When Kingdom Hearts came out in 2002, many gamers didn’t know what to expect. After all, this was going to be a completely original story that mixed Disney and Square Enix characters together. Something like this had never been attempted before on such a massive scale. However, the success of the game was immediate. Fans couldn’t get enough between its stunning graphics, endearing plot, beautiful music, fun combat, and multiple Disney-inspired worlds. As such, a long and often convoluted franchise was born. But many don’t realize that back in 2003, it almost had its own animated series. Fast forward to now, and fans are finally getting their first glimpse at what could have been.
The video was posted on YouTube by Seth Kearsley, the Executive Producer for the pilot animatic. He noted on the videos’ description and other teases before its release that he didn’t want to make money off showing this but just wanted to show it off because he was proud of what was created. Disney didn’t order a series for it, but he still felt it was fantastic. If nothing else, it was a glimpse into what we could have had and how things would’ve been different from the game’s main plot.
For example, the 11-minute animatic featured full voice acting, including many original voice actors coming in to be their gaming counterparts. That included the voices of Donald, Goofy, Riku, and Kairi. However, Hailey Joel Osment wouldn’t play Sora due to a scheduling conflict, so his voice sounds different.
Regarding the plot, the animatic showed a key difference with Riku. In the first Kingdom Hearts game, he only hooked up with Sora in Traverse Town and vanished until they reconnected later at Hollow Bastion. The animated series, however, would have the two travel to Agrabah together, revealing that Riku tried to play double agent for Maleficent. A nice twist and one that would’ve been interesting to see play out.
You can watch the full animatic below.
It’s not known why Disney didn’t pick it up, primarily since they’re known for making animated series of their most significant properties. However, it might have been for the best. Remember, the animatic pilot was created in 2003, less than a year after the game’s original release. That meant that all the other games hadn’t come out, and the plot hadn’t been developed fully. That would’ve been hard to keep up with, given how messy things would get. Not to mention, Kingdom Hearts III took its sweet time to get to consoles. Thus, if they had made the animated series, it would’ve had to go the route of some anime and make up its own story and ending instead of following the canon.
But that does mean that if they wanted to, they could try again now. The time seems right.
Source: YouTube
