Disney Scraps Transgender Storyline from Upcoming Pixar Series “Win or Lose”: Report

A transgender storyline has reportedly been cut from Pixar’s upcoming Win or Lose series.

Ahead of its February 2025 release, Disney cut the transgender storyline from Pixar’s first long-form series, according to The Hollywood Reporter and Variety.

A Disney spokesperson confirmed the story arc removal to THR, who was first to report the news, saying that the character will still be part of the series but no longer has the "few lines of dialogue that referenced gender identity."

“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 for Disney told the outlet.

A source close to production also told THR the lines were removed several months ago. Another source close to production told Variety that the transgender storyline was not the topic of a full episode.

A spokesperson for Disney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Related: Disney+, Marvel Studios, More Disney Companies Denounce Anti-LGBTQ Legislation amid Employee Walkout

Win or Lose was created, written, and directed by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates. Each episode of the animated series follows a different member of a co-ed softball team as they prepare for the championship game.

“Win or Lose reveals 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 official synopsis reads.

In the series' press release, Disney’s Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter described the show as “a major, first-of-its-kind tentpole series, one that really showcases what I think makes our studio great: bold, imaginative storytelling; laugh-out-loud humor; and characters that we can all relate to.”

Related: Disney Scraps Plan to Bring 2,000 High-Paying Jobs to Florida amid Feud with Ron DeSantis

Disney has released several productions with LGBTQ+ storylines over the years, including Agatha All Along, All of Us Strangers, Next Goal Wins, Fire Island and Pose, but it hasn’t been without pushback.

In 2023, a Florida teacher was investigated by the state’s Department of Education for showing her fifth-grade class Strange World. The 2022 movie features Disney’s first openly gay character, although their sexuality is not the focal point of the plot.

At the time, Gov. Ron DeSantis had just moved to expand the state’s ”Don't Say Gay" bill, which blocked the discussion of certain LGBTQ topics in the third grade or younger or "in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards," to cover grades 4 through 12 as well.

The bill sparked a feud between DeSantis and Disney after they condemned the law and said that it "should never have passed and should never have been signed into law." They also expressed that their “goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down by the courts.”

In retaliation, DeSantis took over the oversight district and fought the company on Disney World’s special privileges like tax exemptions, Disney's police and fire services and their ability to build and maintain their own roads.

Disney filed a lawsuit in response, and a settlement was finally agreed upon in June 2024.

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Win or Lose premieres Feb. 19, 2025 on Disney+.

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