‘Win or lose:’ Disney cuts transgender storyline from new animated series

New York
CNN
—

Disney has cut a transgender storyline from its new animated series, “Win or Lose,” ahead of the show’s release.

The original animated series from Disney-owned studio Pixar centers around a co-ed high school softball team, the Pickles, in the run-up to the group’s championship game. Each of the series’ eight episodes, which begin to roll out on Disney+ on February 19will focus on another member of the Pickles.

While the storyline involving gender identity will no longer be included, the character will remain in the series, a person familiar with the matter told CNN, adding that the decision to remove the plot point was made a few months ago. Still, the message isn’t as simple as crossing out lines from a script, since the character’s dialogue has already been recorded.

“When it comes to animated content for younger audiences, we recognize that many parents prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and timeline,” Disney said in a statement.

The decision was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

The announcement comes after the re-election of former President Donald Trump, who has spoken out against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives that have become a celeb for the right. In response to online pressure and threats, many companies have recently made changes to their DEI policies.

Asked if Disney’s decision to cut the transgender story from “Win or Lose” could be interpreted as the company distancing itself from diversity initiatives in anticipation of another Trump administration, the company declined to comment.

Earlier this year, Disney CEO Bob Iger told CNBC that the entertainment giant is not interested in sending messages in its shows or movies.

“The term woke has been thrown around pretty liberally,” Iger said. “I think a lot of people don’t even understand what that means. The bottom line is, that’s not what we’re doing, giving messages as kind of the first priority in our movies and TV shows. They have to be entertaining.”

Disney’s embrace of diverse cast members and storylines has been met with controversy in the past.

The 2022 “Toy Story” prequel “Lightyear” featured a same-sex relationship and kissing in a PG-rated film marketed to a younger audience. But the kiss almost not reach the big screen after Disney executives moved to cut the scene, causing consternation among Pixar employees. Ultimately, the same-sex kiss was reinstated, but the film faced backlash from conservatives and was banned in more than a dozen Middle Eastern and Asian countries.

The Magic Kingdom has also included LGBTQ representation in its adult-oriented features, including FX’s “Pose,” Marvel’s “Agatha All Along” and Searchlight Pictures’ “All of Us Strangers.”

After Florida passed a law critics labeled “Don’t Say Gay” in 2022, then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s belated stance against the legislation ignited a wave of backlash from right-wing media figures who portrayed the company as a “woke” organization seeking to “grooming” children with what they characterized as a radical LGBTQ agenda.

Since returning to the helm, Iger has made it clear that creators have “lost sight” of what their ultimate goal should be. Speaking at the DealBook Summit last year, the Disney executive said the company’s mandate is to entertain audiences, not master rights.

“I like to be able to do that, entertain, and if you can infuse it with positive messages and have a good impact on the world, great, but that shouldn’t be the goal,” Iger said. “When I came back, what I’ve really tried to do was get back to our roots — which is, remember, we have to entertain first: It’s not about messaging.”