Kingdom Hearts was once supposed to have its own spin-off TV series, but the show never made it into full production. Thought lost for nearly 20 years, the original pilot animatic was shared today by director Seth Kearsley.
Kingdom Hearts would naturally be a great fit for a cartoon show, and it seems like all the pieces were in place for it to go ahead in the early 2000s, shortly after the release of the original game. They even got the game’s original English voice actors to reprise their roles for the pilot, as heard in this little piece of history, with the exception of Haley Joel Osment as Sora, which Kearsley explains was simply due to scheduling conflicts. This rough animatic is all early sketches and effects — the show wouldn’t actually have looked like this — but it still gives us a fascinating glimpse at something that never came to be… check it out for yourself below.
Long-lost Kingdom Hearts TV pilot animatic unearthed
Kearsley has been quite open about the project since it first came to light some years back, but only now are we getting to see this footage in all its early glory. He explains the timing in another video on YouTube, revealing that he was involved in a near-fatal car crash earlier this year and realised this piece of history would be lost to time were he to pass away without sharing it. So share he did, premiering the animatic on his YouTube channel earlier today to the delight of fans who have been waiting years to see what could have been. It’s very much of its time but it’s still a fun watch, and with the franchise being bigger than ever, Kingdom Hearts 4 on the way, and Disney always looking for new Disney+ content, maybe this will be the spark that ignites a second attempt at a TV run for the marvellous madness that is Kingdom Hearts…
Glad to see this relic finally unearthed? Should Disney go back