Motion-capture studio getting ax from Disney

LOS ANGELES — To further cut costs at its movie studio, The Walt Disney Co. said Friday that it will shut a San Francisco-area facility used to capture the performance of Jim Carrey for his digitally animated character, Scrooge, in "A Christmas Carol."

The closure of the facility in Marin County, north of San Francisco, will be completed by January and result in the loss of 450 jobs.

The facility was built by ImageMovers Digital, a company co-founded by "A Christmas Carol" director Robert Zemeckis and partially owned by Disney. Motion-capture technology in that facility was used to make the movie; Carrey wore sensors as he acted out scenes, and the data were used to re-create his character on the screen.

Before it closes, the complex will continue to be used by Zemeckis and his team to complete production of "Mars Needs Moms!," a 3-D movie set for release in March 2011.