On Pixar Worlds
Jason Katz, Story Supervisor at Pixar Animation Studios, had never played a
Kingdom Hearts game when he was first approached to work with Square Enix on
Kingdom Hearts III. It was Tasha Sounart (Associate Creative Director for Disney Theme Parks and now
Kingdom Hearts III consultant) who introduced it to him.
- Sounart said that Pixar were involved at every stage: scripts; storyboards, scenes, and character design. She is proud of the collaboration and commented, "You have never seen Pixar like this."
- The Pixar team thought meticulously about where the Kingdom Hearts III arc would canonically fit into the Toy Story timeline to ensure continuity. A question they had to answer to fans and to themselves was, "Why did no Toy Story character mention Sora's encounter in the movies?" Katz went as far as to have many exchanges where he stressed the importance of the two types of wallpaper you can see in Andy's Room in the series: the cloud wallpaper in his old house in the first movie, and the stars wallpaper in his new room after his family moves into their new home. As Kingdom Hearts III takes place between Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3 while Andy is still young (although it was originally meant to take place right after the first movie before that idea was scrapped), Katz said the stars wallpaper in the game was non-negotiable: "It's nerdy, but it's very important for us."
- Pixar is known to include many Easter Eggs in their movies, and Kingdom Hearts III is no exception. Sounart said, "Keep an eye on the Pizza Planet truck!"
- In regards to Monsters, Inc., Sounart said that most monsters do not have a nose, so Sora in his monster design, doesn't either. Sully is one of the few monsters to have a nose.
- Unlike Toy Box with Galaxy Toys, the Kingdom Hearts III world of Monstropolis showcases a location from the movies, the Monsters, Inc. factory. Katz pointed out that in the movies, we really only see the floor dedicated to fear, the hall of doors, and the main entrance. In Kingdom Hearts III, there will be an opportunity to see what the lower level looks like and what is behind the door hangar.
On Frozen
- Peter Del Vecho, producer of Frozen, said that due to the movie's popularity and huge fanbase, it was only natural for it to meet Kingdom Hearts.
- Square Enix was determined to adapt the Disney phenomenon that is Frozen into a Kingdom Hearts world from the very beginning. Del Vecho was impressed in their desire to get fully immersed in the process with supervising animations, editing, and even camera movements. Del Vecho's team was amazed at their correspondence in regards to the animation.
- Del Vecho said that there are many Frozen fans that wanted to continue the adventure in the movies, and now they will have the opportunity to take it home with them and create their own story.
- As Elsa interacts with Kingdom Hearts III characters that were not in the movie during her emotional journey, Del Vecho would like fans to thus take part in a new storyline by playing Kingdom Hearts III.
Working on KH
- Katz said that the more he lives the Kingdom Hearts franchise, the more he appreciates how fans have welcomed its characters. Because of this, he feels lucky to be able to bring Kingdom Hearts III's art to life. He finds it incredible that he got to play a small role in a series that so many people have been playing their whole life.
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