Easy Guide to Spotting Parallels
Parallels are used extensively and explicitly in KH (and especially KH3) to help tie together the Disney characters/stories with the main original characters and plotline, and to provide clues to better understand the larger picture (and sometimes provide answers to some of the big mysteries…). Luckily there’s usually some easy ways to tell if the parallels you are noticing are intentional and meant to be noticed. If you see one of these four tell-tale signs, then you know you should be keeping an eye out for more subtle parallels between those characters or concepts.
A) Characters directly pointing out similarities and related experiences:
“Sora and Jack sure are cut from the same cloth.” “They even talk alike!”
“Her heart’s pulling her all kinds of different ways.” “The outside world must seem so big and scary. I know how she feels.”
“Yeah, somebody’s gotta be the sensible one, especially since Woody’s always gettin’ in trouble.” “Gawrsh, that sounds a little like Sora, don’t it?”
B) Repetition of specific, significant phrases:
“Taisetsuna hito”- “precious person”, translated for Hercules as “The person I love most” and for Anna, “I love you”.
“You’re home.”
“This girl/puppet has lost her/his heart. She/He won’t wake up.”
C) Characters say/do the same thing at the same time:
Sora and Hiro: “Go time!”
D) Repetition of important visuals:
