Okay, so I'm not usually so willing to Make Statements in fandom anymore, but this really awesome "worlds in their fully animated context" post just sparked me, so anyone bored enough, stay with me.
Kingdom Hearts was created in a era where the Disney Princess line was stepping out the Eisner era of "it's time to cash in on some of that equity". For people less familiar with how the business of Disney was run, while Disney obviously traded on familiarity and nostalgia, they had, in Walt's time, said sequels were the bane of creativity. Mickey was an everyman actor that could be in situations as it demanded. But the Three Little Pigs? Didn't matter how beloved they were; he wasn't doing another one (after I believe 3) because it wasn't good.
So when Eisner, the first non-Walt era nor adjunct-relative came in, he looks around, wants to gut the whole thing and sell it off piecemeal, only to be convinced by what he saw in the parks division (the creativity of the Imagineers, Walt's original fit-throwing, fan-picked, these-guys-get-it WEDway Special Creative Guys) that this is Something Special. This is worth keeping, protecting, but then let's look at this just a little less cynical, but it's time to Cash In. Snow White is great, but has she done anything for us lately? No sacred cows, no extra special filed away, let's even consider if we need a Vault (hold on, I'm getting there) and start turning this YEARS and decades of building trust in our stories, characters, special moments; our Brand into capital. We've invested heavily into what Disney means, it's time to have Disney BE the brand. Disney meant quality, trust, respect for your kid as a human with creativity and discernment. It's time to get what we deserve.
Eisner was the first person to see potential for new Mickeys and new Poohs. Ariel was gonna be someone, we have VHS now, we're not doing the Vault here. She gets merch and a TV show and hey, remember those old weird creations? Let's update them and convince people they're detectives with weird bonuses for the Hollywood jokes and parents watching. We trade in nostalgia? Let's connect the generations, so that a cynical 90s kid can love noir and jazz and sweet fairy tales, too!
But when you think about Walt's wish to see no spacemen in his cowboy ghetto and run the parks as portals to new worlds, you're not going to see Ariel out of the sea. We need to build her a grotto because kids came to see a mermaid, not a girl. Why would she be at Cinderella's table?
But then you get Iger. He goes to Disney on Ice and sees princess crowns and wands Disney didn't make. He goes to another country and sees their kids know Pixar. What was Toy Story but the ultimate crossover of your childhood? He's like, okay. I want to sell the Princesses that have been selling themselves to every little princess already. He makes the Disney Princess line, and damnit, he's got the spirit down, I guess. Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, the big three. Ariel in a new, weird-colored dress, Belle, Jasmine, of course. Mulan? Sure. Not Kida? Fine. Merida, yes, but we'll sit on Elsa and Anna for reasons. He wants to put this in this exclusivity club you totally get to join, just buy the merch! It's sparkly and thoughtful in design and available! But the backlash is summed up with "why are we [still?] selling princesses to our kids at this day and age?"
Here's the thing, though. Back then, the princesses all stood vacant, in their own world. They didn't notice who was standing near them. They were separated by invisible walls made up of rules that they didn't crossover. You and your friends can pick your favorite from our lineup, but officially, they don't know each other. (There are examples of them interacting and every single one is a treat.)
But now? The princesses are hanging out. Go to a Burlington and their reusable totes are the princesses sharing secrets and reading books and taking care of their pets. It took time as the parks put the ladies in the same shows and character meals, but it also happened all at once. Girls support girls and they're a group with so much in common. They told Venellope now. Who knows who isn't a princess now.
These girls don't know each other.
Do I have a real point? It depends on how bias you want me to get.
I think Kingdom Hearts was a thing at a time that was weird. It made Disney uncomfortable; Mickey was taboo. They kept Alice a princess longer than the "official" lineup did and Aurora in her accurate blue dress, and wavered on if Elsa was a corruptible princess. The princesses acknowledge each other and Sora and aren't aloof.
As the fans and its staying power endured, we don't get much signs that Disney really likes Kingdom Hearts, but they let them keep doing it. Oh, I doubt they hate it. Just that the merch at places like Hot Topic has dried up, but it hasn't really expanded in the parks, either.
So while it has taken longer than maybe anyone expected, KH keeps chugging along and telling the story their way. There's still barriers and rules, and breeches are special and maybe bad but def weird.
Here's the thing, though. How long can you convince me that these worlds don't shift and reveal? No one is acting like Christmastown was born yesterday, but suddenly it's there a year later when Sora goes back to Holidayworld, formally Hallotweentown. And it's THE Santa, the ONE Riku tricked him into renouncing. Joshua resurrected Traverse Town through the power of stealing Rhymes dreams or something, and it isn't the same one. But are the puppies that lost their world not living in the shadow of Big Ben from Neverland? You can take two steps out of Olympus Colosseum to see a town in BBS, but we get Hades and then we get Greece, but not the Greece of our dreaming centaurs? We can pretend we have to ignore it because early maps are never complete, but we're talking about worlds we go to and see their features quite clearly.
Indulge me more than this whole observation/rant, but the Disney company loves to brandish this quote to justify tearing out beloved rides for a merch spot, so I'll use it here:
I think it's so fun/weird/quirky to look at these worlds and see water flowing from incongruent places. To see giant structures jut into the atmosphere. Isolated islands like Neverland flow off and a Mysterious Tower stand Alone. I think it's honest world building in using the choices of selection and maybe even de-building. What elements do we HAVE to include? Ariel never steps out of the sea, so it's just sea in a rock. Cinderella lives a carriage ride away from the castle, so it's a neighborhood and that castle and its courtyard. Mickey and the Three Musketeers? Well, that's more than a carriage, it's a castle, a theater, damnit, it's Mont Saint-Michel for good measure!
Kingdom Heart's choices were built in a world where crossovers were ratings grabs or forbidden by the rules or used for merch but all in isolation.
So while that's a good conclusion to my need to write this, here's my secret, second point. The thing I can't back up with my vast knowledge and observation of Disney minutia.
I think of the whole fairy tale of the worlds being one world and then separated once they gathered the light. We still have never seen this. I mean, maybe we have. I stopped playing the cell games too early. But I haven't heard of it yet, so leave me alone about that. I don't play Dreamlight Valley, either, so I don't know how that crossover is handled, either.
But it's been my opinion since I first played KH1 back in 2002 that the goal was to unite the light into one world. That we're heading to unification. Princess Merch just got us there first.
