Will the Walt Disney employees who are the people behind the well-loved cartoon characters Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Donald Duck be joining the ranks of the unemployed?

Disney, over the weekend, reported that it will start to lay off workers in the coming weeks with those to be affected employees at the company's movie studio, marketing and home entertainment divisions as well as in the production department.

Reuters added that the cuts would initially be in the animation department and consumer products division.

The news followed the Wednesday announcement by Disney that LucasArts, the video game unit of Lucasfilm, which Disney just acquired, will stop developing games which is expected to result in job axing at LucasArts's offices in San Francisco.

Prior to the announcement, LucasArt had off 50 employees in January and closed another game studio in Austin, Texas.

News of the possible layoffs had surprised the industry since Disney made about $417 million worldwide from the show of Oz the Great and Powerful. It is also set to release several movies in 2013, including The Lone Ranger, starring Johnny Depp, and Saving Mr Banks, starring Tom Hanks.

Reports said the job cuts is part of a cost reduction strategy that Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger wants implemented in response to results of an internal audit.

As of March, Disney's stock is at an all-time high of $57.76 per share, and the company had record earnings in November.

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