Pixar’s original animated series Win or lose will no longer contain any transgender storyline in a later episode, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The series follows a co-ed middle school softball team named Pickles in the week before their championship game. Each of the eight episodes revolves around a character’s life off the field and their perspective, be it a player, a parent, a coach or a referee.

A Disney spokesperson confirmed that the story arc had been removed and issued the following statement THR: “When it comes to animated content for younger audiences, we know that many parents would prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and schedule.”

The character remains in the series, but some lines of dialogue relating to gender identity are removed. A spring nearby Win or lose said the studio made the decision to change course several months ago.

Disney declined to comment on further details.

It’s not the first time the company has come under scrutiny for its LGBTQ+ storylines, particularly in regards to its animated content.

In 2022, controversy arose both inside and outside of Disney following former CEO Bob Chapek’s widely criticized response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. In June of this year, Pixar’s light year included a same-sex relationship and a kiss, which also sparked controversy. Disney animations Strange worldwhich featured an openly gay main character, opened a few months later. Neither film was released domestically or internationally and grossed only $226.4 million and $73.6 million at the global box office, respectively. LGBTQ+ content faces challenges in certain international markets as a country may impose a more restrictive age rating or ban the content entirely.

Gender identity has become a sensitive and controversial issue in the United States, particularly in youth and sports settings. Most recently, the Disney Channel animated series Moon girl And Devil dinosaurs made headlines after some who worked on the series said on social media that Disney had banned the release of an episode that featured a recurring transgender character. The company denied that the episode had been “banned” and said the decision to delay the episode’s release was made more than a year ago and was not due to the inclusion of transgender characters.

Disney continues to offer LGBTQ+ content in its more adult-oriented offerings, particularly at Marvel Television Agatha all the timeSearchlight Pictures’ We are all strangers, The next target wins And Fire Islandand FX’s poseamong other things.

The studio is far from alone in grappling with the potential consequences of politically charged content. All of Hollywood is bracing for what could be a turbulent four years under the Trump administration. President-elect Donald Trump, who won a landslide victory last month, has regularly criticized diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and it has been widely reported that a number of companies have begun pulling back from DEI programming, a trend that underrepresented groups fear will only continue. Top media executives have already met with Trump, including Apple’s Tim Cook, while Netflix’s Ted Sarandos is scheduled to meet him at Mar-a-Lago today.

The decision regarding Win or lose comes at a time when Disney’s film empire, led by Alan Bergman, is making a major comeback at the box office, led by animation. Pixar’s Inside Out 2which hit theaters last summer, grossed $1.7 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time alongside Disney Animation Moana 2 has also broken numerous records, earning more than $725 million to date and heading toward the $1 billion mark.

Win or lose It was originally scheduled to premiere this month, but ended up swapping dates with Pixar’s other original animated series Dream productionswhich is based on the character of Riley From the inside outto capitalize on the success of the film’s sequel. The premiere will take place on February 19, 2025. Michael Yates, Carrie Hobson and David Lally created the show, which stars Will Forte as Coach Dan.

As it turns out, the voice actress whose arc was changed is transgender herself. Disney informed Chanel Stewart, now 18, of the decision on Monday evening. Stewart told the publication deadline Later Tuesday, she was “very discouraged” (she was 14 when she won the role after responding to a casting call for a trans actress). She continued, “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter and deserve to be heard.”

December 17th, 8:30 p.m: Updated with comments from Win and lose Voice actress Chanel Stewart.