Seth Kearsley reveals Kingdom Hearts Animated Series Pilot Animatic

[kirabook]

If they plan it right, they can take their time introducing major characters across the span of multiple episodes/revisits rather than trying to stuff it all in one visit like the games typically do. The first visit involves discovering the lamp and its importance to the world. The second visit, they run into Aladdin the for the first time who now has the lamp and Genie.

Eh, I dunno. I don't think this potential show past or future would be canon. But I definitely do not mind a careful retelling of the existing games as long as it doesn't stray too far from the themes, character motivations, and end result.

I don't know if I'd trust anyone to do a good job with it, but it could be fun if done right.

 

[BufferAqua]

Wtaf did I just watch tbh

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Wtaf did I just watch tbh

Distilled Kingdom Hearts

 

[Agroogrooiya]

Broooo I just finished watching this and it legit gave me 2002 Saturday Morning Cartoon vibes. In retrospect Its such a fkn shame Disney didn't pick this up.

 

[Darkspawn]

In an alternate universe where this got off the ground, I can only imagine how it might have changed the course of the games had it been a success. If the series ended up failing, it could have had a negative impact on the games, potentially ending the franchise as a whole. If it had been a success, it may have changed the course of the games had It surpassed them in popularity.

All in all, I’m glad that it didn’t happen at the time. I think a series would be better now that the franchise has more solid footing than it did back then.

 

[Sakuraba Neku]

I like it.

 

[Disney Adventurer]

It seemed fine. My only nitpick would've been Sora and co. not befriending Disney characters as they do in the games, but who knows, maybe Seth didn't understand that was one of the core elements about the franchise. He said the original pilot script was basically "an Aladdin crossover with Sora and his friends" but he rewrote it to become this pilot.

 

[Megavoltage]

Lol'd at Kairi kicking the Shadow in the face.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

It seemed fine. My only nitpick would've been Sora and co. not befriending Disney characters as they do in the games, but who knows, maybe Seth didn't understand that was one of the core elements about the franchise. He said the original pilot script was basically "an Aladdin crossover with Sora and his friends" but he rewrote it to become this pilot.

He intentionally did not want to do that as to differentiate it from the games and also keep the core cast as the focus.

In an alternate universe where this got off the ground, I can only imagine how it might have changed the course of the games had it been a success. If the series ended up failing, it could have had a negative impact on the games, potentially ending the franchise as a whole. If it had been a success, it may have changed the course of the games had It surpassed them in popularity.

All in all, I’m glad that it didn’t happen at the time. I think a series would be better now that the franchise has more solid footing than it did back then.

Same, not just because this could have gone either way but because I think KH needs an animated series now more than ever to introduce it to a new generation of fans and not having one already in existence means they can do anything they please with it without the baggage of an old one to use as an example.

 

[WAluigipants]

I'm surprised at how well this was written. While not a 1-to-1 recreation of the story from KH1, it sticks to the source materials very well and characterizes Sora, Donald, and Goofy fairly well. Glad this finally saw the light of day despite how rough it looks.

 

[MATGSY]

Wow, it's cool that we finally got to see this. It's not bad. I have to wonder why Haley wasn't Sora in this, but Bobby Edner did a surprisingly good job.

Clearly the star of such mega hits as Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 & Jungle Book 2 was too expensive for this show.

 

[Happyfunshineman]

Wow, it’s cool to finally see this.

I say good for Seth, I’m happy he’s sharing this with us.

It’s honestly pretty good. I was expecting something much different.

I went out of my way to buy the Kingdom Hearts mangas when I was a kid so I feel like I would have watched too.

There is so much material to work with here for avatar pictures. My goodness.

 

[Launchpad]

This was a very joyful thing to watch, even moreso to listen to. It was nice to return to a time where David Gallagher had a more youthful tone, where Jiminy's old voice was still around, and to experience the franchise at a time where only KH1 existed.

