Over the last 30 years, it would be difficult to find a single studio with a stronger track record than that of Pixar. From Toy Story to The Incredibles and beyond, some of Pixar's best movies are indeed among the best movies of the modern day. And considering the studio produced the highest-grossing animated film ever made just last year with Inside Out 2, it’s clear the Emeryville, CA animation house is still going quite strong.
But its newest original project takes the company out of its wheelhouse of either theatrical animation or Pixar's classic animated shorts, for something in between: a full eight-episode animated series created entirely in-house (the previous Monsters at Work series was not actually created there). Win or Lose follows the activities of eight different members of a little league baseball team, telling a single story from eight perspectives.
So far the show is getting solid notes from critics. While few seem to see the series as an outright success, all are largely complimentary of Pixar’s first episodic endeavor, with Collider saying…
Pixar is still clearly trying to iron out the wrinkles in how to best use episodic television to tell their types of stories, but Win or Lose is a great step in the right direction.
An episodic structure isn’t the only thing that’s different for Win or Lose. While the series, or at least the first five episodes that critics were given access to, seemingly has plenty of funny moments, the show can be surprisingly dramatic as the kids at the center of each episode deal with real world issues. Laughing Place calls the show “a home run (mostly)” and says if audiences go in understanding what they’re getting, they’ll appreciate it more…
Based on visual design and premise, viewers are likely expecting something a little more lively and a lot more funny. Reset your expectations and you’re sure to find something meaningful over the course of Pixar’s eight-part saga.
Critics are largely complimentary of the show’s conceit. Each episode follows a different character or characters through the same period of time, allowing viewers to see things from multiple perspectives. A potential villain of one episode becomes the hero of another. Pixar Post says the different perspectives allow a variety of people to relate to the show…
It is such a unique perspective for a series. It also stood out to us how much Win or Lose will appeal to many age groups – tackling topics of real-life adulthood or the triumphs and struggles of youth.
Going into the series, the biggest news surrounding Win or Lose was the story that Disney had ordered changes to the show, transforming a planned trans character into a cis character. THR sees this as an elephant in the room, darkening the show’s potential on the whole..
Win or Lose is an excellent work in many ways, smart and fun and beautiful and frequently quite moving. What a shame the company putting it out could not, in the end, bring itself to live up to its own worthy message.
Conversely, however, IGN points out that while Disney may have shutdown the one potentially controversial storyline, thatd oesn’t mean the show is entirely toothless as it still deals with other complex topics…
In a perverse way, knowledge of the interference faced by Win or Lose makes the show itself all the more impressive; it could have easily wound up feeling as focus-grouped and over-engineered as any number of more muddled Disney projects.
Considering how many audiences got used to watching Pixar movies on Disney+, the audience for this show might be significant. The first two episodes of Win or Lose are now streaming with a Disney+ subscription. Two more episodes will be released on Wednesdays through the end of the series.
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