The original Kingdom Hearts inspired Disney to pitch its own Super Smash Bros. style fighter

Nintendo

A former developer has revealed that the success of the original Kingdom Hearts convinced Disney to develop its own crossover fighting game along the lines of Super Smash Bros. The concept, internally called "Disney's Action Figure Face Off," reached the prototype stage before being shelved in favour of safer tie-in projects.

The details:

Speaking to Time Extension, former Disney Interactive concept artist Ken Christiansen shared that the pitch leaned directly on Kingdom Hearts as proof that Disney characters could share a world with characters from other franchises and resonate with players. The proposed format treated Disney characters like action figures placed into a platform fighter, with early concept matchups including Captain Hook versus Beast, Ursula versus John Silver, and the Queen of Hearts versus the Horned King.
Despite reaching prototype, Disney opted not to move forward and instead continued focusing on movie and television tie-in games. The company would later experiment in crossover territory with Disney Infinity, but never in the fighting game space.
The revelation adds Kingdom Hearts to a growing list of games that indirectly influenced cancelled or shelved projects at their publishers, and underscores how much of the gaming landscape might have looked different had Disney pursued the concept.

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