Franchise: Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix
Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Kingdom Hearts HD 2.5 Remix
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
Kingdom Hearts
Kingdom Hearts III
Kingdom Hearts Re:coded
Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance
Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage
Kingdom Hearts Union χ[Cross]
Kingdom Hearts II
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days
subdirectory_arrow_right Kingdom Hearts 0.2: Birth by Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage (Game), Kingdom Hearts (Game), Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse (Game)
▲
3
▼
According to series producer Tetsuya Nomura, one reason that Mickey Mouse's role was limited in the original Kingdom Hearts was because around the same time as its release, Capcom owned the license to use Mickey Mouse for the game Disney's Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse. The developers persisted and were eventually given the go-ahead to add him into the game "as long as [they only had him in] one scene, from far away, as a silhouette, with him waving his hand or something". As such, Mickey only appears briefly and seen from behind near the end of the game, helping Sora and Riku seal Kingdom Hearts itself.
Mickey's perspective of this event also appears in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A fragmentary passage. The reason that Mickey loses his shirt is to partially keep the continuity of the original Kingdom Hearts that showed Mickey in his classic shirtless look.
Mickey's perspective of this event also appears in Kingdom Hearts 0.2 Birth by Sleep: A fragmentary passage. The reason that Mickey loses his shirt is to partially keep the continuity of the original Kingdom Hearts that showed Mickey in his classic shirtless look.
Tetsuya Nomura translated interview:
https://www.kh13.com/news/spoilers-the-big-tetsuya-nomura-interview-from-kingdom-hearts-iii-ultimania-has-been-translated-in-full-r2953/
Video detailing trivia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJFJj5yhmo
Mickey losing his shirt in A fragmentary passage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlxOaXktNp0
https://www.kh13.com/news/spoilers-the-big-tetsuya-nomura-interview-from-kingdom-hearts-iii-ultimania-has-been-translated-in-full-r2953/
Video detailing trivia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvJFJj5yhmo
Mickey losing his shirt in A fragmentary passage:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlxOaXktNp0
▲
2
▼
In a rare instance of Kingdom Hearts being referenced outside of KH-related Disney media, the Kingdom Key and Sora's hair can be seen within Sweet Pete’s assortment of cartoon props in the 2022 film "Chip & Dale: Rescue Rangers". An interesting detail about this cameo is that Sora's hair appears to have been traced or taken from DeviantArt user kimbolie12's fan art of Sora from Kingdom Hearts III.
subdirectory_arrow_right Kingdom Hearts (Game)
▲
1
▼
In each Dive to the Heart segment in almost every game in the series, there is a disembodied voice that can only speak through text that guides the characters (and thus the player as well) through the tutorial of each game. The identity of these voices has been unidentified in every game but Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (where it is obviously child Sora) and the first Kingdom Hearts. For the latter, in the Kingdom Hearts Ultimania, Nomura was asked who the voice is for the opening of the first game and he finally gave it's identity as being none other than King Mickey. However, this interview was done in the early 2000's before most of the sequels were produced, so it's unknown if this explanation was retconned or not.
▲
1
▼
In 2013, a Kingdom Hearts online mobile game was in development that never saw the light of day. It was to be called "Kingdom Hearts: Fragmented Keys". The game was rumored to feature customizable avatar characters (like Union Cross). It would also have been in 3D instead of Union cross' 2D art style. Most interesting and exciting of all though (gathered from concept art no less) was the Disney world list as the game would feature returning worlds like: Agrabah, Wonderland, a Lilo & Stitch Hawaii world, Space Paranoids/The Grid, London/Neverland, and Dwarf Woodlands. It also included worlds that didn't appear in the series yet but would appear in later games like Union Cross and Kingdom Hearts III, such as: Arendell (Frozen), Kingdom of Corona (Tangled), and Niceland/Game Central Station (Wreck-It Ralph). Finally, and most shockingly, a world based on the Star Wars franchise, although this world's chronology is unknown as concept art show different conflicting eras, such as an image of characters Anakin, Obi-wan, Padme, and Master Yoda in their exact looks from Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and series in a separatist gunship's hanger as well as a planet that looks similar to Tatooine and an anachronistic Death Star power station room. It is unknown why this game was cancelled.
Kingdom Hearts: Fragmented Keys cancellation article:
https://www.kh13.com/news/disney-was-developing-a-kingdom-hearts-title-for-ios-android-named-kingdom-hearts-fragmented-keys-in-2013-now-cancelled/
ProgidyxCD video on cancelled Kingdom Hearts games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJDWcZU-Xw8#t=170
ProdigyxCD video on unused Kingdom Hearts worlds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkCfMylc7g#t=88
https://www.kh13.com/news/disney-was-developing-a-kingdom-hearts-title-for-ios-android-named-kingdom-hearts-fragmented-keys-in-2013-now-cancelled/
ProgidyxCD video on cancelled Kingdom Hearts games:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJDWcZU-Xw8#t=170
ProdigyxCD video on unused Kingdom Hearts worlds:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwkCfMylc7g#t=88
▲
1
▼
During a Q&A session at MomoCon 2015, Greg Weisman revealed that a world based on Gargoyles was proposed at one point to be included in the Kingdom Hearts series, but was scrapped due to some team members "leaving Disney".
This marks the only known instance of a world directly based on a television series by Disney ever being considered for inclusion in the Kingdom Hearts series.
