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Square and Disney Team Up for Kingdom Hearts
jaredcat writes "Ever wonder what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Squaresoft and Disney got together? Well I never did, but that didn't seem to stop them. The first joint production of Square and Disney, Kingdom Hearts, was just released in Japan. Its an RPG with a Square CGI, a Square story, a Disney sense of humor, and Square and Disney charectars. If the opening movie is any indication of what's to come when Kingdom Hearts becomes available in the US, its going to be the best thing to hit the PS2 since, well, Final Fantasy X :)." Very positive review. Gotta admit, I'm intrigued.
Update by J :
Check out
this review too, with a ton of screenshots, from
the GIA:
"By all rights [it] should be an awkward, conflated mess... instead, it's an epic piece of crossover fanfiction."
Remember who owns Fritz Hollings.
I didn't mention this up above, but there is more...
- Many of the side charectars, shop keepers, etc., in Kingdom Hearts are well known Disney charectars or charectars from past Squaresoft games. For instance, Donald Duck is the chief magician to the court. Cid from FFVII runs an items shop. Even Wakka from FFX makes an appearance.
- The Disney voice acting and animation seem to be authentic. i.e. Donald Duck moves and sounds exactly how you would expect him to. Check out one of the movies where he enters the throne room and says good morning (in Japanese), and runs into Pluto. The camera angles and the voices look like they are right out of those old Disney cartoons that we all grew up with.
Last but not least... Make sure to check out the opening movie. Its ABSOLUTELY AMAZING, and 10-times better than any FMV from FFX, which is saying a lot as FFX FMVs look 10-times better than any CGI DVD I've seen.
Yeah, I'm intrigued too, Taco, but it's still Disney. Ever hear the one about Michael Eisner in the Senate hearing saying he couldn't think of a single reason for Michael Dell to sell PCs without hardware copy prevention except to sell to infringers?
/. that you'd still consider giving money to these sleezy bastards.
I can't believe as an EDITOR (the founder, no less) of
I don't care how "great" this game might be. It's Disney, therefore I'm not buying it.
The Free desktop that Just Works
..what would happen if the incredibly creative talents of Senator Hollings and Disney got together?
The CBDTPA!
*sigh*
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
creative talents of ... Disney
So this time they didn't use someone else's story, or make a sequel? Oh, wait, they reused characters originally drawn decades ago.. never mind.
While we're at it, anyone see the McDisney ads at Walt Donald's World? "Disney, 100 Years of Magic"
Now unless they count baby Walter's used diapers as "Disney Magic" I don't see how they can reach back to 1902. But I suppose anything's possible when the Marketing Dept. is involved.
Then again, I suppose the 79 years since 1923 isn't quite good enough for the boredroom "executives" who's only creative contribution is the fragrance in the conference room after the catered lunch of Mexican food.
I still think someone ought to make the following movie:
"REVENGE OF DISNEY"
Starring Jackie Chan as Walt E. Disney
A story about a victim of mistaken identity arriving at the very gates of the "Magic Kingdom." Looking around, he sees his own name and only the outline of his beloved character's disembodied head plastered over every flat surface in a display of wanton greed so profound that the enraged cartoonist vows to carry out a one-man campaign to wrest control of the entertainment behemoth from its corporate masters.
Following scenes of frantic, moving, dubbed speeches, gripping courtroom drama, and an action-packed chase through the back hallways of a cineplex on opening night, the film culminates in a spectacular 45-minute "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"-esque kung-fu fight scene in the Disney Corporation's board room as the screaming, elderly, bandanna-wearing animator defeats the entire company's senior management single-handed.
The film ends with Disney, having liquidated the company, and placing its entire portfolio in the public domain, opening an art school with a record $800 million endowment, then retiring to a life of drawing one of a kind cartoons for children in the park.
Truly an instant classic.