Disney Worlds That Were Scrapped From The Kingdom Hearts Games

Key Takeaways

The article discusses scrapped Disney Worlds from
Kingdom Hearts
games, such as Cars, Tarzan, and more.
Many of the planned worlds were cut due to licensing issues or Disney’s ownership changes over the years.
The scrapped worlds, like The Jungle Book and Treasure Planet, were often well into development before being removed from the games.

As someone who has spent countless hours immersed in the magical worlds of Kingdom Hearts, I can’t help but feel a pang of nostalgic disappointment when I think about the lost opportunities and scrapped worlds that never made it into the final games. The prospect of exploring Treasure Planet or even a Cars world with Sora and his friends is as tantalizing as a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow, and yet, like many dreams, they remain just out of reach.

The game Kingdom Hearts stands out for numerous reasons, particularly its extensive collection of worlds inspired by various Disney films. Players find themselves captivated by the opportunity to traverse levels that mirror their beloved Disney movies, accompanied by Sora, Donald, and Goofy.

In much the same vein as popular video game series, Kingdom Hearts boasts a fair share of unused content, some of which pertains to Disney Worlds that never made it past the editing stage. Over time, enthusiastic fans have managed to unearth numerous such abandoned levels, and here are seven of them that they find particularly intriguing, expressing hopes that they might somehow have been incorporated into the game at some point.

7 Toy Story Was Scrapped From Kingdom Hearts

Players Almost Got To Meet Woody & Buzz In The First Game

Disney Worlds That Were Scrapped From The Kingdom Hearts Games

Tetsuya Nomura, the director of the series, has frequently expressed his desire to construct worlds akin to Pixar films for quite some time now. Yet, it was only recently that he got the opportunity to bring this idea to life. Interestingly enough, many fans might not realize that this concept has been part of his plans since the project’s inception.

Back in 2015, some dedicated fans stumbled upon a design blueprint for my favorite game, Kingdom Hearts. Nested within this document was some fascinating concept art from an abandoned Toy Story world. Places like Andy’s house, Pizza Planet, and Al’s Toy Barn were all there, iconic locations that I would have loved to explore in the game. It seems that Disney might not have had full ownership of Pixar back in 2001, which could be why they decided not to include this level originally. But boy, was I excited when I finally got my wish with the Toy Story world appearing in Kingdom Hearts 3! Since Disney bought Pixar in 2006, it looks like Nomura was able to bring this dream to life for all of us gamers.

6 Tarzan Was Scrapped From Chain Of Memories

A Nostalgic World That Has Disappeared From The Franchise

In some Kingdom Hearts games such as Chain of Memories and Coded, recurring worlds from the original game are frequently revisited, with the exception of Deep Jungle, a world inspired by Tarzan. This is believed to be due to Disney no longer holding the rights to Edgar Rice Burroughs’ intellectual property in the early 2000s.

Initially, early sketches for the Game Boy Advance version of Chain of Memories showed that Sora would return to Deep Jungle during his Castle Oblivion adventure. Furthermore, a card representing Jungle King’s Keyblade, which is associated with this world, can be found within the game files. This suggests that Square Enix intended to reuse this setting but were prevented from doing so by Disney higher-ups due to legal issues. Deep Jungle thus stands out as an intriguing piece of the franchise; a Disney World that was included in one game, only to be omitted entirely from the next.

5 Monsters Inc. Was Scrapped From Kingdom Hearts 2

Nomura’s Dream To Use Pixar Characters Never Died

It’s not surprising that Nomura wanted to incorporate Monsters Inc. into a Kingdom Hearts game given its significant success as Pixar’s second highest-grossing film, trailing only Toy Story. As far back as 2008, enthusiastic fans stumbled upon text files for an unutilized world modeled after Monsters Inc. hidden within the data of Kingdom Hearts 2.

For several years, there was much excitement and debate within the fan community about this topic, until Tetsuya Nomura finally clarified it in an interview for Kingdom Hearts 3 Ultimania. He revealed that his team had developed models of characters from Monsters Inc. and Toy Story to potentially include them in Kingdom Hearts 2. They even started talks with Disney, but ultimately abandoned the project. However, this setback led him to prioritize incorporating both franchises into Kingdom Hearts 3 later on, which he eventually managed to achieve.

