The trailer for Pixar Animation Studio’s first-ever original series, “win or lose,” has been released, with the entire series streaming on Disney+ on February 19. The animated show features the intertwined stories of eight characters as they prepare for their big softball game. These characters have undergone at least a few tweaks on behalf of Disney, which rrequested that a document about a trans character be removed and adjusted dialogue lines to remove all mention of gender identity.
“When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and timeline,” a spokesperson said in a statement to IndieWire at the time.
Each episode of “Win or Lose” focuses on a different character’s perspective, including the kids, their parents and the game’s referee, and the trailer reveals how dreams and anxiety are rendered in a colorful and sometimes mixed animation style. The fantasy vignettes and perspective shifts are a device likely to appeal both to kids who love a good visual gag and to anyone who wants sports stories to be about more than what’s on the field; the sweat monsters and the off-field orange soda oracle are included.
“I played softball growing up,” Carrie Hobson said in a statement. Hobson wrote, directed and produced the series alongside Michael Yates. “Inspired by that experience, we felt fast-pitch softball was the perfect backdrop for the show. There are so many aspects of playing sports that I love — it can bring out the best and the worst in a person; the calmest person can lose their temper. And when it comes to winning and losing — the consequences are nothing, and yet they’re everything. We really felt that was the best arena for the themes we loved.”
In addition to the sport’s potential to load thematic bases, “Win or Lose” features some musical experimentation with a score by Ramin Djawadi, probably best known for the much grittier fantasy “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon.” and songs by Djawadi and CAMPFIRE.
“Win or Lose” features the voices of Will Forte, Rosie Foss, Josh Thomson, Milan Elizabeth Ray, Rosa Salazar, Dorien Watson, Izaac Wang, Chanel Stewart, Lil Rel Howery, Melissa Villaseñor, Jo Firestone, Flula Borg, Kyleigh Curran , Jaylin Fletcher, Erin Keif, Tom Law, Beck Nolan, Orion Tran and Rhea Seehorn.
Watch the trailer below.
