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How Square Enix Convinced Disney to Make Kingdom Hearts

Deleted member 5535

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Oct 25, 2017
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An excellent article by Callum from the Canippa Effect channel. He's a youtuber but also a freelancer at Anime News Network and there's many new information about the series over the years. I'll post some parts and you guys read the rest there if interested

Nomura was unique in that he rejected all of the ideas presented to him and discussed his own idea, inspired by Super Mario 64, where an original character journeys through several Disney worlds.
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Nomura got his way in the end, but with one very large stipulation: They couldn't use Mickey Mouse. Before Nomura was attached as director, it was Square Enix's hope that they could produce an RPG with Mickey Mouse as the main character, but Disney were particularly protective of their company mascot.
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Although Kingdom Hearts was an original concept by Tetsuya Nomura, in an effort to protect Disney's brands, the IP itself and any original characters developed during the series would belong to Disney. This meant that both Buena Vista Games and Disney would have the authority to veto any creative decisions, even if those decisions didn't involve original Disney characters. With that said, Disney has been remarkably hands-off when it comes to the overall plot of Kingdom Hearts, recognising the importance of Nomura's creative freedom.
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Square Enix was able to command more trust and sought access to more Disney properties for Kingdom Hearts II. One of the largest changes was the addition of Mickey Mouse as a main character. Not only was he now shown throughout the game, but the staff collaborated with Disney on a new outfit that established him within the Kingdom Hearts universe. This was Square Enix's main demand and it was only once they'd received permission to feature Mickey Mouse more heavily that they started production.
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Even though Disney was able to keep strong relationships with their voice actors and developer Square Enix, they did drive away theme song performer Hikaru Utada. In an interview with JETANNY in 2009, Utada claimed that she was underpaid by Disney for the theme songs to the first Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts II (which she wrote and performed in both English and Japanese).
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And I think those are the most interesting points. There's much more on the article but you guys should read the rest.
https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/fe...nvinced-disney-to-make-kingdom-hearts/.142449
 
Chasing

Chasing

The Fallen
Oct 26, 2017
10,683
Aokiji said:
Wish they would've paid Hikaru what she deserved but still hats off to Disney for letting Nomura work his magic lol
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They should've made it worth her while for her to come back for this game. But it sucks to hear that about the first two games, especially given how iconic she is in the series.
 
Woylie

Woylie

Member
May 9, 2018
1,849
I believe at one point Sora was going to be a lion? Some of the concept art for Kingdom Hearts is wild.

Very interesting backstory here!
 
Jubern

Jubern

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,380
Interesting but I don't think there's anything in there we didn't know about before.
 
Strings

Strings

Member
Oct 27, 2017
31,377
Cantaim said:
Thanks for this OP was a fascinating read and now I'm reading the Iwata asks for the 3ds KH game. Fuck I miss Iwata.
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The Iwata Asks has one of the best crazy Nomura exchanges:

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WarAdept

WarAdept

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,298
Australia
Being able to play as Mickey in KH2 and 358/2 was always a mega highlight for me.

I'm going to be mega pissed if I can't in KH3 or have him as a permanent party member in some form.
 
Yabberwocky

Yabberwocky

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,248
Absolutely fascinating article, thanks for the link, OP! It was really interesting reading about Tasha Sounart's role, especially about the differences in Japanese and American expressions and mannerisms coming through via the way the characters were being animated.

I wish Disney properties had more of a prominent role in the main plot like they did in KH1, but getting to hang out with Donald and Goofy is still nostalgic awesome. Considering how wary Disney was about the use of Mickey initially, he's ironically had more wardrobe changes than anyone outside of Sora and Riku at this point.
 
Aokiji

Aokiji

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,265
Los Angeles
Pixar and Square Enix's collaboration sometimes caused cultural differences to become apparent. Being an animator herself, Tasha oversaw cutscenes and character animations as well as the character models themselves. She noted that sometimes the staff at Square Enix would make the Toy Story characters use Japanese expressions and mannerisms, and she'd remind them to use American expressions instead.
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now i want the version of KH3 where all the toy story characters act like theyre in an anime lmaooo
 
TheBaldwin

TheBaldwin

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Feb 25, 2018
8,280
BasilZero said:
Interesting how protective Disney was of Mickey.


Makes sense on why we didnt see much of him in KH1.
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It toally makes sense too me.

Honestly it amazes me that disney let square use modern disney stuff like frozen etc. Disney, understandly, seems like they would be super protective of IPs, espcially mickey mouse which is the face of there company.

If they messed up mickey in kingdom hearts, thats a real pr disaster
 
BasilZero

BasilZero

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
36,343
Omni
TheBaldwin said:
It toally makes sense too me.

Honestly it amazes me that disney let square use modern disney stuff like frozen etc. Disney, understandly, seems like they would be super protective of IPs, espcially mickey mouse which is the face of there company.

If they messed up mickey in kingdom hearts, thats a real pr disaster
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Good thing the series was a success to the point where they changed their minds then lol.
 
Jakenbakin

Jakenbakin

Member
Jun 17, 2018
11,794
TheBaldwin said:
It toally makes sense too me.

Honestly it amazes me that disney let square use modern disney stuff like frozen etc. Disney, understandly, seems like they would be super protective of IPs, espcially mickey mouse which is the face of there company.

If they messed up mickey in kingdom hearts, thats a real pr disaster
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Why? Mickey has had plenty of his own subpar games why would his representation in KH have the potential for disaster?
 
TheBaldwin

TheBaldwin

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Feb 25, 2018
8,280
Jakenbakin said:
Why? Mickey has had plenty of his own subpar games why would his representation in KH have the potential for disaster?
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I dont mean in terms of quality, i mean in terms of the context of what mickey would be surrounded by in a kingdom hearts game

I could imagine a disney exec seeing mickey mouse in a game alongside a guy literally holding a massive magnum with a fucking bayonett on the end of it (Leon) and thinking 'absolutely not'
 
Napalm_Frank

Napalm_Frank

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
5,731
Finland
Ironically I think the restrictions on Mickey ended up being a blessing for the first KH. Mickey is better as an icon than an actual character and that's basically how he is presented in the game, an icon.
 
Lord Vatek

Lord Vatek

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Jan 18, 2018
21,507
Kingdom Hearts would never have happened today and nothing like it will probably happen again for a long, long time.
 
Gold Arsene

Gold Arsene

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
30,757
The Mickey thing reminds me of the old Disney cartoon Bonkers.

There's an episode where a major part of it is rescuing a kidnapped Mickey. But for whatever reason you never actually see the mouse himself. You just hear him talk from inside a cage.
 
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