The upcoming Disney+ show Win or Lose will no longer feature a trans-led storyline.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the unidentified character will still be featured in the series, but dialogue related to their gender identity will be removed from the final cut.
A source close to production also claimed that the decision was made several months ago.
“When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline,” a spokesperson for Disney told the news outlet.
Win or Lose – Pixar’s first-ever long-form series – is set to premiere on Disney+ on 19 February.
Created by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, the show follows the Pickles, a co-ed middle school softball team as they prepare for the big championship.
The eight episodes will follow a different character and their respective journey leading up to the highly anticipated game.
The official synopsis reads: “The series reveals what it actually feels like to be in the shoes of each character—the insecure kids, their helicopter parents, even a lovesick umpire—with incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated perspectives.”
The recent Win or Lose news isn’t the first time Disney has made headlines for how it handles LGBTQIA+ storylines across its various projects.
Back in 2022, the company was accused of censoring same-sex love in Pixar movies in a leaked letter from employees of the animation studio.
Disney Pixar
“We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” the employees said in the document obtained by Judd Legum of Popular Information.
“Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it. Beyond the ‘inspiring content’ that we aren’t even allowed to create, we require action.”
At the time, Disney’s former CEO, Bob Chapek, was already facing criticism for sharing a blanket response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay’ bill – opting to show general support for the LGBTQIA+ community rather than condemning the hateful piece of legislation.
In November 2024, the company made headlines again when a trans-inclusive episode of the hit Disney Channel series Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur was pulled from the release schedule.
The season two episode titled ‘The Gatekeeper’ was set to follow Brooklyn – a recurring character and trans classmate of Moon Girl (aka Lunella Lafayette) – as she prepared to play in a volleyball game.
Disney Pixar
However, she’s hit with pushback from a conservative coach attempting to block her from competing on the girl’s team.
In a now-deleted Bluesky post, a creative from the show expressed disappointment in the decision, writing: “So guess I finally got hit with one of the projects (episode) I worked on is getting shelved because of which party that won the recent election. It breaks my heart knowing this impactful and amazing is now about to be considered a lost media episode.”
A source close to Disney also gave insight into the situation in a statement to Polygon, claiming that the decision was reached over a year ago.
“In this case, this decision was based on this specific episode, not because of the character being trans,” they added.
They also echoed sentiments similar to those of the Disney spokesperson addressing the Win or Lose change – telling the news outlet that the studio was “respectful of the role that parents play in the discussions they have with their children.”
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