Posted in: Disney+, TV | Tagged: pixar, win or lose

Win or Lose: Pixar Animator Posts Kai's Original Trans Storyline Look

Pixar animator Danny Barnhart shared a look at the care given to Kai's original Win or Lose transgender storyline before Disney pulled it.

It was back in December 2024 when the word came down that Disney would be pulling a transgender storyline that was originally included in Pixar Animation Studios' first original animated series, Win or Lose. "When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline," Disney shared in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter when asked to confirm reports that the creative change was being made to the animated series. With the series having dropped back in February of this year, Pixar animator Danny Barnhart shared on Instagram an early version of a moment spotlighting trans-character Kai.

In addition, Barnhart walked fans through "the monumental amount of care and skill that went in to developing Kai, every department from casting to story to animation to shading to lighting, and everything outside and in between, handled her with a reverence and kindness that I wish I could hand deliver to every trans person who needs it right now." Here's a look at Barnhart's post, followed by the complete text from it:

Happy Trans Day of Visibility 🏳️‍⚧️✨ I'm one of the trans artists who worked on Win or Lose, and I'm gonna talk about it 👍

This is a small snippet of the monumental amount of care and skill that went in to developing Kai, every department from casting to story to animation to shading to lighting, and everything outside and in between, handled her with a reverence and kindness that I wish I could hand deliver to every trans person who needs it right now.

1. As many audience members have guessed, Kai's conversation with her dad at the head of her episode was never about baseball, it was her coming out 🏳️‍⚧️

2. We explored representing Kai's dysphoria as if it abstracted her face into fractured pieces. We aimed to represent what Kai was experiencing inside, rather than create an antagonist creature like we did with Sweaty and Laurie.

3. We wanted to translate the puzzle pieces to 3D forms, while also trying to avoid anything that would make her look 'scary' or monstrous – we never wanted to take away her humanity.

4. As we explored these visuals, we realized that making the abstract forms look and feel similar to Kai's body made the experience feel too external (and a little creepy), and it would greatly impact how we would have to animate her face. For these reasons, we branched away from the physical puzzle face effect. It was a really cool visual experiment, though!

5. We returned to 2D for Kai's dysphoria, and additionally developed the sinking and scratches to express Kai's pain without distorting her physical form.

6. While we loved the visuals we created for when Kai is feeling down, it was important to us to establish a positive foil to avoid implying that the trans experience is an exclusively negative one. For this reason, we set out to capture trans joy. Kai floats when she feels affirmed, and is surrounded by joyful colors and light.

7. When Kai meets the Pickles, it was the first time she used her chosen name, and we learn Hannah is nonbinary 🏳️‍⚧️

Win or Lose Actress "Disheartened" by Disney Pulling Trans Storyline

"Oh my God, it was crazy. I wore it as a badge. I wore it with pride. I wore it with honor because it meant so much to me. The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy. I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me." That was how 14-year-old actress Chanel Stewart felt when she learned that she had been picked to voice a transgender teenager in Disney+ and Pixar Animation Studios' Win or Lose. That would change dramatically when Chanel and her mother, Keisha, were informed that the animated series' transgender storyline had been pulled. Though Stewart's character remains in the Pixar project, several lines of dialogue referencing gender identity have reportedly been edited out. "It's just that my character would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl. So yeah, that's all they really told me and that I was still a part of the show," the now 18-year-old actress shared.

"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," Keisha shared exclusively with Deadline Hollywood. "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 recognized. And 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."

"I was very disheartened. 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,' Stewart shared, adding that there is one thing that Disney definitely can't take away from here. "I'm definitely one of the first [transgender girls] to do this! It's a true honor to be a part of queer history."

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