Win Or Lose Review: I'm Thrilled Pixar Is Embracing Its Origins In An Emotional & Innovative Original Series That Challenges Kids

Win or Lose, Pixar’s first original animated series, had a flurry of controversy in the lead-up to its release on Disney+. The controversy stemmed from Disney’s inability to have good and honest representation without chickening out at the last minute, with reports of Disney removing a transgender storyline from Win or Lose, causing a stir within their creative ranks and general audiences after learning of it.

After screening the first four episodes of Win or Lose, I question why Disney couldn’t trust their creatives’ instincts without assuming some retaliatory reactions would tank their very successful company. Alas, trying to make sense of nonsensical actions can be fruitless, and I can get into this review of a perfectly fine animated series that would hardly be perceived as offensive.

Pixar Returns To Their Origins With An Original Series That Focuses On Innovation

Win or Lose is an anthology series that follows an elementary school softball team as they enter the championships. Each episode focuses on a member of the team or a close adult, exploring a personal narrative that either influences the results of the championships or adds dimension to the experience. The show plays with classic Pixar tropes, balancing difficult emotions with general cartoonish silliness. Stylistically, the show takes a step back from the more realistic approach recent projects like Soul and Inside Out have done for the human characters, leaning towards more creatively inclined depictions.

…the animated Disney+ series isn’t all heavy themes and sourness; it is entertaining, fun, and engaging.

Narratively, Win or Lose is engaging, breaking down a singular event into smaller stories to create a colorful, dynamic portrait of a close-knit community. Each episode adapts its animation style to fit the character it focuses on, yet there is a cohesiveness in both the animation and the narrative that holds steady throughout. The shifting in styles adds to the entertainment but evokes a sense of nostalgia for how Pixar used to be held in such high regard for its innovative and expressive works.

This is Pixar’s first series that is not based on an existing property, and there is a feeling of utter relief as many of their recent films, like Inside Out 2 and the upcoming Toy Story 5, and TV shows, Monsters at Work and Dream Productions, have not been based on original stories. Win or Lose gains a lot of goodwill for simply being a unique project that deals with a multitude of themes, all of which are told in concise episodes of under 25 minutes.

Win Or Lose Has Engaging Themes That Challenge Kids

All While Being Reasonably Entertaining

The show is very appropriate for younger audiences; there is an attempt to pull in older audiences, which adds layers for kids to explore and learn. While it is appreciated, it is interesting that adult themes are willingly injected into a show for kids who have yet to experience things such as feeling lonely after ending a relationship. And yet experiences that do impact kids, like gender identity and sexuality, are stripped away because it is supposedly difficult for them to engage with.

The back half of the series may squash this line of thinking, but if what has been reported is absolutely true and plays out that way, Win or Lose stumbles to properly execute its central theme, which is that there are always multiple perspectives, and how people who exist in the same community, school or friend group are experiencing different things in their lives despite them having commonalities that bring them together. Kids can understand that their friends have different experiences in the same way they understand that adults have lives they aren’t privy to.

Ultimately, removing a storyline about a transgender character speaks to the utter disrespect for kids’ ability to understand and insults their intelligence, especially when Win or Lose challenges kids with a story about a young girl struggling with her parents’ divorce, anxiety, and parental disappointment. The following episodes follow a teacher dealing with a failed relationship, a member of the team dealing with money insecurity and parentification, and a struggling single mother. These are themes that require parental or guardian guidance to comprehend fully.

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Paddington’s third outing sees a major change to the dynamic, like this review, which includes the thoughts of an 8-year-old guest pundit.

That said, the animated Disney+ series isn’t all heavy themes and sourness; it is entertaining, fun, and engaging. The first four episodes are building toward what seems like a wholesome and cathartic ending, as not every episode ends with what is necessarily a “happy” ending.

All in all, Win or Lose is entertaining and educational. Representation issues aside, Pixar has shown considerable growth in its characterizations, animation, and narrative construction with this series. At the same time, the studio and its parent company are resistant to representation. If anything, Win or Lose greatly benefits from its diverse tapestry and stories. It feels real and genuine in its attempts to illustrate a close-knit community.

Win or Lose is following in the footsteps of Inside Out and Turning Red, projects that tap into intimate and emotionally charged themes about the human experience but from a child’s point of view. Hopefully, this will lead to more creatively fulfilling works that aren’t simply sequels.