Pixar is among one of the most influential film studios in the world. From the iconic Toy Story, to films like Finding Nemo and Inside Out, Pixar has inspired many with their innovation. After 28 feature films, Win or Lose is the studio’s first original series. In an 8 episode series about the events surrounding a softball team named the Pickles and their championship game, Win or Lose has a diverse and layered cast of characters.
I was so lucky as to screen the first four episodes of this series. The biggest strength of the series is Pixar’s ability to immerse the viewer into every character’s experience in the story. Where you might have one initial read on a character, that may be completely subverted when you see the story from their point of view. In the end, what the story shows is that everybody is trying their best.
Win or Lose premieres February 19 with with two episodes on Disney+.
Review – Every Perspective Tells a Different Story
Win or Lose is a fantastic series that grapples with many nuanced topics, with something for everyone to enjoy. The animation is beautiful, as you would expect from Pixar, and the story is fascinating in its structure. The series is reminiscent of Inside Out in the sense that it explores the internal emotions of these characters. But, in a departure from Inside Out’s storytelling, Win or Lose explores the different ways each person feels and navigates their emotions around this high stakes championship game.
Each episode features a different character, and shows us their perspective on these events, and their life. As you watch more of the series, you’ll recognize lines of dialogue from another character’s episode, and become further immersed in this story. This makes finding out the remaining pieces of the puzzle so fascinating. I cannot wait to see how the rest of the series shapes up.
Through the animation, every character has what Pixar calls an “animation device”, which is a personification of their emotions. The first episode follows Laurie (Rosanna Jean Foss), who is the coach’s daughter. Her animation device is the voice of her anxiety, which is a gray blob that grows as her worries do. Laurie isn’t the best at softball, and all she wants is to make her father proud. Laurie desperately tries to win the approval of her father through performing in the game, which is her biggest struggle.
Laurie’s episode, which is the first, is admittedly the weaker of the four episodes due to its straightforward nature, but the emotional story beats do hit a home run. The weight of her anxiety, and its physical manifestation, shine through the animation. The artists did a great job of visualizing just how large and crushing anxiety can feel, especially at that age.
The episodes that follow are a tad more complex, and continue to further paint the softball field. Another animation device in the series is a knight-style suit of armor that Frank (Josh Thomson), who is the umpire, employs to guard himself emotionally. His episode is pleasantly surprising, as it deals with navigating relationships and dating in the digital age. Frank is also a teacher at the school, and some of team Pickles’ players are in his class.
Growing up, it’s easy to never think about your professors or teachers in a context outside of the classroom, which makes for a fun experience to see how Frank’s emotions and personal life affect him, not only in the classroom, but also on the field. This will likely also be interesting for kids and younger audiences as well.
The other two episodes follow a mother-daughter relationship. Rochelle (Milan Elizabeth Ray), is a star player on the team, but is also working hard off the field to make sure she can play next season. For Rochelle’s episode, the world around her often stretches, moves, or shifts around, making navigating it a seemingly impossible task. The animation in her episode visualizes Rochelle’s imagination and how she feels. We then get to see the same events from her mother’s perspective in the next episode.
Rochelle’s mother Vanessa is played by Alita: Battle Angle’s Rosa Salazar, who has one of the strongest episodes in the season. When seeing the story just from Rochelle’s point of view, it’s easy to brush her mom off; as it is when you are a kid and have no way of understanding what your parents are going through. Vanessa is a proud, supportive mom, as can be seen in this clip released by Pixar. Her story is so moving because of the way she tries to provide for her daughter. The misunderstandings that ensue causes a rift in their relationship, but it’s so beautiful to see this mother-daughter relationship between women of color explored in something as high profile as Pixar.
Win or Lose braves a lot of deeper topics than I expected, from financial troubles to online dating. The series continues Pixar’s trend of engaging with mature material, although there is one issue that the studio shied away from.
Per a report from The Hollywood Reporter in December 2024, a scene that would have confirmed a character being transgender was cut from a later episode in the series. A spokesperson for Disney confirmed that the story arc was removed and provided the following statement to THR: “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.”
While not surprising given the current political climate, it’s a shame to see that happen since Disney animation and Pixar have historically used other themes and topics that might also be advanced for children as well. These stories matter, and a storyline such as the one that was cut would have been so influential for trans and queer youth who deserve to be seen on screen like everyone else. This removal is also noteworthy because it changes the character to then be cis-gender, which the actress who voiced her, Chanel Stewart, is not.
Evaluating the story we did get, Win or Lose is a series that’s great for the whole family, with nuanced characters and a fully fleshed out town. The writing is creative, smart, and hilarious, and the series would have been enhanced had they kept the trans storyline as originally intended.
Rating – 4/5 Pocky
Jorgie is a Senior Writer at POC Culture and a passionate pop culture fan. Jorgie loves learning about visual effects, production, film, and art, and how they all come together to make epic films like Star Wars.
