Win Or Lose Review: Pixar’s Newest Series is Heartwarming, Fun, and Hits Just Right

It might’ve taken Disney and Pixar multiple tries to swing and hit it out of the park with what they’re offering. With franchised series like Daredevil: Born Again and Andor Season 2 coming soon, some may feel like some shows might get hidden. Fortunately, with Pixar’s Win Or Lose, it feels like a genuine refresher with its original concept.

Win Or Lose focuses on a middle-school softball team preparing for the ultimate goal: reaching the championships. Through multiple perspectives, from both the players and their coaches, we’re presented with what feels like an anthology.

Yet, there’s a clear focus, from the beginning, that these individual stories are connected in a way that’s entertaining to watch. With all of these characters and their own problems, Win Or Lose lends itself to being a generally good watch.

Win Or Lose is very much trying to be experimental with itself, where it feels like Turning Red combined its characteristic elements with the world of Scott Pilgrim. Its visual style maintains this lively vibrancy that offers to keep everything moving at a brisk pace while still keeping you hooked.

Of course, with every episode’s somewhat short runtime, some might be wondering how creators Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates can exemplify each story to its fullest. Surprisingly, it seems to be possible through emphasizing Win Or Lose‘s themes through more fantastical means.

This is already felt from Win Or Lose Episode 1 “Coach’s Kid”. Here, Laurie, the coach’s daughter, manifests her performance anxiety into a slushy blob she calls “Sweaty”. The interactions between Laurie and her manifestation are played up for comedic effect initially, but there’s a deeper meaning to it to be seen.

As “Coach’s Kid” moves forward and as we learn how Laurie’s family life is more complicated than it seems, this representation of her stress grows too much. Though it may be somewhat obvious as to what “Sweaty” represents for an older viewer, there’s a subtlety to it editing-wise that makes this episode’s message relatable to anyone.

Furthermore, take Win Or Lose Episode 2 “Blue” as an example of a more adult perspective. On this episode, the team’s umpire, Frank, is trying to improve his social skills despite his recent break-up. It leads him to a dating app, which certainly changes his social outlook.

Though it’s a more adult perspective on the show, “Blue” still finds a way to appeal to both its young and old audience. Frank is as hilarious, yet sympathetic, as the other characters on Win Or Lose, with his hesitancies manifesting as a knight’s armor.

His interactions through the app also lend themselves to give a more simplified version of this rationale: “How can we truly that confidence we need and overcome what we fear?” Through these gradual, if somewhat fast-paced, dynamics building up, it makes you really resonate with every focused character.

That seems to be the case with most episodes on Win Or Lose. Despite only having seen a few episodes, each one manages to successfully adapt more mature ideas into this universal format.

It doesn’t feel like it’s laying down too much in order to over-explain things, but it’s also not trying to “baby” the ideas too much. Each episode, with their own metaphorical manifestations, really hits home by inducing both the joy and sadness of each complexity. Pixar’s newest outing happily blends its emotional ideas with all the whimsy and fanciful visuals of what we’ve come to expect from Pixar.

However, despite the well-balanced emotional storytelling of Win Or Lose, its episodic endings can feel like they’re just pieces. Given how the series opens up with the aftermath of the championships, that’s made clear.

Yet, it also feels like it can be edging towards that grandiose ending too early. Still, there are a few more episodes we’ve yet to see, which might finally showcase how everything plays out in the end.

As for concerns, one of the biggest concerns I had going into Win Or Lose was Kai’s storylines and the changes that were made. Despite Win Or Lose‘s main theme of overcoming your fears, this explicit change felt like it was giving into that, which hinders its empathetic core.

The series would have definitely benefitted with the addition of Kai’s storyline and her connection to the LGBTQ+ community, who looked to this show for inspiration. It could have resonated with a wider audience and the result of its cutting is still heavily felt deeply. Still, what’s given in Win Or Lose proves that Pixar is successfully capable of creating an original, empathetic story.

Win Or Lose is a delightful and refreshing series that highlights Pixar’s potential in exploring character-focused storytelling through its diverse cast of characters.

Through the presentation of this softball team, their coach, their parents and more, it goes to show how emotional storytelling can be successfully achieved. It’s got all the pizazz and energy of Pixar, but most importantly, it’s got genuine heart.

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Win Or Lose is now streaming on Disney+. New episodes release every Wednesday.

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