Transgender actor reacts to Disney cutting storyline from Pixar’s Win or Lose
Chanel Stewart says she was ‘disheartened’ by the decision
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Your support makes all the difference.Chanel Stewart, the transgender actor whose storyline has been cut from Pixar’s upcoming series Win or Lose, has said she is “disheartened” by Disney’s decision.
The animated show, which is set to arrive on Disney+ on February 19, 2025, follows a co-ed middle school softball team.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, a Disney spokesperson confirmed that the planned storyline would no longer be a part of the series, saying: “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.”
Speaking to Deadline, 18-year-old Stewart revealed that Disney had called her on Monday night to tell her the news.
“I was very disheartened,” said Stewart. “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.”
Stewart was initially cast in the show after responding to a Pixar casting call in 2020 that said the studio was looking for an authentic 14-year-old transgender girl to voice a transgender teenager in an upcoming animated series.
“I was exactly what they wanted to a T, and that’s why it felt so right. It felt just so right,” said Stewart. “I immediately asked my mom if I could do it, because I just felt like if I don’t do this, it wouldn’t make sense. You know what I mean?”
It has been reported that while her character is still a part of the show, any lines of dialogue that refer to her gender identity have now been removed.
“It’s just that my character would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl,” explained Stewart. “So yeah, that’s all they really told me and that I was still a part of the show.”
Although her character will no longer be transgender, Stewart added that she remains proud of what her performance on the show means for LGBTQ+ representation.
“I’m definitely one of the first [transgender girls] to do this!” said Stewart of the voiceover role. “It’s a true honor to be a part of queer history.”
The series, in which comedian Will Forte voices Coach Dan, tells the story of a middle school softball team named the Pickles in the week leading up to their championship game. Each of the eight episodes are set to focus on the off-the-field life of an individual character — including players, a parent, a coach, and an umpire.
Disney and Pixar have come under scrutiny for their handling of LGBTQ+ storylines before.
In September, a report by IGN claimed that Pixar executives had sought to squash LGBTQ+ plotlines in Inside Out 2 during the making of the film. The instruction, claimed the report, was to make the film “less gay”.
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