# Win or Lose (TV series)

Win or Lose is an American animated television miniseries produced by Pixar Animation Studios for the streaming service Disney+ and is the first original scripted series from the studio. It was created and written by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, who also served as executive producers with David Lally, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lindsey Collins. The series revolves around a co-ed softball team at middle school named the Pickles in the week leading up to their big championship game, with each episode showing the perspective of each member in the same events, each reflected in a unique visual style.
The series' cast includes Will Forte, Ian Chen, Izaac Wang, Jo Firestone, Milan Ray, Josh Thomson, Erin Keif, Rosie Foss, Rosa Salazar, Chanel Stewart, Dorien Watson, Lil Rel Howery, Flula Borg, Kyliegh Curran, Jaylin Fletcher, Tom Law, Beck Nolan, Orion Tran, and Rhea Seehorn. Pixar was developing the long-form original series following the creation of Disney+. It was officially announced in December 2020, during Disney's Investor Day, with Hobson and Yates on board who conceived the idea. Win or Lose draws inspiration from the conversations between Hobson and Yates, who would have very different reactions to the exact same events upon working on Toy Story 4 (2019). The animation style appears to shift, distinguishing itself further in each episode, with Brendan Beesley, Brandon Kern, and Tom Zach as the heads of animation. Docter described the series as "a comedy about love, rivalry, and the challenges we all face in our struggles to win at life". Its musical score was composed by Ramin Djawadi.
Win or Lose premiered on Disney+ on February 19, 2025, and consists of eight episodes. It has received positive reviews from critics, although Disney's decision to remove a storyline related to a character being transgender was criticized.

## Synopsis

Win or Lose follows a group of interconnected stories centered around a co-ed middle school softball team called the Pickles, over the course of the week leading up to their big championship game. Each episode focuses on a central character - either a member of the Pickles or one of their loved ones or acquaintances - whose life begins falling apart during the given week, causing their anxieties, insecurities, and coping mechanisms to internally manifest in vivid imaginations that they hide from others in their lives.

## Voice cast and characters
### Main

* Rosie Foss as Laurie, the Pickles' right fielder, Coach Dan's daughter, and Rochelle's best friend. Her anxiety manifests as an imaginary "friend" named Sweaty that constantly talks down to her.
* Josh Thomson as Frank Brown, the umpire of the softball games and a teacher at the school that several Pickles players attend. His coping mechanism manifests as a suit of blue armor inspired by his love of fantasy novels.
* Milan Ray as Rochelle Kiana Rodriguez, the Pickles' catcher and Laurie's best friend who also runs the softball field's concession stand. Her coping mechanism manifests as her imagining herself as an adult businesswoman, born from a need to make money to support her struggling family.
* Rosa Salazar as Vanessa Rodriguez, Rochelle's single mother who works multiple jobs, including as an influencer. Her coping mechanism is a collection of anthropomorphic hearts representing her social media likes and followers.
* Dorien Watson as Ira, Taylor's younger brother. His coping mechanism is imagining different fantastical scenarios through a cardboard tube to make up for his lack of friends.
* Izaac Wang as Yuwen Wang, the Pickles' pitcher, Kai's best friend, and Taylor's eventual boyfriend. His insecurities manifest as a miniature paper diorama cut-out of himself, dubbed "Little Yuwen", who lives in his heart, while simultaneously projecting an arrogant and self-centered external personality.
* Chanel Stewart as Kai, the Pickles' highly talented center fielder (later shortstop) and Yuwen's best friend. Her coping mechanism manifests in an ability to hover above the ground in pure joy, while her anxieties sink her into the ground, sometimes completely under the surface. Although it was reported that Kai was initially written as a trans character, there is no verbal mention of the term in the show; nevertheless, implications of her transition and gender euphoria remain in episode 7.
* Will Forte as Coach Dan, the coach of the Pickles and Laurie's father. His anxieties manifest in him inflating and deflating different parts of his body, while his coping mechanism takes the form of a glass dome encompassing the softball field.