This marks the only known instance of a world directly based on a television series by Disney ever being considered for inclusion in the Kingdom Hearts series.
▲
1
▼
Although the lack of Final Fantasy characters in later Kingdom Hearts titles (such as the base game of Kingdom Hearts III) was met with backlash from some KH fans, Nomura found this to be quite bizarre as he always viewed the series as not at all being the "Disney and Final Fantasy crossover" that it is commonly seen as.
"I understand there weren't that many Final Fantasy characters in Kingdom Hearts III. One thing I want to clear up is that a lot of fans are saying that Kingdom Hearts is this collaboration between Disney characters and Final Fantasy characters. But I really feel like that's not the basic concept of Kingdom Hearts; that's not exactly what Kingdom Hearts is.
When we released the first title, we had only a few original Kingdom Hearts characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet. And so, we had a lot of Final Fantasy characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original Kingdom Hearts] characters better.
Now, there are so many original characters from Kingdom Hearts that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters. With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We're trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren't too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That's something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it's hard to say what the exact balance is going to be [in future games]..."
When we released the first title, we had only a few original Kingdom Hearts characters. When they were interacting with really well-known, beloved Disney characters, I felt nobody really knew these new characters, so it was harder for them to stand their ground just yet. And so, we had a lot of Final Fantasy characters involved to lend a hand for everyone to get to know these [original Kingdom Hearts] characters better.
Now, there are so many original characters from Kingdom Hearts that are so well-loved, and people want to see more of those characters. With Kingdom Hearts III, since we did have so many original Kingdom Hearts characters, it was hard to find room for including more Final Fantasy characters. We're trying to find a good balance for that. I know that some fans were concerned about that and weren't too happy and wanted to see more Final Fantasy characters. That's something we definitely are thinking about. But just with the sheer number of original characters that we have now, it's hard to say what the exact balance is going to be [in future games]..."
▲
1
▼
According to Tetsuya Nomura, he said that he did not expect the side characters from 358/2 Days and Birth by Sleep (i.e. Roxas, Xion, Axel, Saix, Terra, Ventus, Aqua, etc.) to be incredibly popular among fans, especially compared to the main reoccurring cast.
"I really didn't think that the characters from these two titles would become this popular. I had thought that players wanted to see more of characters like Sora or Riku. It was kind of unexpected that the characters from these two titles were so well received. [...] So, if possible, it would be great to include more of them or continue to share more of their story in future opportunities."
"I really didn't think that the characters from these two titles would become this popular. I had thought that players wanted to see more of characters like Sora or Riku. It was kind of unexpected that the characters from these two titles were so well received. [...] So, if possible, it would be great to include more of them or continue to share more of their story in future opportunities."
▲
1
▼
In the "A Wonderful Spring of Mickey Mouse" animated special on Disney+, a Keyblade can be found in the box Minnie is holding at the 17:43 mark. The Keyblade featured is actually the Kingdom Key D, the Key that King Mickey wields at the beginning of the Kingdom Hearts series. This is one of the incredibly rare instances of Kingdom Hearts being referenced in non-KH related Disney media.
▲
1
▼
In early concept art for Kingdom Hearts, the series' recurring Heartless boss Darkside had an extremely different design. This early design had the boss appear as a goo monster with a bulbous elephantine shape, "eye spots", a toothed mouth, and a Halo over its "head".
▲
1
▼
Outside Merlin's House in Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts, the likeness of an owl can be found on the broken archway in front of the house as well as in the form of several small statues surrounding the building. Outside Merlin's House in Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden in every subsequent game, this owl's presence is reduced to two emblems hanging over Merlin's front door both inside and outside the house.
These owls are a reference to Merlin's pet owl Archimedes, a character from Disney's 1963 film adaptation of the T.H. White novel "The Sword in the Stone", who does not appear in the Kingdom Hearts series.
▲
1
▼
Sora's Parents are only mentioned or appear very few times in the entire series despite what their son goes through. The first is in the cutscene "The Keyblade" during the first game where the storm of darkness hits Destiny Islands. Sora's mom can be heard shouting to her son to come down for dinner to no avail. Moments later, Riku tells Sora, when standing under the dark portal and tempting Sora to come with him, that they won't see their parents again if they willingly go. Another time is when Sora talks to Donald and Goofy about Namine's disappearance in Castle Oblivion in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories and, influenced by a false memory, says that he thinks his parents knew about her disappearance. The last time is in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep Spoiler:when Terra visits Destiny Islands and talks to a very young Riku who mentions that his friend's (Sora's) dad took them out on his boat.
▲
1
▼
The games' real-time action platforming aspect (in contrast to the turn-based combat of previous Square RPGs) came from a desire by series creator Tetsuya Nomura and others at Square of wanting to make a game extremely similar to and as thrilling as Super Mario 64 after they played that game and were enamored by it. However in order to make the concept stand on its own two feet, they decided to use Disney properties (which made Nomura in particular even more excited and obsessed with the project) as they believed Disney was the only thing that could compete with Nintendo and Mario.
▲
1
▼
As revealed in by an interview with a head of Disney Interactive Studios in 2017, the original characters of Kingdom Hearts, such as Sora, although created by Square Enix, are wholly and entirely owned by Disney and the company can do as they please with them.