What if we had the rights to a series about Kingdom Hearts? It was definitely a project in the pipeline, as this pilot episode proves.
The pilot episode of a canceled Kingdom Hearts anime series was uploaded to YouTube by its director. The series was to be directed and developed by Seth Kearsley who currently works for Netflix, but also for Eight Crazy Nights and The Looney Tunes Show.
A consolation episode for Kingdom Hearts
So we learn that in 2002 (yes, yes), the same year as the release of the original Kingdom Hearts game, Kearsley was hired by Disney TV to produce a series based on the franchise’s first installment. Despite the pilot testing positive from a test audience, the whole thing was canceled because Square Enix had other video game plans for the saga. The existence of the series is not new in itself. For example, in 2013 Kearsley released storyboards… But this time we’re taking it a step further and the pilot episode is literally online on YouTube.
While the rendering isn’t very sexy and far from definitive, it’s a nice open window into the past and what could have happened with a Kingdom Hearts animated series. According to Kearsley, all of the game’s original actors have resumed their roles, with the exception of Hayley Joel Osment (who voices the character of Sora in VO). In his opinion, this was due to scheduling problems.
It’s hard to imagine Disney relaunching such a project these days, but given the number of Kingdom Hearts fans around the world, such a series would be a huge hit.
