“Win or Lose,” Pixar’s first original, long-form series for Disney+, was previewed at 2022’s D23 and again last summer at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France. And then … crickets.
Well, at Friday night’s D23 presentation, we got the release date — December 6 — for “Win or Lose,” and they showed a new trailer, which you can watch below.
The series, created by Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates — story artists who worked on “Toy Story 4” — centers around a middle school softball game. (Go Pickles!) Each episode is told from a different perspective – it could be one of the kids, it could be the umpire, it could be one of the kids’ parents like it was in the episode that was screened at Annecy last year.
And the animation style is even more expressive and exaggerated than “Turning Red,” which is probably the series’ closest cousin. It is an energized, deeply moving series — and the new trailer gives you plenty to get excited for.
“Win or Lose” features a voice cast that includes Will Forte as Coach Dan, the softball team’s coach; Milan Ray as Rochelle, the catcher; and Rosa Salazar as Vanessa, Rochelle’s single mother.
This will be Pixar’s first long-form (20-minutes-ish) original animated series for Disney’s direct-to-consumer streaming platform, but they have done a few series with shorter content, like the wonderful “Forky Asks a Question” and “Dug Days,” based on the characters from the “Toy Story” and “Up” franchises, respectively (both directed by longtime Pixar stalwart Bob Peterson). There was also “Cars on the Road” and “Pixar Popcorn,” the latter of which featured micro-shorts that often utilized pre-existing audio from earlier Pixar films.
During the D23 presentation, Pixar also announced “Dream Productions” — a spin-off of “Inside Out” — coming to Disney+.
“Win or Lose” premieres on Disney+ on December 6.
