Walt Disney Animation Studios has outsourced animations on its upcoming six-part animated series, “Iwájú,” to Cinesite, a company headquartered in London with Canadian studios in Montreal and Vancouver.
The series is set to premiere on Disney+ on Feb. 28 and is co-produced by Kugali, a pan-African entertainment company. Kugali’s co-founder, Ziki Nelson, directed the series, with the Disney Animation team being led by producer Christina Chen and award-winning animator Marlon West under the supervision of Jennifer Lee, chief creative officer of Disney Animation.
Vancouver Animation Studio
Walt Disney Animation Studios has been eyeing a foray north of the border for quite some time. In 2021, the company revealed it would be expanding its operations outside of the United States with the launch of a studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, per Variety. The studio, which would be dedicated to long-form series production, was projected to open at the start of 2022.One year after the studio opened, Mr. Pierce said the team “grew to over 100 strong.” He continued: “Today, we stand proud with a team of 400+ artists, engineers, and technicians, embarking on our first theatrical release.”
Shifts in the Animation Industry
Canadian animation companies have seen a notable surge in U.S.-backed projects in recent years, which can be largely attributed to tax incentives available in the country, per The Hollywood Reporter.“With Hollywood trying to figure out exactly the direction they’ll go with content—with theatrical content, with streaming content, with originals and franchises—a natural part of that discussion is Canada with its tax credit and a wonderful talent pool that Cinesite works with,” Bradley Wald, chief operating officer of Cinecite, told the publication.
However, Walt Disney Animation Studios isn’t the first company to move away from in-house production. As part of its cost-cutting measures, Disney’s rival, DreamWorks Animation, revealed it would start outsourcing heavily to third-party companies starting in 2025, per Cartoon Brew. The same month, the company announced it would be slashing 70 positions—about four percent of its staff—citing the recent strike and soaring production costs, per Deadline.
In April 2021, the Walt Disney Company was forced to close Blue Sky Studios, the computer animation division behind the “Ice Age” franchise, per Deadline. The closure followed economic impacts that arose amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major Changes at Disney
In 2023, Disney’s chief executive officer, Bob Iger, laid off 7,000 employees—3.2 percent of its staff—as part of the company’s sweeping cost-cutting strategy to attain $5.5 billion in savings, per Variety.In the wake of COVID-19, Walt Disney Animation Studios has also grappled with tepid box-office returns.
The company’s 2022 animated film “Strange World” tanked at North American box offices, grossing only $11.9 million during its Thanksgiving weekend debut, per Variety. It made $18.6 million over five days following its release despite being projected to earn between $30 million and $40 million. The 2023 animated film “Wish” also flopped at the box office, generating only $31.6 million domestically.
The Disney+ streaming platform recently revealed it had lost 1.3 million global subscribers in the final three months of 2023 despite gaining 7 million subscribers in the fourth quarter of its previous fiscal year.
The recent dip in subscribers followed a 27 percent price hike to its ad-free Disney+ Premium plan in October 2023. Fees increased by $3, bringing the cost of commercial-free watching on the platform from $10.99 to $13.99.
Despite struggling to turn a profit since its launch in November 2019, Disney+ said it’s still on track to reach profitability by the end of its current fiscal year.
