Disney fans are outraged after the company's latest round of layoffs included a bona fide hero.
Pixar producer Galyn Susman was among some 75 Pixar employees let go last month. Susman's tenure at Pixar saw her overseeing a long list of classic films for the iconic animation studio, including Ratatouille, Toy Story 4 and Lightyear.
But those don't hold a candle to what is arguably her magnum opus—saving 1999's Toy Story 2 from near total destruction.
As the video below reveals, Toy Story 2 came very close to a total and catastrophic loss.
In 1998, an employee accidentally deleted the entire film from Pixar's servers.
The story goes an employee working on the film entered a wrong command into one of the company's systems, deleting all of the film's files.
Enter Susman swooping in like Buzz Lightyear to save the day.
Susman was working from home at the time because she was on maternity leave, and, as befits her title of technical director at the time, she just happened to have a backup of the film in her home office.
If it hadn't been for Susman, there very well may not have been a Toy Story 2—or at least it would have been delayed for years while the team painstakingly rebuilt the whole thing. Instead, it went on to make roughly half a billion dollars for Disney and Pixar and became the highest-grossing animated film of 1999.
But in the end that wasn't enough to keep Susman around and fans on Twitter were incensed about it.
\u201cToy Story 2 earned $511 million\n\nShe should have a job at Pixar for life if she wants\u201d— Arlen Parsa (@Arlen Parsa) 1685843684
\u201cDon\u2019t ever, ever expect an ounce of loyalty from any corporation\u201d— Eric Haywood (@Eric Haywood) 1685836310
\u201cReminder that it doesn't matter what you've done to better or even save time and money for the company you work for, when it's time for the higher-ups to choose between bonuses and employees, everyone's job is at risk.\u201d— Amu \ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d (Decolonize) (@Amu \ud83d\udc1d\ud83d\udc1d (Decolonize)) 1685840051
\u201cMany have said it, but Galyn Susman saved Toy Story 2. The film almost became lost media and she saved it's files from permanent deletion.\n\nBoth she and Angus didn't deserve this treatment, this is extremely heartbreaking.\u201d— TRAFON(s Backup Account) (@TRAFON(s Backup Account)) 1685817000
\u201cDamn, Angus MacLane and Galyn Susman have both been with Pixar since the 90s and contributed to many massive hits. They also made Lightyear (interviewed them both for it last year), so this can\u2019t help but feel like Disney going \u201cyeah, but what have you done for us lately?\u201d\u201d— Eric Goldman (@Eric Goldman) 1685838571
\u201cI wish Galyn Susman a very quick hiring at DreamWorks\u201d— CEO of Beck3tt M@riner (@CEO of Beck3tt M@riner) 1685822485
\u201cLightyear did not deserve to bomb this badly.\n\nAngus MacLane and Galyn Susman did so much good for not just this film, but Pixar in general. With how badly Disney handled the release, they were throw under the bus for reasons beyond their control.\n\nWishing these two all the best.\u201d— Karl (Karlamon) \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff (@Karl (Karlamon) \ud83c\uddf3\ud83c\uddff) 1685832422
\u201cLaying off Galyn Susman is beyond insulting. It\u2019s literally thanks to her that we got Toy Story 2.\n\u2026And this is the thanks she receives?\u201d— \ud83d\udc9b\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99\ud83e\udd0dtreystar679 (FNAF MOVIE HYPE) (@\ud83d\udc9b\u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc99\ud83e\udd0dtreystar679 (FNAF MOVIE HYPE)) 1685815173
\u201cOh my god,this is so awful \ud83d\ude41\n\nThey fired Galyn Susman (The woman who saved Toy Story 2 from being lost media) which is a dang shame\u2026\n\nPixar,oh how far you have fallen\u2026(Box office wise,and somewhat critical,depending who you ask)\u201d— ScorbunnyDream MAJOR CARTOON,ANIME,GAMES FAN (@ScorbunnyDream MAJOR CARTOON,ANIME,GAMES FAN) 1685814886
\u201c@discord12395 Galyn Susman has the opportunity to do one of the funniest things in Pixar history\u201d— Gilbert \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 #NewDeal4Animation \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b (@Gilbert \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 #NewDeal4Animation \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b) 1685813442
Disney and Pixar's latest round of layoffs are part of Disney CEO Bob Iger's plan to cut $5.5 billion in costs by laying off some 7,000 workers at the beleaguered studio, which has had a handful of film's with disappointing box office and poor critical reception including last year's Lightyear.
The layoffs also included Lightyear director Angus MacLane.
