(Julianna Frieman, Headline USA) Disney backpedaled by scrapping a transgender storyline from an upcoming show and admitting discussions on gender and sexual identity should reserved for parents and their children, The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Tuesday.
The Disney+ streaming series Win or Lose, which profile a co-ed middle school softball team named the Pickles, decided to cut the transgender plot “several months ago,” according to the outlet.
Pixar has removed a transgender character’s storyline from their new series ‘WIN OR LOSE’
“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”… pic.twitter.com/Bx3OYsrE1k
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) December 17, 2024
“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 Hollywood Reporter.
The eight episodes of Win or Lose will focus on the lives of characters off-the-field as they prepare for their championship game, the outlet noted.
This includes episodes from the perspective of middle school player, parent, coach, and umpire characters.
🚨BREAKING🚨: Here's the entire now-removed LGBTQ+ scene from Pixar's Win Or Lose. https://t.co/oqovp3tueG pic.twitter.com/Bnh7dtwEpi
— Lost Media Busters | @lostmediabusters.bsky.social (@LostMediaBuster) December 17, 2024
Disney’s change of course comes roughly two years after the company inserted itself into Florida politics, taking a hard stance against the state’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill in 2022.
Disney launched an all-out attack on Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., and the piece of legislation, which Democrats outlandishly branded the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
In Feb. 2023, DeSantis retaliated by signing legislation replacing Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District with the Central Florida Tourism District, ensuring the company’s massive amusement park fairly paid its debts and taxes.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 27, 2023
Disney waged a lawsuit after the Republican governor made clear his intent to dismantle its “corporate kingdom.”
However, Disney dropped its lawsuit in March. Walt Disney World President Jeff Wahle told CNBC that he was “pleased” to abandon the litigation in a statement issued at the time.
Disney’s decision to distance itself from making lesbian, gay, and transgender media for kids appears to be a savvy decision after previous leftist projects tanked at the box office.
Pixar’s June 2022 release Lightyear, which included a homosexual relationship, and Disney Animation’s Strange World, starring an openly gay main character, both failed to perform domestically and globally, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
They earned just $226.4 million and $73.6 million.
Julianna Frieman is a freelance writer published by the Daily Caller, Headline USA, The Federalist, and The American Spectator. Follow her on Twitter at @JuliannaFrieman.
