After more than two decades of sending Sora, Donald and Goofy hopping between Disney worlds, Kingdom Hearts is officially making the jump to television. Disney has greenlit an original anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+, with franchise creator Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix directly involved. And this won’t simply be the games retold in animated form.
Unveiled at this year’s D23, the series, currently operating under the working title Kingdom Hearts, will tell a brand-new story within the franchise’s universe, bringing familiar characters along for an adventure created specifically for television.
Disney isn’t giving away much more just yet, but Nomura has already dropped a few intriguing clues about just how hands-on he is.
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Nomura Is Already Dropping Clues
Nomura says he has been holding extensive discussions with the series’ scenario team and working with the art team where needed, making it clear that the man behind Kingdom Hearts isn’t simply lending his name to the project.
Perhaps most interestingly, new character designs have already been created specifically for the anime.
What those designs look like, and whether they point towards entirely new characters, fresh versions of familiar faces or something stranger, remains a mystery. That’s fairly appropriate for a franchise famous, or perhaps infamous depending on how closely you’ve attempted to follow it, for turning seemingly tiny details into major pieces of mythology several games later.
Nomura has also pointed fans towards the project’s first piece of key art, suggesting there’s a clue hiding within it. “Please let your imagination run wild as you await further updates,” he teased.
Disney Kids & Family president Ayo Davis said the goal is to capture what has made the games distinctive while opening the universe up in a new way.
“There’s something really exciting about taking a world fans have spent years exploring through the games and bringing it to life in a completely new way,” Davis said. “And with a creative team that is working closely with the legendary Tetsuya Nomura, our new series will be unmistakably ‘Kingdom Hearts,’ while giving fans a whole new way to experience the world they love.”
Disney Has Tried This Before
Interestingly, this isn’t Disney’s first attempt to turn Kingdom Hearts into an animated series.
Following the release of the original game in 2002, Disney commissioned a pilot for a proposed 2D animated series directed by Seth Kearsley, whose credits included Dilbert and Eight Crazy Nights. The project never moved forward, although the abandoned pilot became something of a legend among fans before Kearsley eventually released its long-lost animatic online in 2022.
Things look considerably different this time around. More than two decades of games have transformed Kingdom Hearts into a massive franchise, with the series having shipped more than 39 million units worldwide. Crucially, Nomura and the Square Enix creative team are closely involved from the outset.
And Yes, Kingdom Hearts IV Is Getting Closer
The anime wasn’t the only major Kingdom Hearts development to come out of D23.
Square Enix also delivered a substantial update on the long-awaited Kingdom Hearts IV, with the next mainline game targeting a late 2027 release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
D23 also offered an extended look at Sora’s next adventure, confirming that Pixar’s Coco will be among the Disney worlds players get to visit and revealing playable sections featuring Donald, Goofy and King Mickey.
You can get the full breakdown of the new Kingdom Hearts IV footage, gameplay reveals and 2027 release details here.
As for the anime, Disney has yet to announce a premiere date, animation studio, voice cast or further plot details. For now, Nomura apparently wants everyone staring very closely at that key art.
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