Disney has decided to shutter Blue Sky Studios, the former 20th Century Fox animation division responsible for CG classics such as Robots and Ice Age. The disappointing news was confirmed by Deadline earlier this week, which noted that the last day for the studio’s employees would be in April. While some of them might be lucky enough to find jobs at Disney’s other internal studios, nobody has reportedly shown interest in acquiring Blue Sky and keeping its operations running.
“Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios,” a studio spokesperson said.
“One can say that the writing was always on the wall for Blue Sky, especially after Disney acquired 20th Century Studios and its assets in March 2019,” Deadline explained. “However, the past year has been challenging for Disney on many fronts, of course due to the pandemic — not just on the studio side but also with theme park closures and cruise line dockings. Sustaining a third feature animation studio was no longer viable for Disney given the current economic realities caused by Covid.”
Blue Sky was working on a feature based on a fantasy webcomic by the name of Nimona, but that project has been canceled following Disney’s decision to shut down the studio. According to a reporter with THR, Nomina was already about 75 percent complete.
“A young shape-shifter named Nimona teams up with a mad scientist named Lord Ballister Blackheart to expose the ruler of the kingdom,” a synopsis reads.