Kingdom Hearts Trivia: #40

[Chaser]

Massive hype erupted last week when a brand new trailer for Kingdom Hearts III was unveiled at D23 Expo Japan 2013. One of the most talked about changes to the gameplay was the addition of famous Disney Theme Park attractions, one of which was a train based off the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad attraction decorated in the style of the Main Street Electrical Parade. 

Observant Kingdom Hearts fans found that this was not the first time the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad train had made an appearance in the series. Released over 11 years ago, Kingdom Hearts featured a design of this train in Gepetto's workshop in Traverse Town. It is amazing how things from small little things from years ago are making an appearance in the series as it reaches the end of the Xehanort Saga.

Do you think Nomura had planned on putting Disney Theme Park attractions into Kingdom Hearts before? Maybe there are other hidden easter eggs like this in the game we haven't noticed before?

If you have any suggestions for trivia, please contact a member of site staff!

Source: Joey Wright (via Twitter), spookydouken (via tumblr)

Previous trivia: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39]

 

[Zettaflare]

interesting theory, but i doubt nomura has been planning this early on.

 

[Javelin434]

I'd say it's a coincidence until proven otherwise....

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

interesting theory, but i doubt nomura has been planning this early on.

That wasn't really Chaser's question. He's asking if we think that Nomura had initially planned to have ride-inspired things in the series but didn't because of system limitations/time constraints/feeling there was no way to include them.

 

[Zettaflare]

That wasn't really Chaser's question. He's asking if we think that Nomura had initially planned to have ride-inspired things in the series but didn't because of system limitations/time constraints/feeling there was no way to include them.

okay. well in that case maybe nomura did plan on it, but i doubt it. I'm with javelin, unless Nomura says otherwise, then I think it's merely a coincidence and nothing more

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Welp, since you guys asked so nicely:

"We made the maps to be like Disneyland."​

---The maps look just like the original works. What procedures did you take to make the map?

Tanaka: For example for the tree house in Deep Jungle, we looked at simple designs and blueprints and created a map that was very close to the movie. But if you try to battle in a place of that size, it starts to feel very cramped. That's why the scale of it was made larger than the actual movie, but things that were meant to be kept small stayed that way. By doing that, we were able to recreate it.

Endou: The concept was to have events and battles on the same map. For example, in Disneyland, you look, play, and touch things around the town and they move. From the beginning, we wanted to touch and move things within the game and mimic Disneyland in that respect.

Harata: In the program, there isn't much of a boundary between battles and events. Basically, you can do anything anywhere.

KH Ultimania - Map & Event Team - News - Kingdom Hearts Insider

 

[Chaser]

It was a rhetorical question meant to foster discussion about whether or not Nomura has had these plans in his head, as he is often seen having these thoughts in his head early in a games development and shoving those in to later games.

 

[Solo]

Given the whimsical nature of KH1, Nomura might have indeed wanted to incorporate rides into the game. However, as Master Spockanort said, due to various constraints, the idea ended up being shelved.

I don't dismiss the possibility; even the sea-salt ice cream is there in the game because Nomura himself had some during his visit to Tokyo Disneysea. If something as little as ice cream could make it into the game, I don't think it's a far-fetched idea that he wanted to have many other interesting attractions of Disney Resort in the game. If I were the designer, I would've been interested, too.

And speaking of Easter eggs, is it that Nomura had plans of including chocobos in the game, too? There's a drawing of one in the Secret Place in Destiny Islands.

 

[Zettaflare]

Welp, since you guys asked so nicely:



KH Ultimania - Map & Event Team - News - Kingdom Hearts Insider

This interview doesn't mention anything about them wanting Disneyland rides in the series.

 

[Chaser]

This interview doesn't mention anything about them wanting Disneyland rides in the series.

It highlights that they use Disneyland as an inspiration. They've been using it as inspiration since 2002, therefore this design shows that he has acknowledged the train(and therefore Disneyland attractions) in the past. It's really not that hard to understand.

And speaking of Easter eggs, is it that Nomura had plans of including chocobos in the game, too? There's a drawing of one in the Secret Place in Destiny Islands.

There's also a design in the destroyed Destiny Islands. Let me get a picture.

 

[Rydgea]

I've never seen that before. I'll have to look for it in 1.5 when I play it. *u*

Love it when stuff comes full-circle back to the original KH.

 

[Chaser]

There's also a design in the destroyed Destiny Islands. Let me get a picture.

Got it.

 

[Rydgea]

xD We just rolled into Trivia #41.

Instead of Hidden Mickeys, Hidden Chocobos. I like it.

 

[Chaser]

xD We just rolled into Trivia #41.

Instead of Hidden Mickeys, Hidden Chocobos. I like it.

I'm sure we could stretch our minds to find Hidden Mickey's in the series (I'm convinced a crater in the Keyblade Graveyard is a hidden Mickey).
But there have been multiple references to Disneyland in the games over the years. Disney Town is probably one of the biggest in the series yet.

 

[Zettaflare]

Got it.

wow, i thought the only chocobo easter egg was the carving in the secret cave. Maybe this is foreshadowing the chocobos appearance in the kh series at some point

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

xD We just rolled into Trivia #41.

Instead of Hidden Mickeys, Hidden Chocobos. I like it.

We'll make a chocobo update this week since clearly it is the superior topic xD

I have a (short) list of fun Disney (and TWEWY) references in KH that will be cranked out :3

 

[Moonlight Aqua]

I wouldn't be surprised if they put chocobos in Kingdom Hearts (like real ones) since we see Moogles in the game anyways... why not?

To the topic: I think he did plan it, but because of hardware stuff and time to make the game... it wasn't possible... Now... I will be able to kick heartless butt on an awesome train ride! ;3

 

[Korai]

Has anyone ever noticed that, in Deep Jungle, outside the tent and next to the grandfather clock, there is a table that has a teapot and several cups that are clear references to Mrs. Potts and Chip from beauty and the beast? (Interestingly, this same easter egg was also in the Disney Tarzan movie, too)

And in the actual movie:

 

[kupo1121]

Has anyone ever noticed that, in Deep Jungle, outside the tent and next to the grandfather clock, there is a table that has a teapot and several cups that are clear references to Mrs. Potts and Chip from beauty and the beast? (Interestingly, this same easter egg was also in the Disney Tarzan movie, too)
I don't have any pictures of this, but I'll try to find one.

I feel like that was a trivia somewhere lol but yes, they were in Deep Jungle and they're quite easy to spot actually given they stand out.

On the topic though, I do believe that Nomura always wanted to make TT a very whimsical, theme park-esque world. It didn't come across well in KH1 but in DDD, his expansions to TT with the districts are very reminiscent of a carnival so I cannot say I'm shocked ^_^

 

[Sign]

I feel like that was a trivia somewhere lol but yes, they were in Deep Jungle and they're quite easy to spot actually given they stand out.

Yeah xD It was in the film as well, and since everyone knows about it we decided not to write an article. (Everyone urging us to post the obvious Kurt Zisa trivia was bad enough lol)