Pixar has officially entered the world of episodic television with its first original series, Win or Lose, and the studio is making the premiere available to stream for free on YouTube 📺. The show centers on the Pickles, a co-ed middle school softball team 🥎, utilizing a shifting narrative structure where each episode explores a different character’s perspective 👥. In classic Pixar fashion, these stories vividly animate the characters’ internal lives, personifying their deepest insecurities and defense mechanisms 🧠.
The opener focuses on Laurie, the team’s right fielder and the “coach’s kid” 🧢. Despite her lineage, she struggles significantly on the field, a challenge compounded by her anxiety. The series visualizes this internal turmoil as a sentient, anxious blob of perspiration appropriately named Sweaty 😰 💦.
If the pilot captures your imagination, finishing the season requires a trip to Disney+ ✨. The remaining seven episodes are exclusive to the platform, with the final two chapters dropping on March 12 📅. For those looking to subscribe, the ad-supported bundle featuring both Disney+ and Hulu currently offers a cost-effective way to catch up 💳.
However, the series faced significant scrutiny well before its February 19 debut 🔍. Win or Lose was originally slated to feature an openly transgender character named Kai 🏳️⚧️. While the character—voiced by trans actress Chanel Stewart—remains in the show, Disney ultimately decided to remove several lines of dialogue that explicitly referenced her gender identity ✂️.
The backlash was intensified by the timing of the news, which broke shortly after Donald Trump’s election victory 🇺🇸. Critics pointed to a perceived double standard: while references to Kai’s identity were cut, the show retained a scene where Laurie, an openly Christian character, prays aloud to “Heavenly Father” before batting 🙏. This contrast led many to speculate that the edits were an act of appeasement toward the incoming administration, occurring alongside a broader trend of corporate leaders visiting Mar-a-Lago and scaling back DEI initiatives 📉.
Disney, however, maintained that the decision was strictly about parental prerogative 👨👩👧👦. “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 told The Hollywood Reporter in December. Furthermore, sources close to the production indicated the edits were made months prior—at a time when election forecasts were far from certain—suggesting the move wasn’t a direct reaction to political outcomes 🕰️.
Controversy aside, the animation studio’s latest experiment is now available for public viewing. You can watch the full first episode below to decide for yourself 👀 👇.