### Supporting

* Ian Chen as Junn, one of the Pickles.
* Jo Firestone as Sweaty, a sweaty monster that Laurie hallucinates.
* Erin Keif as:
** Lena, a local coffee barista and Frank's friend.
** Kerin, a member of the PTA with short blond hair and glasses.
* Lil Rel Howery as James, Kai's father.
* Melissa Villaseñor as Veronica, a snobby friend of Vanessa’s, the head of the PTA and the mother of Luciana.
* Flula Borg as Francis, the school janitor.
* Kyliegh Curran as Taylor, the Pickles’ shortstop, Ira's older sister and Yuwen's love interest.
* Jaylin Fletcher as "Chicken-Kev", a chicken-themed mascot and one of the Bleacher Creatures.
* Tom Law as Tom, the Pickles’ first baseman and Rochelle and Kai's slow-witted classmate.
* Romi Rey Herrada as Luciana, the Pickles' third base player who hides her eyes behind her pink hair, and the daughter of Veronica.
* Regan To as Hannah, the Pickles' second base player.
* Akira Evans as Terrence, the Pickles' husky short stop with the black rim glasses.
* Winston Vengapally as Borna, left fielder for the Pickles with conjunctivitis in his left eye.
* Beck Nolan as Brian Dyson, a shady teenager and one of the Bleacher Creatures.
* Jenna Ann as Rinna, Brian's accomplice and one of the Bleacher Creatures.
* Orion Tran as "Little Yuwen", an imaginary representation of Yuwen's heart.
* Rhea Seehorn as Carole, Laurie’s mother and Dan's ex-wife.
* Emily Ricks as Paula, Laurie's sister.
* Vyvan Pham as Monica Park, Frank's ex-girlfriend.
* Harlow Hodges as Zane, Rochelle's baby brother.
* Santina Muha as Cheryl, who runs the concession stand with Rochelle.
* Scott Menville as Random Dave, a member of the PTA who wears a T-shirt with a microphone on it. It is revealed in "Home" that he does not actually have a kid on the team, he only comes for the games.
* Dylan Buccieri as Odo, a young blonde boy who drinks orange soda and acts as a narrator and a warner.

