Why 'Ice Age' Producer Blue Sky Studios Is Shutting Down

Blue Sky Studios, which is owned by Disney and the producer of "Ice Age," is shutting down in April due to the effects of the pandemic.

Blue Sky has produced popular movies like “Robots,” “Spies in Disguise,” “Rio” and more. It was also once 20th Century Fox’s animation division that grossed $15.3 billion worldwide with 13 releases.

Disney acquired all of 20th Century Studios and its assets in March 2019, which included this animation studio, according to Deadline. Since the pandemic hit all aspects of Disney, this was one aspect that the company found not monetarily viable.

“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 told the news outlet.

Many took to social media to express their disappointment.

Roughly 450 employees will be cut. Disney reportedly has plans to work with Greenwich, a Connecticut-based studio, to help those employees find another position within the company.

“Nimona” was the only movie in production at Blue Sky and production has stopped with no plans to release the film. Transfering to another platform hasn’t been announced.

Meanwhile, an “Ice Age” spin-off series is already in production at Disney+.