John Lasseter, a Pixar Founder, Takes Leave After ‘Missteps’
The article also said Rashida Jones, the actress and writer, had left a Pixar assignment early after Mr. Lasseter made “an unwanted advance.” Ms. Jones
and her writing partner, Will McCormack, had been working on the screenplay for “Toy Story 4.”
In a statement to , Ms. Jones and Mr. McCormack said their departure was tied to Pixar’s general treatment of female and minority employees.
LOS ANGELES — One of the Walt Disney Company’s most important executives, the Pixar co-founder John Lasseter, said Tuesday
that he would take “a six-month sabbatical” after unspecified “missteps” that made some staffers feel “disrespected or uncomfortable.”
Mr. Lasseter, 60, made the announcement in a lengthy email sent to employees at Disney’s animation division, which he leads as chief creative officer.
“However, it is also a culture where women and people of color do not have an equal creative voice.”
Ms. Jones and Mr. McCormack concluded the statement by saying: “We encourage Pixar to be leaders in bolstering, hiring
and promoting more diverse and female storytellers and leaders.
In addition to overseeing feature animation for Disney, he is a principal creative
adviser to Walt Disney Imagineering, which designs theme park attractions
Pixar has made 19 feature films, and only one of them, “Brave,” has a credited female director.
As part of his oversight of the separate Disney animation studio, Mr. Lasseter hired Jennifer Lee as a co-director
of “Frozen.” The animation business as a whole is a boys’ club, even more so than the live-action film industry.