## Episodes

| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Featured character | Original release date |
| 1 | "Coach's Kid" | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Laurie | February 19, 2025 (2025-02-19) |
| Laurie, the right fielder of the Pickles, suffers from anxiety as she tries to impress her father, Coach Dan, amid his impending divorce. However, she is terrible at softball and has been unable to reach base or catch all season. Her insecurities manifest as an imaginary sweat-like creature called Sweaty, which constantly distracts her. Laurie spends the week overworking herself training for the championship, but her self-doubt increases, especially after she accidentally injures Kai, the Pickles' center fielder and best player, during batting practice in front of her father, causing Sweaty to grow to massive size, which weighs Laurie down. During the game, to her father sees her discomfort, and he calls a timeout. They have a talk that makes her realize that while she may be bad at softball, she can still contribute, causing her to finally get rid of Sweaty. However, as she embraces her newfound confidence, Laurie gets hit by the ball. ||||||
| 2 | "Blue" | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Frank | February 19, 2025 (2025-02-19) |
| Frank Brown, the softball league's umpire and a teacher at the school, prides himself on his accuracy and ability to take criticism (represented by him wearing an imaginary blue suit of armor), but has been facing problems with social skills ever since breaking up with his girlfriend and fellow teacher, Monica Park, for being unable to commit to marriage. At the insistence of Francis, the school's janitor, he reluctantly starts using a dating app, visually represented as a role-playing video game. He finds a connection with another woman, but an encounter with Monica and interrogative parent-teacher conference with Vanessa regarding Rochelle cheating on a test indirectly convinces him to reconcile with Monica. However, Frank finds Monica engaged to someone else, which causes him to be heartbroken and distracted during the championship game. ||||||
| 3 | "Raspberry" | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Rochelle | February 26, 2025 (2025-02-26) |
| Rochelle, the Pickles' catcher, comes from a financially-struggling family, not helped by her social media influencer mother, Vanessa. In addition to being a straight-A student, Rochelle works part-time at the concession stand in order to earn enough money to pay the fee for her to play softball again next year; when working like this, she transforms into an imaginary older businesswoman version of herself. When she finds out that the fee has gone up by $600 and is due by next Saturday, Rochelle hides this from Vanessa and resorts to taking bribes from her peers to help them cheat in their homework, resulting in her unintentionally getting herself and Kai in trouble with Frank while trying to help one of them, Tom, cheat on a test. Rochelle evades blame when Vanessa talks about her actions when she confronts her. Still $200 short, she tries to sell new cleats Vanessa bought for her online, but must travel to the outskirts of town to deliver them the day of the championship game. She later realizes that she does not have her phone and finds herself at a high school party where she meets the buyers, a trio of teens consisting of the team's mascot "Chicken-Kev", Rinna, and leader Brian, aka the Bleacher Creatures. They confess they actually want the keys to the concession stand to steal from it and will give her the money later. Rochelle escapes with Chicken-Kev giving chase in a car. She eventually loses her keys to Chicken-Kev. Lost, Rochelle runs to a payphone and calls her mother. ||||||
| 4 | "Pickle" | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Vanessa | February 26, 2025 (2025-02-26) |
| Vanessa, the mother of Rochelle and infant Zane, is struggling in her role as a single parent due to Zane's biting getting him kicked out of daycare and her boss firing her when she leaves work to check on him. She finds comfort in her social media followers, represented by an imaginary group of hearts, and in Rochelle. Not telling Rochelle about her situation, Vanessa secures other jobs with a ridesharing company and at a women-centric gym and teaches Zane to learn to play more gently. However, Frank calls Vanessa to inform her that Rochelle helped Kai cheat on a test, and after their parent-teacher conference Vanessa feels insecure regarding Rochelle's integrity and ends up accidentally stealing Rochelle's phone to see who she has been helping cheat. Finding Tom's profile, she confronts him in person ahead of the championship game - which is also on her 30th birthday - and finds out that Rochelle has been using secret alternate accounts to advertise her business of helping the other students cheat for money, eventually finding out that she is going to sell the new shoes she bought for her. Pleading with her followers to help her find her daughter, they manage to join together to ID one of the buyers, Brian, and spot Rochelle at the party. Vanessa storms into the party to retrieve her, but after venting about her motherhood struggles to some teenage girls, she finds out that Rochelle had left. She gets a phone call from Rochelle and goes to retrieve her, and tells her that they need to talk about what has been going on. ||||||
| 5 | "Steal" | Michael Yates Carrie Hobson | Michael Yates Carrie Hobson | Ira | March 5, 2025 (2025-03-05) |
| Ira, Taylor's younger brother, is bored at his sister's softball game, so he uses his imagination to liven it up by looking through cardboard tube telescope. When Taylor begins hanging with Yuwen, Ira meets the Bleacher Creatures, who hang out at the field. They convince him to pull off a heist job at the concession stand but he uses his imagination to make them look like heroes. The night of the championship, Ira and the Bleacher Creatures go to the teen party, but Ira begins to feel guilty about what he did. After Rochelle escapes from their attempt to get her keys to the concession stand, Brian breaks Ira's cardboard tube telescope in a fit of anger, upsetting him and sending him home. Before the championship game, Ira attempts to tell Taylor what happened, but has no sympathy, having had a fight with Yuwen. Ira attempts to makes things right by bringing some of the stolen Swedish Fish back to the concession stand, but Brian apologizes and offers to resume their friendship. ||||||
| 6 | "Mixed Signals" | Trevor Jimenez Chris Sasaki | Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Yuwen | March 5, 2025 (2025-03-05) |
| Yuwen is the overconfident pitcher of the Pickles, but his heart, represented by an imaginary paper craft diorama character named "Little Yuwen" shows his insecurities. After showing Laurie the humiliating video remix of her that he created, he gets defensive and states that he likes Taylor, who returns his affection. As time goes on, Taylor and Yuwen become inseparable and Yuwen shows Taylor how to be a catcher. Yuwen then opens up to Taylor and shows her his "Little Yuwen" and Taylor likewise shows him her own insecure "Little Taylor". However, Yuwen notices Taylor acting similarly toward Tom and becomes jealous. The night of the championship, their fight affects the game and with Rochelle missing, Taylor fills in as catcher. As revenge, Yuwen ignores Taylor's signals and hits her with the ball. Having had enough of his attitude, Taylor breaks up with Yuwen and leaves the game altogether, leaving Yuwen brokenhearted and paralyzed on the field as the away team crosses the bases. ||||||
| 7 | "I Got It" | Michael Yates Carrie Hobson | Michael Yates Carrie Hobson | Kai | March 12, 2025 (2025-03-12) |
| One year before the championship game, Kai and their father, James, move to Peak's Valley to live with their grandmother. Kai notices a softball team practicing on the field and decides to join. This upsets James, who used to play college baseball and hoped that Kai would as well but respects their choice. One year later, Kai becomes the star player for the Pickles, but her father's standards for her make her doubt herself; her state of mind is represented by her floating in midair and sinking into the ground respectively. To pick herself up after getting caught cheating, Kai helps Laurie train but sprains her ankle as after getting hit by the ball Laurie hit, but she keeps this hidden. After Taylor leaves the championship game, Kai has Tom catch the ball at home moving to the final inning. After Laurie gets a walk, a hobbling Kai hits the ball to the outfield. ||||||
| 8 | "Home" | Lou Hamou-Lhadj Carrie Hobson Michael Yates | Michael Yates Carrie Hobson | Coach Dan | March 12, 2025 (2025-03-12) |
| Coach Dan takes great pride in his team and being a role model for Laurie, envisioning the softball field as a glass dome home for the team; however, his anxieties are reflecting by the imaginary inflating and deflating of his body. After the winning game, Coach Dan is confronted by the PTA who tell him they intend to replace him with James as coach. Dan tries to keep his anger in check, but struggles with James' persistent attempts to interfere and his divorce creating a rift between him and Laurie. At the championship game, Kai's hit splits the outfield. Laurie scores and ties the game, but Kai overshoots herself due to James pushing her and her injury dragging her down, and when sliding for home, Frank calls her out. The resulting argument over the call between Frank, James, and Dan causes Frank to snap and eject him after Ira accidentally pushes the latter into the former. Outraged, Dan begins to have a temper tantrum, represented by him inflating like a blimp causing the dome to shatter, and the PTA starts a riot against Frank. Meanwhile, Ira realizes the Bleacher Creatures intend to steal the concession stand's cash box; he takes it from them and runs, and Taylor, who actually left the game when she heard Ira's call for help, rescues him. Rochelle and Vanessa return to the game, the former attempting to help Laurie calm Dan down and the latter coming to Frank's aid. James finds Kai, who sunk under the field, and tells her she is more than enough and apologizes to her for not saying it sooner, while "Little Yuwen" revives and reinvigorates Yuwen. The Pickles attempt to bring Dan back down to Earth, with Laurie finally calming him down by reminding him it is only a game. As reality is restored, Dan apologizes for his outburst and agrees to sit the rest of the game out. Vanessa flirts with Frank after he saves Zane from choking. Taylor makes amends with Ira, as well as Yuwen and they agree to remain friends. The outcome of the game is not revealed as the Pickles happily eat at a pizzeria. When they depart, Laurie tells her father she is thinking of quitting softball. ||||||

