We rarely cover corporate news, or details of hiring or firing, here at A113Animation - this blog is primarily focused on the entertainment side of things - however, this is too huge a piece of news in terms of the scope it affects animation: Rich Ross has stepped down as Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios.
The former creative head of Disney Channel, responsible in his reign there for Hannah Montana and High School Musical, had been running Disney's film department for the past two and a half years - a tenure recently marred by such box office failures as Mars Needs Moms and John Carter.
Disney CEO Robert Iger said, of Ross's departure:
“I appreciate his countless contributions throughout his entire career at Disney, and expect he will have tremendous success in whatever he chooses to do next”.
No successor has thus far been named and it will likely take some time to fill the position, but, depending on the success of Marvel's The Avengers (which will almost certainly be an enormous hit), Marvel Studios (owned by Disney after all) President, Kevin Feige may be considered a front runner for the job.
