Hey, everyone! Hope you’re doing well. Today, I’m diving into Win or Lose, Pixar Animation Studios’ debut into original long-form animated series. This series trails a middle school softball team named the Pickles during the week leading up to their championship game.
The 8-episode series made its debut on Disney+ on February 19, 2025, with new episodes airing weekly until March 12. Crafted by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, each episode, lasting about 25-30 minutes, presents the same week through the eyes of different characters. The series boasts an impressive 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8.0/10 on IMDb, showcasing Pixar’s successful leap into serialized narratives.
What truly sets Win or Lose apart is its innovative visual storytelling. Every episode delves into a character’s off-the-field life, offering their humorous, emotional, and relatable viewpoint, with a visual style that mirrors their personality and outlook. This groundbreaking method highlights Pixar’s animation prowess while examining the universal adolescent experience through competitive sports.
Eight Perspectives, One Championship Week
The series centers on a middle school co-ed softball team, the Pickles, during the week before their championship game, with each episode revealing a different team member’s perspective, reflected in a distinctive visual style. Rather than focusing on the group as a whole, each episode spotlights one character’s viewpoint, weaving a network of interconnected stories.
The brilliance of this structure lies in its revelation that everyone perceives the same events differently. A seemingly trivial interaction for one might be life-altering for another. While the championship game is the focal point, true drama unfolds in the moments between practices and game day, at family meals, in bedroom chats, and during quiet reflections where these young individuals confront identity, friendship, and the pressure to excel.
Each episode unveils another layer of the community surrounding the Pickles, illustrating how sports intertwine with family dynamics, economic challenges, personal insecurities, and the intricate social hierarchies of middle school. This series understands that for these characters, softball is more than a game; it’s a lens through which they view their world.
Coach Dan and the Adult Viewpoints: Will Forte’s Steadfast Leadership
Will Forte lends his voice to Coach Dan, infusing the role with his trademark mix of earnestness and subtle humor, creating a coach who genuinely values his players as individuals, not just athletes. Forte’s portrayal grounds the series with an authentic adult perspective, without condescending to the young characters or the audience.
Coach Dan embodies the type of adult role model many of us wished for during our awkward middle school years. He juggles his personal struggles while guiding a group of kids through one of their most pivotal weeks. Forte masterfully balances authority and mentorship, illustrating how the best coaches understand their role extends beyond teaching perfect batting form.
Episodes featuring adult viewpoints, including parents and other community figures, enrich and provide context to the children’s narratives. These individuals are not mere obstacles or support structures; they are fully developed characters with their own aspirations, fears, and connections to the game and their roles in the children’s lives.
The Pickles Team: A Vibrant Ensemble of Genuine Voices
The youthful voice cast, featuring Milan Elizabeth Ray, Ian Chen, among others, brings striking authenticity to their roles. Each member of the Pickles possesses a distinct personality, family background, and relationship with softball, feeling specific rather than stereotypical.
The series impressively portrays its diverse cast without making the diversity feel tokenistic or contrived. These are kids from various backgrounds, family types, and economic standings, united by their shared passion for softball. Their interactions feel genuine and unforced, capturing the authentic manner in which real middle schoolers navigate friendship, rivalry, and team dynamics.
The animation style adapts for each character’s episode to perfectly complement the voice performances, creating a visual language that aids audiences in understanding how each character perceives their world. Some episodes are vivid and energetic, while others are muted and contemplative, reflecting the internal lives of the characters whose perspectives are being explored.
Visual Innovation: Animation Enhancing the Narrative
One of Win or Lose’s standout achievements is its use of animation style as a narrative tool. Each episode employs a unique visual approach that mirrors the personality and emotional state of the perspective character. This is not merely decorative flair; it is a sophisticated narrative technique that deepens audience understanding of these characters.
The animation styles range from hyperactive and colorful to more subdued and realistic, with some episodes incorporating dreamlike or surreal elements when characters face intense emotions. Pixar’s technical skill is prominently displayed, yet it never overshadows the human stories at the series’ core.
This method permits the series to explore themes and emotions that might be challenging to convey through conventional animation techniques. When a character feels overwhelmed, their surroundings might become chaotic and fragmented. When they are focused and confident, everything might appear clearer and more vibrant.
Success on Disney+
Win or Lose has been acclaimed as a successful debut for Pixar’s serialized content, holding an 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics particularly highlight how the show respects its young audience while crafting content that appeals to adults, a hallmark of Pixar’s finest work.
Some reviews describe the series as charming yet imperfect, though the overall reception is positive. Disney+ subscribers have embraced this first original Pixar series, with many praising its genuine portrayal of middle school dynamics and family relationships. The weekly release schedule has allowed viewers to savor each character’s distinctive perspective while eagerly anticipating upcoming episodes.
Critics and viewers alike note how the series captures the intensity of middle school sports without losing sight of the fact that these are still kids learning about themselves and their place in the world. It’s precisely the type of thoughtful, character-driven content Disney+ was designed to showcase.
If you’re captivated by narratives about growing up, team dynamics, and how perspective influences our understanding of the world, Win or Lose is an ideal series to follow weekly on Disney+. The show illustrates that Pixar’s storytelling genius translates beautifully to television, offering the depth and emotional resonance expected from the studio in a format allowing for even more character development.
Tags: Pixar animation, middle school sports, coming of age, Disney+ original, perspective storytelling
Summary: A wonderfully crafted series employing innovative animation techniques and multiple perspectives to deliver one of the most authentic and emotionally resonant portrayals of middle school life in recent memory.
Series Details:
Number of Episodes: 8
Platform: Disney+ (US) / Disney+ (International)
IMDb Rating: 8.0/10
Genre: Animated Comedy-Drama
Protagonists: Milan Elizabeth Ray (Rochelle), Will Forte (Coach Dan), Ian Chen, Josh Thomson
Antagonist: Personal insecurities and competitive pressure (internal conflicts)