## Production
### Development

In December 2020, during Disney's Investor Day meeting, Pixar announced an original series titled Win or Lose for its parent company Disney's streaming service, Disney+. Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates were announced to be creating, writing, and directing from an idea they conceived, while David Lally was announced to be producing the project. Pixar's chief creative officer Pete Docter stated; "It's not so much about softball as it is a comedy about love, rivalry, and the challenges we all face in our struggles to win at life". The series would consist of episodes that each run approximately 20 minutes long. When working on Toy Story 4 (2019), Hobson and Yates realized that they had different interpretations of how their creative meetings went, so they used these differing interpretations to develop the idea of an animated series revolving around one event but with each character having their own conflicts surrounding the event. Hobson explained that Win or Lose has all the humor and heart of a Pixar feature film, but with a different type of storytelling. She also stated: "It's less of a Rashomon and more... You think you know a character, and then you pull back the curtain and reveal they have their own thing going on". Hobson and Yates also executive-produced the series alongside Lally, Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lindsey Collins.
Win or Lose is Pixar's first series not to be based upon an existing property, as most of Pixar's television projects are based upon an existing property and usually short-form. Pixar began considering developing a TV series following the creation of Disney+. Yates and Hobson said one of the reasons a TV show format was selected for the series was the idea of experimenting with the format and longer storytelling, particularly regarding character perspectives, as well as a love for television. Another reason was how television would allow Pixar to do things a feature film format would not allow to. Hobson and Yates noted they both had to learn how to work on an episodic format. In July 2023, Lally confirmed on Twitter that post-production for the series was completed.

