Disney has pulled a transgender subplot from Pixar’s “Win or Lose,” an original series coming to Disney+, saying that it’d rather leave “certain subjects” for parents to discuss.
The animated show focuses on a little league’s championship game and is told from the point-of-view of various participants, and had originally featured a transgender character and storyline. The character is no longer transgender and references to their gender have been removed.
A Disney spokesperson confirmed the alteration, 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.”
Disney declined any further details on the episode in question.
The move comes as Donald Trump campaigned on anti-trans rhetoric, and many in Hollywood feel his win might fuel further pushback on trans representation in film and TV.
When Pixar’s “Lightyear” was released in 2022, staff at the Emeryville, California-based animation studio protested when, shortly before release, a fairly innocuous same-sex kiss was removed. Disney finally caved and reinserted the moment, as it was very much a part of the ongoing discussion that had to do with Disney’s failure to oppose Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Later that year, there was an openly gay character in Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Strange World.”
More recently, Disney failed to air an episode of Disney Channel animated series “Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur” that featured a transgender character (mercifully, it was leaked online). Disney was adamant that the episode wasn’t pulled, but was rather being “held.”
Reports from earlier this year indicated that Pixar also attempted to make Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman), the human star of “Inside Out 2,” appear less gay in the box office-busting sequel. In particular, Riley’s infatuation with another hockey player (voiced by Lilimar Hernandez) was the subject of much scrutiny.
“Win or Lose” was created by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, who came up with the idea for the series while working as story artists on “Toy Story 4.” The series, which features the voices of Will Forte and Rosa Salazar (among others), was previewed at Annecy back in 2023. It was more recently scheduled to premiere earlier this month but the release date was swapped with “Dream Productions,” the spinoff of “Inside Out 2.”
“Win or Lose” will now hit Disney+ on Feb. 19, 2025.
