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Seth Kearsley’s history with the Kingdom Hearts pilot



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KudoTsurugi

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Wasn’t sure if this should be put in the thread related to the rumoured Disney+ show or have it be its own thread at first, but since it’s unrelated to the former, I’m going for the latter.


Most users on this forum will probably be familiar with this topic, the Kingdom Hearts pilot that never came to be. But for those who may not know, the director behind said pilot, Seth Kearsley, released a video detailing his involvement with the pilot, from conception to cancellation.
And from the sounds of it, we might be able to see the animatic for the pilot soon, fingers crossed 🤞
 

Face My Fears

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This was all over the blogosphere. I'm still waiting for him to post the video. I'm not going to believe a word he says until I see a video.
 

KudoTsurugi

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We do see bits of the animatic in this video, around 6:54, we just don’t have sound for it. It really seems to be a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.
 

Face My Fears

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We do see bits of the animatic in this video, around 6:54, we just don’t have sound for it. It really seems to be a matter of ‘when’ rather than ‘if’.
Whew chile, if that was what it was going to look like, no wonder it got cancelled! And it's good that never saw the light of day.
 

KudoTsurugi

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Whew chile, if that was what it was going to look like, no wonder it got cancelled! And it's good that never saw the light of day.
Are you familiar with the animation pipeline? If not, then I’ll explain.

An animatic never represents the final product. They’re essentially the storyboard panels timed out in video format, with a few visual edits to reference camera movement like zooms or panning shots and sometimes simple visuals effects here and there.

Essentially, they act as a rough blueprint for the animators to follow, and sometimes they’re subject to change.
Here’s an example of an animatic, a deleted scene from Monsters Inc.

As you can see, the characters only look vaguely like their movie counterparts, not as detailed as the final animation. Heck even story details are different here because they were still ironing it out.

If the KH pilot were a completed product, they would have character design sheets that would be closer in accuracy to the games, or at least more anime-inspired.
So, in the event that this pilot does come out? Don’t expect a “final product”. It’ll likely be very rough and not have as much polish as, say, an episode of Hercules or Tangled.
 
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Face My Fears

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Are you familiar with the animation pipeline? If not, then I’ll explain.

An animatic never represents the final product. They’re essentially the storyboard panels timed out in video format, with a few visual edits to reference camera movement like zooms or panning shots and sometimes simple visuals effects here and there.

Essentially, they act as a rough blueprint for the animators to follow, and sometimes they’re subject to change.
Here’s an example of an animatic, a deleted scene from Monsters Inc.

As you can see, the characters only look vaguely like their movie counterparts, not as detailed as the final animation. Heck even story details are different here because they were still ironing it out.

If the KH pilot were a completed product, they would have character design sheets that would be closer in accuracy to the games, or at least more anime-inspired.
So, in the event that this pilot does come out? Don’t expect a “final product”. It’ll likely be very rough and not have as much polish as, say, an episode of Hercules or Tangled.
Oh OK. I didn't know that.
 

Zackarix

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It's baffling that this project wasn't greenlit despite testing extremely well because "We want to do more games."

It could have been a one season wonder. Or they could have had hiatuses between seasons while waiting for new material to adapt. Either way, with Disney's TV cartoon policies at that time 65 episodes would have been the max, which would have left the games standing on their own again while providing lots of promotion for the series.

It's a shame. I think the Kingdom Hearts series, especially the early games, would translate very well into a TV show and yet it hasn't happened.
 

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I'm actually glad it didn't happen back then - not because I wouldn't have liked it, not because I'm doubting that guy, he actually seems very genuine and invested which is kind of charming. But because I'm pretty sure it would've been held back by the upper-men. Like he said in the video, it would not even have been sequential. I think if a series were to happen today, in this day and age, it would be way better
 

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I'm actually glad it didn't happen back then - not because I wouldn't have liked it, not because I'm doubting that guy, he actually seems very genuine and invested which is kind of charming. But because I'm pretty sure it would've been held back by the upper-men. Like he said in the video, it would not even have been sequential. I think if a series were to happen today, in this day and age, it would be way better
Not necessarily. The creators would have had to stand up to the executives and make a convincing argument for it, but there were western cartoons with continuity and ongoing storylines at the time this series would have aired, even if they weren't willing to go for outright serialization. See Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go and American Dragon Jake Long for Disney cartoons that managed this at around the time this show would have aired.

There's a reason I think that Kingdom Hearts would translate very well into a TV show, even if it wasn't serialized. The games themselves are already pretty episodic and the structure of visiting worlds provides a clear place of where the story can be broken down into episodes. The game even has a "status quo" with the Heartless invading Disney worlds, so as long as you have a catchy theme song explaining the premise kids will be able to catch enough to watch a single episode, and then after that hopefully more.

Of course, we didn't get a show back then and we don't appear to be getting one now. So we're stuck with the worst of both worlds.
 

KudoTsurugi

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We have a YouTube link, it will premiere at 6pm PST this evening at time of writing.


Also, a quick reminder just in case: do not expect a finished product going in to watch this. It’ll likely be very rough in quality, as this is just an animatic.
 

MATGSY

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We have a YouTube link, it will premiere at 6pm PST this evening at time of writing.


Also, a quick reminder just in case: do not expect a finished product going in to watch this. It’ll likely be very rough in quality, as this is just an animatic.
So like that 2013 Popeye film that leaked.
 

Sign

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It's baffling that this project wasn't greenlit despite testing extremely well because "We want to do more games."

It could have been a one season wonder. Or they could have had hiatuses between seasons while waiting for new material to adapt. Either way, with Disney's TV cartoon policies at that time 65 episodes would have been the max, which would have left the games standing on their own again while providing lots of promotion for the series.

It's a shame. I think the Kingdom Hearts series, especially the early games, would translate very well into a TV show and yet it hasn't happened.
I mean, it wasn't just because "we want to make more games." It's "we want to make more games with our partners at Square who would not be very happy to learn that we tried to do this whole thing without them knowing."
 
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MATGSY

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That was definately more a proof of concept than an actual first episode. Aladdin wasn't even there.

Also, lulz @Kairi kicking a shadow. Amazing how everyone except Nomura wants her to be badass.
 

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I really enjoyed it.. I liked that SRK took a photo together before the islands fell to darkness. Wish we got something like that in KH1
 
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