News News Official
Kingdom Hearts is finally getting an anime, and Disney is deliberately not remaking the games
Kingdom Hearts is finally leaving games for a proper television series. Disney announced an original anime at D23, developed with Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix for Disney+ and Disney Channel. The important part is what Disney did not call it: a direct adaptation.
By Kader Kingdom Hearts 
Kingdom Hearts has spent more than two decades behaving like a franchise that should already have an animated series. It now officially has one in development.
Disney announced the project during its August 14 D23 Entertainment Showcase. The working title is Kingdom Hearts, with the reveal artwork using Kingdom Hearts: The Series. No premiere date, episode count, voice cast or animation studio has been announced.
Disney is adding a story instead of replaying the first game
The series is described as an original anime inspired by the games. Disney says it will reimagine the iconic adventure through a brand-new story that expands the Kingdom Hearts universe.
That wording immediately makes the project more interesting than a straightforward television retelling of Sora's first journey.
It also creates the obvious Kingdom Hearts problem. This franchise already spreads important material across numbered games, handheld releases, mobile stories and cinematic compilations. Adding another canonical-looking branch is either an opportunity for a clean entry point or another box on the chronology chart.
Disney has not said where the show sits in continuity. The first artwork offers very little help: a mysterious figure is shown from behind holding a Keyblade, without an officially confirmed identity.
Tetsuya Nomura is directly involved
The strongest piece of information attached to the announcement is the creative partnership. Disney Kids & Family is developing the series with Tetsuya Nomura and Square Enix's Kingdom Hearts team.
Disney Kids & Family president Ayo Davis says the goal is to make the show unmistakably Kingdom Hearts while providing a completely new way to experience its world.
That involvement matters because Kingdom Hearts is more than a Disney crossover container. Its identity depends on original characters, Square Enix design, Disney worlds and a mythology that became increasingly specific as the series grew.
The anime joins a much larger Kingdom Hearts push
D23 also delivered a new Kingdom Hearts IV trailer. Disney and Square Enix confirmed a late-2027 launch window and revealed a new world inspired by Pixar's Coco, with Miguel and Héctor joining Sora's next adventure.
Disney says the game franchise has now sold more than 39 million units worldwide and will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2027.
The timing makes the anime feel less like an isolated adaptation and more like part of a broader attempt to turn Kingdom Hearts into a more active cross-media property again.
The difficult part is choosing the audience
Disney places the series inside its Kids & Family animation slate. Visually, Kingdom Hearts fits that space immediately. Narratively, things are more complicated.
A genuinely self-contained original story could become one of the easiest introductions the franchise has had in years. A story that assumes viewers already understand every Keyblade war, replica and version of Xehanort would produce the exact opposite result.
Disney has not answered that question yet. For now, the confirmed pieces are limited but significant: original anime, original story, Nomura and Square Enix involved, Disney Channel and Disney+.
Kingdom Hearts has found another door to open.