Bonus points for a lot of the dialogue-- they didn't push it too far at all, it feels very Disney Afternoon, in a good way. Sora and Riku having a more playful rivalry, the comedy feels right without being mean spirited, and I love Goofy acting parental. Riku calling Maleficent "my queen" was a bridge too far, but it was still a great pitch given the time constraints.

 

[2 quid is good]

This very much feels like the early 2000s. Like, if you want something to capture what 2003 cartoons were like on the whole that'd probably it. I enjoyed it!

The funniest part was the battle music which made me honestly think of Beyblade, I mean, it kinda worked but also, this is KH man.

I've seen some people saying it would rival ATLA in property, I definitely disagree but I think there's enough quality in there to give it cult classic status, and the dialogue was very fun. That gag with Goofy and the large body had me splitting a grin.

Also, you can really see why Bobby Edner doubled up for Haley on other projects, but it's trippy to still hear a bit of Vaan there too. Makes me wish Haley was allowed to give Sora's voice more of a lower pitch like in KH2 but oh well. It was WONDERFUL hearing Hayden and competent David Gallagher again.

 

[andreverts]

Listening to the beat of "Simple and Clean" when Sora and Riku find and run to the lamp felt weird and nostalgic.

Thanks for sharing this, I completed the first Kingdom Hearts multiple times, read the manga and the novel, I would have watched the cartoon too (even if the drawings were terrible)!

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Listening to the beat of "Simple and Clean" when Sora and Riku find and run to the lamp felt weird and nostalgic.

Thanks for sharing this, I completed the first Kingdom Hearts multiple times, read the manga and the novel, I would have watched the cartoon too (even if the drawings were terrible)!

Haha the art wouldn’t have been like this. Seth intended to have a proper team come to do work if the pilot actually got picked up. This was Seth working on his 0 dollars budget. Animatics always look rough, anyways.

Clearly the star of such mega hits as Hunchback of Notre Dame 2 & Jungle Book 2 was too expensive for this show.

You joke but Haley was actually busy considering he was an Academy nominated child actor trying to get into his next projects. It’s like y’all forget he was a huge star in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was also a professional child athlete golfer.

 

[Launchpad]

You joke but Haley was actually busy considering he was an Academy nominated child actor trying to get into his next projects. It’s like y’all forget he was a huge star in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was also a professional child athlete golfer.

The overworked child star to schlubby filmbro pipeline continues

 

[Darkspawn]

You joke but Haley was actually busy considering he was an Academy nominated child actor trying to get into his next projects. It’s like y’all forget he was a huge star in the late 90s and early 2000s. He was also a professional child athlete golfer.

Yeah based on the 9/30/03 date on the pilot, I suspect he was busy with Secondhand Lions which released a couple weeks before.

 

[AR829038]

I like how we're all just ignoring the fact that Maleficent straight yeeted Jafar out of a space door.

All in all, I think this would have made for a cute little TV adaptation, but I don't think it would have been a great show. First of all, it seems like the pacing of the story that they're going for here is way too sped up (and yes, I know it's just a pilot proof-of-concept, but even still, the fact that they go straight from Destiny Islands to Agrabah and have Riku's transformation happen so fast is still weird).
Second, the problem with doing a TV adaptation of a game like KH is that you have so many degrees of replication. You're already recreating the events of pre-existing Disney animated films for the game, but now you're also going to reverse translate that back into a TV adaptation of a game that adapts movies? Maybe most people wouldn't mind, but that would just feel pretty off to me.

I'm ultimately glad this didn't get made, partly because it looks kinda mediocre especially compared to other 2000's cartoon shows of the time (and yes, I'm taking into account the 0-budget pilot status of this footage). But also because, I'm glad it didn't screw up the production of the game series in any way. Having this tank would have been a major blow to the game's longevity, while having it succeed would have pressured Nomura to follow the storyline of the series more than the absolutely batshit crazy ride we've actually gotten over the years.

Really neat piece of KH history though. Glad we finally got to see it and know that it was real.

 

[SuperNova]

I know its an animatic but its hilarious to me how animatic Sora looks okay and animatic Riku is going to be the new fandom meme.