Does Disney own Kingdom Hearts

[kingheartless500]

Do they own the Kingdom Hearts Franchise....and alll the characters

even the non-disney characters...Sora, Riku etc.. does Disney own them

how much say in creativity for Kingdom Hearts 3 will Disney have.

do they only have control when it comes to a disney aspect of the game, or the whole game as well...

 

[Ruran]

Someone else could probably answer this better, but from what I understand originally Square and Disney had joint ownership of the series, but eventually came to own the whole thing, characters included. Right now I think Square is just the developer but not strictly considered a legal owner.

As far as how much creative control they have, they were very protective at first, but as time went on they more or less let Nomura do whatever he wanted so long as his applications were reasonable. Whatever direct Disney affiliated works they want to implement though, Square needs permission to use them. Since they are the legal owners of the franchise they could do virtually whatever they want with it, though they seem to be okay with Nomura and Square doing whatever for the most part.

 

[Shogo-Kun]

Except for the Square Enix characters (Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You), yes Disney owns Kingdom Hearts lock, stock, and barrel. The copyright notice should give you enough of an indication: (c)Disney. Developed by Square Enix. Square is just the developers, but Disney owns and publishes the games. In this sense, Disney is basically commissioning Square to create the games.

In terms of how much creative control they have in the games, pretty much everything. However, they are very lenient in terms of what Square and Nomura can do (in fact, they've given Nomura free reign as to what can be included in KHIII), but it does seem that they have the authority to put their foot down if the need arises.

 

[Ruran]

Except for the Square Enix characters (Final Fantasy, The World Ends with You), yes Disney owns Kingdom Hearts lock, stock, and barrel. The copyright notice should give you enough of an indication: (c)Disney. Developed by Square Enix. Square is just the developers, but Disney owns and publishes the games. In this sense, Disney is basically commissioning Square to create the games.

In terms of how much creative control they have in the games, pretty much everything. However, they are very lenient in terms of what Square and Nomura can do (in fact, they've given Nomura free reign as to what can be included in KHIII), but it does seem that they have the authority to put their foot down if the need arises.

R.I.P chainsaw wielding. You will be missed. :C

 

[Davidsawr]

R.I.P chainsaw wielding. You will be missed. :C

R.I.P any chance of romance between Sora and Kairi. T~T

 

[SephirothZ]

R.I.P any chance of romance between Sora and Kairi. T~T

lol, come on, Disney has romance in almost every single one of their movies. However, I must agree, for whatever reason, there is a serious lack of romance between those two. They think about each other all the time, but when they are actually in each other's presence, they are like elementary school kids. At least she hugged him when they were finally reunited in KH2 in the TWTNW.

I am sure Disney put stipulations on how they can portray their main characters, especially Mickey. I bet Disney looks over every inch of every cutscene involving Mickey. I found it almost funny when Goofy was knocked out in KH2 for a couple reasons:
1) I am surprised Disney allowed that
2) There was no way Goofy, or any of the Disney characters, will die in this game, so when the party thought he was dead, I kind of chuckled.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Apparently the contract that was written for Kingdom Hearts is complex and weird, but the simple rundown is that Disney owns original characters but Nomura is the one who must approve anything related to Kingdom Hearts. So say Disney wants to put a cameo of Sora into Wreck-It Ralph 2, even though they own the characters they would still need to ask SE and Nomura. At the same time Disney must approve anything Kingdom Hearts related for it to be done...so it's like any collaboration. There has to be mutual agreements and whatnot.

It's...weird.

Square Enix publishes the games btw not Disney Interactive. Disney does front part of the bill for marketing and publishing, though.

R.I.P any chance of romance between Sora and Kairi. T~T

Why would you say that? If anything, it being Disney makes SoKai more possible. I personally would rather avoid that, but Disney likes their tropes.

 

[Davidsawr]

lol, come on, Disney has romance in almost every single one of their movies. However, I must agree, for whatever reason, there is a serious lack of romance between those two. They think about each other all the time, but when they are actually in each other's presence, they are like elementary school kids. At least she hugged him when they were finally reunited in KH2 in the TWTNW.

I am sure Disney put stipulations on how they can portray their main characters, especially Mickey. I bet Disney looks over every inch of every cutscene involving Mickey. I found it almost funny when Goofy was knocked out in KH2 for a couple reasons:
1) I am surprised Disney allowed that
2) There was no way Goofy, or any of the Disney characters, will die in this game, so when the party thought he was dead, I kind of chuckled.

I was more surprised in the 1.5 remake in Re:CoM, there are several cutscenes where donald says "Something's screwy!" Its not that bad but considering its disney...
Its not in the original CoM but idk if its in the ps2 remake. Makes me laugh every time.

And when Goofy gets up he says "I get hit on the head all the time" lol somebody had abusive parents.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

I am sure Disney put stipulations on how they can portray their main characters, especially Mickey.

There is no need to guess. They do have stipulations. Disney at first wouldn't allow Nomura to show Mickey at all in the first game, but managed to get a scene in. After Kingdom Hearts proved it could stand on its own without Mickey being a main draw to audiences, they were much more liberal with allowing him in.

