Knowledge can be a cursed thing. Check out the trailer for Pixar’s first television series, “Win Or Lose,” released today. It’s fun, funny, and visually original, depicting a championship softball game from multiple perspectives. That is, unless you think too hard about the cuts Disney mandated for this project that remove one of the characters’ transgender identity (Chanel Stewart’s Chi) from the show.
Clearly human trafficking in the same territory as the studio’s Inside Head (especially its recent sequel), Win Or Lose is almost by definition about empathy. Each episode shows the same events from a different perspective, and the trailer highlights the fantastical way they do so. Various characters look at the world. (Umpire Frank is modeled after a fantasy character wearing armor that deflects anxiety, while one of the players has her anxiety manifested as an ever-growing mass of sweat dripping down her back.) These early films , the show clearly mines both the laughs and the emotions from the universality of the human experience. This tactic can’t help but ring hollow when you know that Disney intentionally cut some of that experience from the show because parents and politicians were upset that they would do so. Yell at them. I’m sure there’s a great story being told here, and many of the visual flourishes look great. But come on, what a shame that we’re not in a world where fun shows like this can exist without their own self-imposed asterisks, where Disney just trusts the creators and cowers into cutting the production. They were making something good. Production is reportedly in late stages.
Anyway: win or lose! It will debut on February 19, 2025. Forte will also appear!