### Writing

According to Hobson and Yates, a major theme on the series is how things are not as they seem, and seeing things from different perspectives, particularly how people in one place can have different experiences. Each episode centers on a different character; characters are first introduced in a different episode, after which their episode further explores the said character after the perception first given in their debut. Hobson said the characters were inspired by her and Yates, as well as by people they have met through their lives and their own experiences.

### Casting

At the September 2022 D23 Expo, it was announced that Will Forte would voice the lead character Coach Dan, ahead of a first look image released on the same day. Forte's voice performance as Coach was inspired by Robin Williams as the Genie from Disney's Aladdin (1992). Yates said, "Will was constantly improving. It was an overflow of great stuff. The hardest part was having a five-minute scene with constant belly laughs and having to get it to three minutes!" In June 2023, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Milan Ray and Rosa Salazar joined the voice cast. At the August 2024 D23 fan event, Ian Chen, Izaac Wang, Jo Firestone, Josh Thomson, Erin Keif, and Rosie Foss were announced as part of the voice cast. In January 2025, Dorien Watson, Lil Rel Howery, Flula Borg, Kyliegh Curran, Jaylin Fletcher, Tom Law, Beck Nolan, Orion Tran, and Rhea Seehorn were revealed as part of the voice cast.

### Controversies

In December 2024, The Hollywood Reporter (THR) announced that a storyline regarding a transgender character, Kai, in the series had been cut. THR noted "A source close to Win or Lose said the studio made the decision to alter course several months ago." A Disney spokesperson stated, "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." While Kai remains in the series, lines of dialogue that referenced gender identity were cut. Chanel Stewart, the openly transgender actress who voices the character in question, criticized the decision, saying she was told that while she would still be a part of the show, the character she was playing would now be straight and cisgender. In addition, since the character of Laurie identified as Christian, some speculated that her character was conceived this way - and in turn, Kai's character altered to cisgender - in order to conform with conservative political ideologies. The episode that focuses on Kai, "I Got It", was not screened in advance to critics, but includes implications that the character is transgender, such as dressing masculine and having masculine hairstyle at the start of her episode, growing out her hair and adopting a more feminine look over the course of a timeskip montage, hiding photos of her younger self that look more masculine, and her catcher's mitt having an old name that was ripped out, eventually being replaced by "Kai" in new stitching.
Following the show's release, news outlets commented on the similarities between the text logos of the show's Pickles team and the Portland Pickles, leading to some accusations of copyright infringement.

### Animation

Mark C. Harris (directing animator of Cars 3) and Gini Cruz Santos (supervising animator of Coco) served as the animation supervisors on the series, while Kevin Andrus and Stefan Schumacher served as directing animators on the series, with Lucas Fraga Pacheco also as directing animator for a few episodes. Animation was provided by the artist crew that worked on feature films. Win or Lose used more animators than a feature film. The series made heavy use of visual metaphors, with some characters featuring multiple metaphors. In each episode, the animation style appears to shift, further distinguishing itself. For example, Yuwen's story appears to mimic a cardboard diorama, and the actual softball footage mimics that of a traditional sports anime. This was made in order to visualize each character's perspective. The production team worked closely with the animators in order to define how each character would move in a way that showcases their characterization. The series also made use of 2D animation, which the producers said was determined regarding what the story mandated.