4 Pinocchio Was Scrapped From 358/2 Days

Roxas’ Story Was Going To Introduce A New Disney World

In the video game titled “Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days“, Roxas explores various worlds that gamers have previously encountered in earlier games. Interestingly, there seemed to be a fresh world on the horizon for this game, one inspired by “Pinocchio“. Although the initial game included Monstro, this would’ve been an entire stage within the amusement park from the film.

In a 2010 interview, Nomura shared his intentions to incorporate a “Pinocchio” universe into the game, and he hinted that the primary narrative would revolve around Roxas and Xion encountering Pinocchio, a puppet with a heart, symbolizing their current predicament. This concept was eventually realized in “Dream Drop Distance,” under the name Prankster’s Paradise. However, fans continue to ponder about how different this abandoned version from “358/2 Days” might have been, given that character portraits of Honest John and Gideon are hidden within the game’s data, yet neither appeared in Prankster’s Paradise later on.

3 The Jungle Book Was Scrapped From Birth By Sleep

Aqua, Terra, And Ventus Almost Visited This Iconic Jungle Setting

In the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep marked the first time a handheld game introduced fresh Disney worlds that players hadn’t explored before. These locales were connected to characters from previous games such as Cinderella, Snow White, or Stitch. But what truly excited fans was the revelation of a brand new Disney property making its entrance in this much-loved prequel: The Jungle Book.

Unlike some other abandoned Disney Worlds within the Kingdom Hearts series, this one appears to have progressed significantly before its cancellation, as fans discovered fully modeled areas within the original PSP version of Birth by Sleep. These areas can be accessed using cheat codes and explored with characters Terra, Aqua, or Ventus. It’s quite intriguing! It’s a pity that this world didn’t make it to the final game, as The Jungle Book was not included in any subsequent Kingdom Hearts games either.

2 Treasure Planet Was Scrapped From Dream Drop Distance

One Of Disney’s Most Underrated Films Almost Got It’s Time To Shine

In Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance, the assortment of worlds is distinctive, offering some uncommon destinations that many might not anticipate exploring within this series, such as Tron: Legacy or Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers. Given these unusual inclusions, it’s no surprise that a world inspired by Treasure Planet, one of Disney’s lesser-known films, was intended to make an appearance at some stage.

Back in 2016, enthusiastic gamers stumbled upon a massive, smooth-surfaced replica of the RSL Legacy, the starship from Treasure Planet, hidden within the game files for the Nintendo 3DS edition. Just like how The Jungle Book was accessible in Birth by Sleep with a little hacking, this spacecraft can be visited using Sora or Riku. What’s intriguing is that if the entire ship was modeled, it suggests significant work was put into creating this world. However, Tetsuya Nomura never provided an official reason as to why it ended up being unused.

1 Cars Was Scrapped From Kingdom Hearts 3

Were Sora, Donald, & Goofy Going To Be Turned Into Vehicles?

In the end, Tetsuya Nomura’s long-held dream of incorporating Pixar elements into Kingdom Hearts 3 became a reality. Apart from designing Toy Box and Monstropolis worlds, they also featured Remy from Ratatouille, who had his own mini-game within Twilight Town. This has sparked much discussion among fans about potential Pixar movies appearing in future versions. Interestingly, a rather unanticipated and non-traditional Pixar property nearly made it into Kingdom Hearts 3.

More recently, enthusiasts of Kingdom Hearts stumbled upon preset materials for the game called the “KH3 Premium Showcase Files”. Within these files, a list of potential worlds is uncovered, suggesting that at one time, a Cars World was under consideration. Since no 3D models were found associated with this world, it seems to have not advanced too far in development stages. This discovery left fans puzzled for weeks and sparked curiosity about the specifics. If Sora, Donald, and Goofy were to be turned into vehicles, as speculated, that would have been quite unusual.

2024-09-12 05:34