Disney Pixar’s latest animated series, “Win or Lose,” has ignited a cultural firestorm with the introduction of its first explicitly Christian character in nearly two decades — a move that starkly contrasts with the studio’s recent decision to drop a transgender storyline from the same project.
“Win or Lose,” which premiered on Disney+ this month after a delay from its planned 2023 debut, is set in the whimsical world of Pixar’s “Inside Out” films. The series follows the Pickles, a middle school softball team, in the week leading up to their championship game. Each of the series’ eight episodes focuses on the thought lives of a different character.
The series’ premiere episode, “Coach’s Kid,” introduces Laurie, the daughter of the team’s coach, who grapples with insecurity and anxiety. One of the episode’s first scenes depicts Laurie, who, as she prepares for an upcoming game, bows her head and folds her hands in prayer as she asks God for strength.
The scene marks the first time a Disney character is portrayed offering an explicitly Christian prayer since 1996’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”.
Not all of the content in “Coach’s Kid” is biblical: in another scene in the same episode, Laurie talks to her tarot card-consulting mom, who attempts to read her cards to guess Laurie’s big news.