Star Wars: The Clone Wars was a very popular animated series, and it’s not hard to see why. Critics and audiences universally gave it acclaim, especially as it went on. This Star Wars animated series would then go on to win awards that are too numerous to name. It’s no wonder why everyone loved it. Alas though, this series ended with its 7th and final season on May 4, 2020 (fittingly enough). Because of that, Disney and Lucasfilm apparently needs the animation studio behind that series no longer. How else do you explain them closing said animation studio now?
Lucasfilm Singapore Closing: Details
Comic Book has just revealed that Lucasfilm’s visual effects and animation studio, Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), will be closing down its Singapore branch. Originally housed in the Sandcrawler building (CX2-1), this was the animation team that was initially responsible for Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Alas, they will no longer animate for Lucasfilm or Disney. Not when they just canned all 340 staffers of that animation studio.
So why did Lucasfilm close down its Singapore branch? Well, Disney did put out an official statement about the closure via Comic Book. According to them: the company is “consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry.” CNA elaborated further on the reasoning, with an ILM employee revealing that the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike has affected work in their field. They don’t elaborate on how, but this is likely yet another cost-saving measure by Disney.
Fortunately, Lucasfilm isn’t just kicking out their entire Singapore branch onto the street. Lucasfilm and Disney at the same time released a statement addressing the “personnel changes”. Apparently, the company plans to “give employees as much notice as possible and offer opportunities to relocate to one of the company’s growing studios”. Lucasfilm also plans to help its former employees find new employment. How? Well, they plan to hold a “targeted job fair with companies identified as having a need for talent with similar skill sets”. It’s a bit vague, but it’s better than nothing, I suppose. Tune back into THS to find out more about this and other Star Wars news later.
In the meantime though, you can watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+. You know, to remember the good days with.
Source: Comic Book, CNA
