NEW YORK (CNN/Money) -
Walt Disney Co. may shut its animation studio in Orlando, Fla., after halting work on the lone film in production there, a move that may mean cutting 250 jobs from a staff of animators that has already cut back sharply, a news report said Sunday.
Production on the movie "A Few Good Ghosts" was being halted because the company was unhappy with how it was progressing creatively, Disney's animation chief, David Stainton, told the company's Orlando animation workers Friday, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.
Over the next few weeks, Stainton will decide whether to launch another film in the Orlando studio -- where "Mulan" and the current "Brother Bear" were made -- or issue layoff notices to the 258 workers there, the report said.
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If Disney cuts the workers, it will be another blow for the company's animation team as it tries to bounce back from a long period of woes, according to the report.
After the success of "The Lion King" and other early 1990s films, Disney ramped up production of animated films amid heavy competition from rival studios. By 1999, its feature-animation unit had ballooned to about 2,200 workers at studios in Burbank, Calif., Orlando and Paris.
But with many films faltering financially, Disney has slashed staff in a bid to lower costs. The animation unit is down to 880, and if Orlando is cut, Disney will have sliced more than 70 percent of its feature-animation jobs in four years.
Disney (DIS: Research, Estimates) stock fell about 1 percent Friday.
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