Voice actor Chanel Stewart has said she felt “disheartened” to learn that a storyline involving her character’s gender identity in a new Pixar series had been removed by Disney.
Earlier this week, Disney confirmed that a planned storyline involving a trans character in the upcoming Disney+ show Win Or Lose would be removed from the final edit.
A spokesperson for the studio said: “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognise that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Following the announcement, Chanel – who is also transgender – spoke to Deadline about the changes to her character.
“I was very disheartened,” the 18-year-old shared. “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.”
Win Or Lose centres around a middle-school softball team, in the lead-up to its little league championship game.
Each episode of the show will focus on a different member of the team, and explore a different aspect of their lives away from baseball.
Although Chanel did not disclose specific details about the changes, she said “a few lines of dialogue” had been removed from the show. While her character will remain “a part of the show heavily”, she will now be depicted as a “straight cis girl”.
“That’s all they really told me and that I was still a part of the show,” she added.
Chanel’s mum Keisha said of the changes: “It was upsetting because my daughter is transgender and this is her life. I felt like it was very important that we not hide that fact.
“There may be some parents out there who are not ready to have that conversation, but this is the world that we live in and everyone should be represented. Everyone deserves to be recognised.”
She continued: “It felt like it was just another setback for the LGBTQ community, because it’s very hard on transgender teenagers – transgender people, period. Especially when you’re young and you’re trying to figure out how to navigate this world that you live in and be able to grow into your own person.”
Win Or Lose was originally slated to premiere on Disney+ on 6 December, though this slot was instead given to the four-part Inside Out spin-off Dream Productions.
It is now scheduled to debut in February 2025.
