a companywide efficiency drive previewed in an April memo.

Pixar is the hardest hit on the studio side, with approximately 116 employees losing their jobs, less than 10 percent of the studio's staff, concentrated in production and operations. The cuts come despite Toy Story 5 nearing the billion-dollar mark globally and tracking to become the highest-grossing entry in franchise history.

The reductions are largely attributed to the underwhelming performance of Hoppers earlier in 2026 and a broader pullback in production volume that has reshaped Pixar's model since Disney+ reduced its demand for streaming originals.

A second Pixar series in development was cancelled and reworked as a 2028 theatrical feature.

National Geographic is the most affected division within Disney Entertainment Television, with roughly 60 positions eliminated across cable and editorial operations, about 13 percent of its staff. Approximately a dozen ABC News staffers were also impacted.

ESPN's cuts, which include Karl Ravech, Ryan Clark, Cam Newton, Tom Pelissero, Bart Scott, Charles Davis and others, are covered separately and are tied to the NFL Network integration rather than the broader studio restructuring.

Disney has now executed four distinct rounds of layoffs since mid-2024.