Lucasfilm Closing Star Wars: The Clone Wars Animation Studio After 20 Years

Lucasfilm has announced that it is closing the visual effects and animation studio in Singapore that first produced the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series. Lucasfilm's Industrial Light & Magic visual effects animation studio in Singapore first opened its doors in 2004 in order to work on Clone Wars; that VFX team was moved to Singapore's Sandcrawler Building with Disney's Southeast Asia offices in 2013; the building was then sold to the Blackstone Group in 2021. 

Disney has put out a statement about the iconic location closing, saying that the company is "consolidating its global footprint and winding down its Singapore studio due to economic factors affecting the industry." 

The animation studio closing will result in about 300 current staffers all losing their jobs. Disney and ILM have addressed the personnel changes in a statement, saying that the company plans to "give employees as much notice as possible and offer opportunities to relocate to one of the company's growing studios." There are other ILM offices located in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, Sydney, and Mumbai.

The company is also taking steps to help employees find new employment, including holding a targeted job fair, "with companies identified as having a need for talent with similar skill sets."

"The technical and creative skillsets of these employees — who are trained across roles such as designers, tech engineers, and tech support staff — continue to be in high demand, both within the broader media industry and also in other industries that are going digital," Singapore's Economic Development Board (EDB) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a joint statement about the closing.

Animation remains one area of entertainment that isn't in upheaval right now – at least not yet. Hollywood Actors (SAG-AFTRA) and writers (WGA) have taken to the picket lines to fight for changes in their pay and contract structures; at the same time, animation has made some troubling headlines for its wear-and-tear on the animators – be it major studio blockbusters like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse or entire genres like anime. Marvel Studios has just taken the bold step of allowing a unionization vote for its team of visual effects artists, after listening to complaints about their own working conditions: 

"Turnaround times don't apply to us, protected hours don't apply to us, and pay equity doesn't apply to us," said VFX coordinator Bella Huffman. "Visual effects must become a sustainable and safe department for everyone who's suffered far too long and for all newcomers who need to know they won't be exploited."

While Disney animation is certainly not in danger of folding (ever), it will be interesting to see how this closing both affects brand perception and/or how it impacts the actual logistics of completing animated projects. 

You can stream Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Disney+.