Latest in John Lasseter

Skydance Media Monday announced it’s acquired the animation unit of Madrid-based Ilion Studios, to form Skydance Animation Madrid. The financial terms of weren’t revealed. Skydance, founded by David Ellison in 2010, said the deak “combines the creative capital of Skydance with Ilion's best-in-class talent” and gives…

Emma Thompson said she left her voice-over role in Skydance Animation’s upcoming film Luck earlier this month because she didn’t want to work for John Lasseter. The Oscar-winning actor-producer has elaborated on her thoughts with a pointed letter that was published today in the Los Angeles Times, aimed directly at…

Deadline has confirmed that two-time Oscar winner Emma Thompson is backing out of her voiceover role on the upcoming Skydance Animation movie Luck due to concerns about working with the division’s head John Lasseter. The movie centers around the struggle between the organizations of bad luck and good luck, and…

EXCLUSIVE: We are hearing that Holly Edwards, who previously served as Skydance Animation’s Head of Production, is being promoted to the position of president of Skydance Animation. We understand that John Lasseter, Head of Animation, made the announcement in an informal staff meeting, that both he and Skydance boss…

EXCLUSIVE: Another Skydance Animation town hall was held this morning, this time with the division’s new boss John Lasseter. We hear it ran an hour and half and was very emotional, with a red-faced Lasseter expressing to the 65-person team how he’s ready to turn a corner in treating women properly and creating a safe…

EXCLUSIVE: Three town halls were held yesterday at Skydance Media regarding the studio’s hiring of former Walt Disney Animation/Pixar boss John Lasseter, and we understand from sources that CEO David Ellison made it clear to staff that if there’s any missteps with the former executive, who was accused of sexual…

The industry backlash to Skydance tapping former Walt Disney Animation/Pixar boss John Lasseter as its new head of Animation was immediate today from Time’s Up and Women and Hollywood. Both groups took great concern with the hasty forgiveness bestowed upon an executive with an alleged history of sexual harassment. “I…

UPDATED with more industry reaction: Skydance CEO David Ellison had to know there would be critics of his hiring of John Lasseter to run the company’s animation division, but he might not have expected it to be so denounced as what Time’s Up said today. “Hiring decisions have consequence,” the high-profile…

Pixar co-founder and former Disney animation guru John Lasseter has been hired to run Skydance Animation. Skydance CEO David Ellison made the announcement via memo (read it in full below) about the move, which comes after Disney decided to part ways with the award-winning animation exec last year after putting him…

It’s not the first time that a sequel has arrived more than a decade after it’s predecessor, and in such situations, it’s always daunting for a studio, because you never know if moviegoers are still going to care, or if they’re too precious about the original movie. However, Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles 2, like Finding D…

Pixar co-founder and computer animation pioneer Ed Catmull will retire next year after more than four decades working in the film industry. The soft-spoken computer engineer will step down from his current role as president of Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios at the end of the year, though he’ll serve in…

Disneytoon Studios, the Glendale-based outfit spearheaded by former Disney animation chief John Lasseter, will be shutting down, Disney has confirmed. In a brief statement, a company spokesperson said, "After much consideration, we have made the decision to end production activity and close Disneytoon Studios." About…