Age of Obama: DreamWorks Animation to Slash Staff

The Obama economy is hitting the folks at DreamWorks Animation as hard as the rest of us.

The animation studio, part of the company co-founded by Obama backer Steven Spielberg, is gearing up to make some serious staffing cuts in the days ahead.

DreamWorks Animation may cut up to 500 employees in the next few months, sources tell Deadline. That’s potentially 23% of its 2200-strong animators, tech, and support staff, axed in the wake of a flop and key release date changes for Mr. Peabody And Sherman (moved off the 2013 calendar and into 2014) and Me & My Shadow(sent back into development).

The company’s next animated release, The Croods, hits theaters March 22.