Disney is bringing “Kingdom Hearts” to television for the first time, announcing an original anime series for Disney Channel and Disney+ during Friday’s Entertainment Showcase at D23. The reveal caps years of fan speculation about a screen adaptation of the role-playing game franchise, which has shipped more than 39 million units worldwide since its 2002 debut on PlayStation 2.
The series is being developed alongside Tetsuya Nomura, the game creator whose vision has defined “Kingdom Hearts” since its inception, along with the creative team at Square Enix, the Japanese studio that co-produces the franchise with Disney. According to the companies, the show will tell an original story that expands the “Kingdom Hearts” universe rather than adapting existing game plots directly, while still drawing on the characters that have anchored the series for more than two decades.
Ready for a new adventure? 💛 An original Kingdom Hearts anime series inspired by the beloved video game franchise is coming soon to @DisneyChannel and @DisneyPlus pic.twitter.com/ZJMl3LS4yr
— Disney (@Disney) August 15, 2026
Ayo Davis, president of Disney Kids & Family, framed the project as a way to reintroduce a world longtime fans already know through an unfamiliar format. She said the creative team’s close collaboration with Nomura would keep the series feeling authentic to the games while giving audiences a new way to experience the material.
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“Kingdom Hearts” built its identity by merging Square Enix’s role-playing game sensibilities with classic Disney settings and characters, sending protagonist Sora, voiced in the games by Haley Joel Osment, through Disney film worlds alongside Donald Duck and Goofy. That blend of visual styles, an anime-style hero navigating traditionally rendered Disney characters, has been a defining quirk of the franchise, making an anime adaptation a natural fit for translating the games’ tone to television.
No premiere date has been set. Disney has scheduled a dedicated “Kingdom Hearts” panel at D23 on Saturday, where Osment and David Gallagher, who voices Riku, are expected to appear alongside further details on “Kingdom Hearts IV,” the next mainline game entry due in late 2027 and set to include a world based on Pixar’s “Coco.”