I bet Disney looks over every inch of every cutscene involving Mickey.

I doubt that, though. Everything has to be looked over in the game so I doubt they'd pay more attention to Mickey's scenes than any other unless it really went to some kind of extreme.

1) I am surprised Disney allowed that
2) There was no way Goofy, or any of the Disney characters, will die in this game, so when the party thought he was dead, I kind of chuckled.

Disney frequently puts their own characters into harrowing situations that come off as serious but generally lead to comedic ends. It being done in KH2 was not too shocking, really.

I was more surprised in the 1.5 remake in Re:CoM, there are several cutscenes where donald says "Something's screwy!" Its not that bad but considering its disney...
Its not in the original CoM but idk if its in the ps2 remake. Makes me laugh every time.

And when Goofy gets up he says "I get hit on the head all the time" lol somebody had abusive parents.

PS2 version = PS3 version.

 

[robvandam111]

I wish Disney ends up buying Square. I'd love to see a my favorite Final Fantasy characters at Disney World.

 

[maryadavies]

BTW, re: SoKai..I can see that happening b/c of one little thing that most of you may of not thought of.

I have come to believe thanks to my parents that true love can grow from friendship (Don't look at me like that. My parents said they started as friends, then it grew from there; and that marriage lasted for a very very long time! Not to mention it weathered my WITCH of a grandma on my mom's side who was always trying to break them up); so yeah. We don't know how much Sora's been talking to Kairi since KH2, but it could happen. Esp since yeah, disney!

Also from one Disney movie(I think it was Sleeping Beauty?); "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"; Can you see that happening?! I can.

 

[Elysium]

I am sure Disney put stipulations on how they can portray their main characters, especially Mickey. I bet Disney looks over every inch of every cutscene involving Mickey.

They are also overly protective of Snow White. Which is what I always suspected was the reason behind why we didn't get a proper fight with the Evil Queen in BbS, because Disney probably didn't want the plot to be altered in any significant way (ie, the Queen is still the one who poisons Snow White, the Dwarfs still kill the Queen/or rather she is killed thanks to the lightning strike). I know he already takes over the Huntsman's role, but, if they had been able to mess more with the plot, it would've been interesting if Terra had given the apple to Snow White on the Queen's order without knowing what he was doing (the aaangst! which BbS is in love with) + Aqua giving the Queen a smackdown.

 

[kingheartless500]

So Disney actually has control of Sora

meaning do you guys think Disney only gets involved when it deals with a disney product..or do they pay attention to sora, riku and the whole storyline of kingdom hearts

 

[.:Mega:.]

My problem with SoKai being canon is that Kairi has not been developed as her own distinct character in the games. She has elements of good characterization, but up until this point, she's basically been used to further Sora (and Riku's) character arcs. Mostly Sora's.

To make it canon in KH3 would just feel.. forced, IMO. It wouldn't be the most surprising thing, but I'd personally prefer it if they didn't canonize any romances until later, if at all and they allowed Kairi to develop stronger bonds with the rest of the cast. 'cause as it stands, 90% of her interactions hinge on Sora for one reason or another. Even her friendship with Riku hasn't been given the development it deserves outside of the manga. But the manga really is an example of Kairi done right. I wouldn't mind if KH3 took a few cues from it.

EDIT: As for Disney being protective... I think that's a shame. KH1's Disney worlds were interesting because they didn't just follow the movie plots. I feel like ever since, they've stuck too close to the source material rather than weaving the worlds into the overall plot.

 

[kingheartless500]

so do you guys think Disney pays close attention to the whole plot of Kingdom Hearts (Sora, Riku Xenahort, etc.) or do they only get protective/care for the disney aspects of it...


meaning does Disney know what is going to happen to Sora in KH3..right now etc.. etc.

 

[Ruran]

So Disney actually has control of Sora

meaning do you guys think Disney only gets involved when it deals with a disney product..or do they pay attention to sora, riku and the whole storyline of kingdom hearts

For the most part, Disney seems to "ignore" KH and lets it do its own thing though I think there are some Disney executives that have said they pay attention to the series. The only time I can remember off the top of my head that Disney was directly involved with any of the KH original characters was way back when, then used to have someone going around parks in a Sora custom. It was terrifying.

Spoiler Show

There are probably other instances but I either can't remember or don't know of them. Otherwise, Nomura can just do whatever with them. Disney isn't as protective of KH original characters as they are their classic characters.

 

[robvandam111]

For the most part, Disney seems to "ignore" KH and lets it do its own thing though I think there are some Disney executives that have said they pay attention to the series. The only time I can remember off the top of my head that Disney was directly involved with any of the KH original characters was way back when, then used to have someone going around parks in a Sora custom. It was terrifying.

Spoiler Show

There are probably other instances but I either can't remember or don't know of them. Otherwise, Nomura can just do whatever with them. Disney isn't as protective of KH original characters as they are their classic characters.

I guess you can say, he had too much sea salt ice cream bars? hehe