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How Square Enix Convinced Disney to Make Kingdom Hearts

One of the other things Tetsuya Nomura wanted was permission to create a world based on a live action film. He'd already decided on using Tron after seeing a Disney Interactive Studios staffer working on a Tron game (likely Tron 2.0) on his PC, but Nomura wanted to show a more detailed live action world using Square Enix's latest realistic capture technology. He compiled a list of films he'd be interested in adapting, and although his first choice was rejected, Disney was happy to see a Kingdom Hearts version of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Having seen some videos that leaked content of the game on youtube in addition to trailers and the rumor mills I hear theres going to be little to no Final Fantasy characters in KH3. Really hoping we get to see some characters and maybe see some kind of their interactions with one another.

At the very least, we deserve better closure for the ones that have already appeared in the other mainline titles, namely Cloud, Sora, Squall, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid.

I'm really hoping to see Disney and Square Enix try to do a Kingdom Hearts anime at some point in time. I don't know what studio they'd want to tackle it though.

I'm really hoping to see Disney and Square Enix try to do a Kingdom Hearts anime at some point in time. I don't know what studio they'd want to tackle it though.

CastMember1991 wrote:

I'm really hoping to see Disney and Square Enix try to do a Kingdom Hearts anime at some point in time. I don't know what studio they'd want to tackle it though.

Back around when the first KH was new a Kingdom hearts cartoon was actually pitched and at least got as far as having a pilot episode storyboarded. Not only was it supposed to have both anime and Disney styled characters, but they were planning to use original background art from the source movies to make the worlds feel as true as possible. Sadly it was shelved so the show didn't overtake the game's story, Seth Kearsley, who made the original storyboards, tried to pitch the idea again fairly recently and got turned down. Seems like he's actually selling some of the storyboards now though!

I'm sure there's a few details I missed but it should be an easy Google, it's a fun little part of KH trivia.

Please tell me the rejected live-action world was Mary Poppins. Please.

As for the article itself, I’m only recently into the series. I’ve actually never played the games (aside from a brief, confused stint playing the prologue of KHII), and have only watched Let’s Play videos (except the X content) within the past year or so, but I’m already so attached to these characters it feels like it’s been since the day I saw that 358/2 Days commercial with Sanctuary playing in the background; I even have a poster of the 2.5 Mix signed by Bret Iwan (Mickey Mouse). It’s crazy how a plot riddled with retcons and convolutedness can somehow draw out all the right emotions from its audience.

After this game, personally, I think Nomura should actually step down from heading the series. While his contributions to Kingdom Hearts, and Square Enix as a whole, have been invaluable, I often feel the reason why Square’s (not Enix’s) games often get delayed is because they often place all of their games on his head - and the reason why they keep re-releasing and doing collections is because they keep delaying the new games, and somehow need to make a profit. Between heading this and the Final Fantasy series, Nomura’s plate is massive, so even though we all love him, it would be nice to have some fresh blood take over one of those (or even both). I feel this one is more appropriate though, since KHIII is the conclusion of a saga.

Nonaka Machine Gun B wrote:

Please tell me the rejected live-action world was Mary Poppins. Please.

I couldn't find anyone who actually spoke about what the rejected live action world, but my guesses were Mary Poppins, Muppet Treasure Island, Honey! I Shrunk the Kids or Flubber.