On Feb. 19, 2025, the first episode of Win or Lose, Pixar’s newest project, dropped on Disney+. The show follows a co-ed middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game. Each episode highlights a character and digs deeper into the complexities of that character’s perspective during the week. In addition, each character is represented by their own unique abstract visuals that help to convey their emotions and perspective of the story.
The plot of each episode is so woven into the others, making it very representative of real life. As you watch through each episode, you’ll notice details you didn’t before. Additionally, events will be the same or slightly different based on which character the episode is following. For example, episode three follows Rochelle, and episode four follows her mom. In the middle of these two episodes, one of their conversations is exactly the same because it was a high-stress conversation, making it a core memory in their minds. However, other scenes that overlap are slightly different based on each perspective. This is a theme carried throughout the show, giving it rewatch-ability to find more details you may have missed.
Another great storytelling tactic the filmmakers use is visualization. Each character has a unique visual that matches thematically with their character. For example, the second episode follows the umpire and shows how he experiences getting yelled at by spectators. To visualize his confidence and defense against their harsh words, he has blue armor that appears on him. Additionally, this armor is used when he hides from emotional vulnerability later in the episode. Like this example, creative visuals are representative of issues that are personal to each character. I think that the filmmakers utilize this storytelling tactic to portray the story in a creative and compelling way.
This show is very unique, and I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested. I think the overall concept is fascinating, and I love how it’s explored by the filmmakers. Each character represents the perspectives of real people, and it can be an eye-opening experience to the lives of those around you. In my opinion, Win or Lose is one of Pixar’s best projects in recent years, so I definitely think you should give it a watch!