Disney Animated Series Has Openly Christian Character For First Time In Almost Two Decades

The new animated Disney series "Win or Lose" is making headlines again, only
this time it's for featuring an openly Christian character.

The company has avoided Christian references for years, but that changed with
the debut of the show "Win or Lose," which is described as "[featuring] the
intertwined stories of eight different characters as they each prepare for
their big championship softball game -- the insecure kids, their helicopter
parents, even a lovesick umpire."

This new animated series includes a character named Laurie who is feeling
self-doubt, so she turns to God in prayer for help. There is also a cutout of
an angel inside Laurie's bedroom.

"Dear Heavenly Father, please give me strength," Laurie prays. "I have faith,
but sometimes the doubt creeps in."

Industry publication WDW News Today noted that this is the first time in two
decades that any Disney show has made such a reference. They said the last
time was in the 2007 film "Bridge to Terabithia," which had children Jesse
and Leslie attend church together and discussing religion on their way home.

This inclusion is also significant because Disney opted to cut a transgender
storyline that was previously included in the same show. The character
remained, but all mention of gender identity questioning was removed.

"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," a rep for the company said at the time.

Chanel Stewart, the trans-identified actor who gave voice to the character,
complained about the edits while speaking with Deadline in December.

"I was very disheartened," Stewart said. "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" co-creators Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates previously
discussed their aim for the show.

"We knew from the beginning we wanted to have all the hallmarks of a Pixar
film -- humor, heart, and creativity," they said in a press release. "We came
to the table also knowing we wanted to tell the types of stories we couldn't
tell in a film format. Which included multi-protagonists, nonlinear
storytelling, and really just pushing the tone to be more outside of the
box."


--
Trump Deportations
Day 49
50000