### Music

In June 2023, Ramin Djawadi was revealed to be composing for the series. He began recording the score two months later. Original songs for the series were written and produced by the duo Campfire (Shane Eli and Jonny Pakfar) based on themes by Djawadi. The duo also provided additional music for the series' score. A 52 track soundtrack album with the original score and original songs was released on February 21, 2025.
All tracks are written by Ramin Djawadi, except where noted

## Release

Win or Lose was initially announced to premiere on Disney+ in December 2023. However, on November 15, 2023, it was announced that the series was delayed to 2024. The series was then slated to premiere on December 6, 2024, before being delayed again to February 19, 2025, swapping release dates with fellow Pixar series Dream Productions. The series consists of eight episodes, which are being released on a two episodes a week basis. On March 7, 2025, the first episode "Coach's Kid" was uploaded to Pixar's YouTube channel.

### Marketing

On November 12, 2021, during Pixar's special for 2021's Disney+ Day, the first look at the concept art was revealed, offering a sneak peek at some of the characters featured in the series. It received mostly positive response from Pixar fans. On September 9, 2022, during the 2022 D23 Expo, Hobson and Yates presented a first look at the series. On June 16, 2023, footage of an episode initially titled "Vanessa: The Cool Mom" was shown at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. A teaser trailer was released on August 9, 2024, while the official trailer was released on January 16, 2025.

## Reception
### Viewership

TVision, which utilizes its TVision Power Score to evaluate CTV programming performance by factoring in viewership and engagement across over 1,000 apps and incorporating four key metrics—viewer attention time, total program time available for the season, program reach, and app reach—calculated that Win or Lose was the sixth most-streamed series from February 17—23. It later moved to eleventh place from February 24 to March 2. Disney+, which calculates its "Top 10" list by considering daily views for episodes and movies alongside the growing popularity of newly released titles, reported that Win or Lose was the second most-popular title in the U.S. on March 11.

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 87% approval rating with an average rating of 6.7/10, based on 30 critic reviews. The website's critics consensus reads, "By giving each member of its ragtag team of lovable kids their time to shine, Win or Lose bats close to a perfect game." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 68 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Polly Conway of Common Sense Media gave Win or Lose a rating of four out of five stars, praising the show's diverse and relatable characters, highlighting positive role models like Laurie, who is determined to impress her father, and Frank, who navigates personal struggles with self-worth and romance. Conway found the content to be generally mild, with occasional body humor, bullying, and light sports violence. She noted that while there is some romantic content and light language, the series promotes positive messages about overcoming challenges and being kind. Jesse Hassenger from IGN rated the series 8 out of 10 and praised its emotional depth and its ability to balance humor and whimsy while exploring themes like anxiety and self-worth, using inventive animation metaphors. He found that the show's episodic format, focusing on different characters' perspectives, was both engaging and innovative. He stated that, despite the show's occasional feeling of fragmentation due to its short episodes, Win or Lose succeeds in offering a relatable and heartfelt experience for both kids and adults. He also noted that the series' handling of emotional challenges, particularly in its portrayal of characters processing difficult situations, was both clever and sensitive, though he expressed disappointment over the removal of a storyline involving a transgender character.
Elijah Gonzalez of Paste rated the show 8.3 out of 10 and complimented its ability to balance humor with serious themes, including Laurie's struggles with parental expectations and Frank's emotional journey after a breakup. He noted that Pixar's usual high-quality animation translates well into TV, with inventive visual metaphors that represent characters' inner turmoil in imaginative ways. While he enjoyed the emotional depth and humor of the show, he pointed out that the episodes lack resolution, making them feel like short films without closure. He also expressed disappointment over the removal of a trans character storyline. Despite these issues, he found Win or Lose to be a pleasant surprise, offering a fresh take on the sports genre by focusing more on the personal lives of the characters than the sport itself. Andrew Parker of TheGATE.ca said that Win or Lose is an ambitious and emotionally rich project that will appeal to both kids and adults. He praised the show for its playful execution and depth, comparing it to Rashomon and The Afterparty in its exploration of the same events from multiple perspectives. He found the series to balance humor and heartfelt moments, with a slightly darker tone than expected. He stated that each episode offers a unique viewpoint, focusing on different characters' experiences, and noted the show's emotional tone. While he acknowledged some moments felt softened for a broader audience, he praised the visuals and storytelling, describing Win or Lose an engaging and easily watchable series that showcases Pixar's strength in long-form storytelling.