Pixar Staff Upset Over Changes To “Win Or Lose” Disney+ Series
Earlier this month, it was revealed that the upcoming Pixar animated series, “Win Or Lose”, was originally going to feature a transgender character, but Disney decided to remove the storyline by altering a few lines of dialogue. It was also recently revealed that Disney had scrapped an episode of the Marvel animated series, “Moon Girl And Devil Dinosaur”, as it featured a transgender storyline.
The series tells the story of what it actually feels like to be in the shoes of eight different characters in the week leading up to the big game—the insecure kids, their helicopter parents, even a lovesick umpire—with incredibly funny, very emotional and uniquely animated perspectives.
The series features Will Forte’s voice as the coach. “Win or Lose” is directed, written, and executive produced by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, who also produced David Lally.
This series was initially scheduled to be released on Disney+ in late 2023, but it has gone through a number of delays, including a recent change; where it was previously announced that it would be released earlier this month, but at the last minute, there was a swap with “Dream Productions”, which was released on Disney+ last week, moving to February 19th 2025.
Disney did issue a statement regarding the change to the show, saying:
“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.”
Since that information went public, THR spoke with some Pixar staff who worked on the show, and they expressed their sorrow and dismay at the decision to remove the storyline from the show. A Pixar staff member said that it’s frustrating that the episode has already been completed, and the change to the story requires the team to scramble to be ready for the February release, not to mention that this brings added expense. One Pixar employee said:
“The episode in its final form was so beautiful — and beautifully illustrated some of the experiences of being trans — and it was literally going to save lives by showing those who feel alone and unloved, that there are people out there who understand. So it’s just very frustrating that Disney has decided to spend money to not save lives.”
Some footage from the scrapped storyline was leaked onto the internet by Pixar staff after the news broke, which showed the character deliberating over which bathroom to use.
A former Pixar assistant, Sarah Ligatich, who is trans, worked at the company for over two years, until she was fired in May as part of the latest round of layoffs at the company, she expressed her anger at Disney, especially as she feels all the recent changes are politically motivated and the show could have been released a while ago, but instead, Disney kept delaying it.
“It’s 100 percent political. Disney just had the settlement with Trump. We saw it recently with the Devil Dinosaur and Moon Girl episode that was cut. All of us who knew about Win or Lose and this character were all just clenching: ‘Please don’t hit us next.’”
“I can’t tell you how much I cried yesterday thinking about that conversation that David had to have with [Chanel]. Not only are you asking someone to play someone they’re not, but to also get them to wrap their mind around a political conversation that is just so beyond them. They had this story in the can for two years, so they could have released it in a Biden presidency, and they chose not to.”
Ever since Bob Iger returned as CEO, he has been making sweeping changes across the company, especially following the fiasco from the impact of former Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney has suffered from box office failures for its films like “Strange World”, “Onwards”, and “Lightyear”, which featured gay characters and has also had numerous legal battles in Florida. It’s also come under fire online for multiple reasons over the past few years, which has seen many families withdraw their support and, more importantly, money from Disney products.
Earlier this year, Bob Iger even said publically that Disney is going to be pulling back on messaging within its films and shows:
“The bottom line is that infusing messaging as sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we’re up to. They need to be entertaining, and where the Disney company can have a positive impact on the world, whether it’s, you know, fostering acceptance and understanding of people of all different types, great.”
Roger’s Take: We’ve seen Disney drastically shift around its plans, delaying and reworking many projects, to make them more suitable to a mainstream audience and to try to sit in the middle, trying not to get political. Ironically, Disney can’t really “Win or lose” with these changes; either way, someone is going to be upset that the storyline is included or not.
Had “Win Or Lose” been commissioned today, it’s likely these types of storylines would never make it past the brainstorming or script level, but since these shows are made over multiple years, Pixar and Disney were in a very different place politically four years ago when the show was initially announced. While many people might disagree with the decision to change the show, from a business point of view, Disney can’t afford to alienate over half the population and is now trying to avoid anything that might do so.
Pixar’s “Win Or Lose” is coming to Disney+ on February 19th 2025.
What do you think of this decision? Let me know on social media!
Roger Palmer
Related Article
What’s Coming To Disney+ In February 2025 (US)
When Are New Episodes Of “Win Or Lose” Released On Disney+?
