Kingdom Hearts Is Becoming an Anime Series on Disney+ and Disney Channel
Disney has greenlit a Kingdom Hearts anime series for Disney+ and Disney Channel, announced at the D23 fan event in Anaheim on Friday night. The show is being developed in partnership with the game's original creator, Tetsuya Nomura, and the creative team at Square Enix. Actor Benjamin Bratt revealed the news during the Disney Entertainment Showcase panel. Variety
The series will tell a brand-new story that expands the Kingdom Hearts universe while celebrating its characters, according to Deadline. "Kingdom Hearts" is the working title for the anime adaptation. Variety
Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, spoke to the announcement during the D23 panel. Deadline
The series joins a Disney+ animation slate that already includes Dragon Striker, Phineas and Ferb, Big City Greens, Messi and the Giants, Warrior Cats, and Journey. Deadline
For anyone unfamiliar with the property, Kingdom Hearts is a video game franchise that blends Disney's animated worlds with characters from Square Enix's Final Fantasy lineage. The first title debuted in March 2002 for the PlayStation 2. Since then the franchise has grown to more than a dozen games and sold over 39 million units worldwide. Variety
The games follow Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy as they travel through worlds based on Disney and Pixar films. In Kingdom Hearts III, for instance, the trio visited a Monsters, Inc. world and transformed into monsters themselves. That game arrived on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in January 2019. (D23)
The anime announcement comes with another thread for fans to track. Benjamin Bratt will voice his Coco character Ernesto de la Cruz in Kingdom Hearts IV, which is set to debut in late 2027 from Square Enix. Variety
No release window for the anime series has been announced. What is confirmed is that Nomura and Square Enix are involved creatively, and that Disney is backing the project across both its streaming platform and its kids' cable channel — a dual placement that gives the series two routes to reach audiences.
