Disney Dropping Transgender Storyline From Win or Lose

Television

Is Disney pulling back on what the Critical Drinker has dubbed “the message”? Normally, I’d say something qualifying like “maybe” or “it looks like it,” but given today’s story, there’s no denying it anymore. The Hollywood Reporter exclusively reveals that a story arc involving a transgender character has been removed from the upcoming Disney+ Pixar series Win or Lose. Win or Lose follows a kids’ softball team, with each episode focusing on a different character. This particular character, who is unnamed in the piece (which was probably a smart move on Disney’s part), will still be on the show, but references to the character being transgender have been cut. Disney confirmed this story with THR, with a spokesperson issuing this brief statement:

“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.”

Get right out of town! Who’d have thought that parents would rather discuss difficult, contentious, adult topics with their children themselves rather than have a politically motivated company do it for them? Next thing you know, they won’t want their kids to learn about… okay, I was looking for a hyperbolic example, but it doesn’t get much worse than what Disney has already been doing. Of course, that statement is nonsense; Disney knew full well that parents didn’t want them to include disturbing adult content in children’s programming – that’s why they tried to hide it from parents. They’re just now realizing that parents care enough to fight back, and the broader culture is not on their side, nor will the government be in a month. Moreover, as the THR piece points out, they’ve been losing money by the barrel trying to push this ideology on children, and they started making money again once they gave it a rest and let kids’ movies be for kids. I haven’t seen them, but I’d venture a guess there’s no “non-binary” subplot in big hits Moana 2 or Inside Out 2 like there was in mega-flop Elemental.

Removing this storyline from Win or Lose is the clearest sign yet that the entertainment industry is moving away from wokeness/DEI/identity politics and getting back to entertaining its audience. First of all, this is not a rumor or a supposition; Disney confirmed that this is true, which in itself is a big deal. Disney isn’t quietly letting this arc disappear; they’re announcing that they removed it, that they’ve learned not to push topics like this on kids, and that they can be trusted to provide safe children’s entertainment again. This is Disney telling parents, “We did a good thing and deserve a doggie treat in the form of Disney+ subscriptions and movie tickets.” Could they be lying as they plan to sneak woke ideology into their movies and shows more subtly? Perhaps, but they have to know that if they renege on this deal – and this is a new deal they’re making with parents – they’ll never be trusted again. This is their shot, and I think they’ve lost too much and got sent too big a message to screw it up. Now, they need to put up or shut up; they need to deliver entertainment devoid of their radical nonsense several times in a row to regain the trust they lost. (I know they’ve already got Inside Out 2 and Moana 2; I mean a few times after announcing this message.)

Will this translate to other woke topics and other franchises beyond Pixar and Disney Animation? That’s a bit murkier, but I think it may. Looking specifically at Marvel, a golden goose that’s been fricasseed for a non-specific winter holiday they won’t allow themselves to name. There have been signs that Disney and the Marvel brass want to right this ship, including the specifically non-woke Deadpool & Wolverine (which even had a funny joke about the subject), the reveals that the Russo Brothers, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Evans would be returning, the snubbing of She-Hulk, and Chris Gore’s report that they’ve fired all their woke producers. WDW Pro has a video (embedded above) pointing out that the success of the new video game Marvel Rivals could push the MCU to return to classic Marvel as well. On the other hand, The Fantastic Four: First Steps is still including a female version of the Silver Surfer despite having plenty of time to change it. And they haven’t announced anything yet to the degree that Disney just did about its animated children’s productions. So, we’ll have to wait and see how this goes, but for now, I want to take comfort in the good news.

Let us know what you think of Disney dropping a transgender storyline from Win or Lose in the comments!

***

If you want to know what kind of political leanings movies have or just talk about cinema, check out the movie ratings community Criticless.

Get Your Geeks + Gamers merch here!