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Hey rumor-age, how can Square Enix sell what they don't own? (Kingdom Hearts)

duckroll

Member
Okay this just hit me and I really don't want to bump those silly rumor threads where this originated from. But regarding the rumor that Square Enix is "selling" their franchise of Kingdom Hearts..... how is that even possible when Disney wholely owns the Kingdom Hearts franchise?

It's always "(C) Disney Enterprises, Inc. Developed by SQUARE ENIX" all over the place. Even the Kingdom Hearts logo is a Disney copyright. When the project first started, it was also specifically stated that Sora, Riku and Kairi are Disney characters created by Nomura for Kingdom Hearts, not Squaresoft characters created for the crossover.

The reason why Kingdom Hearts stays at Square Enix is simply because of Nomura's involvement with the series and the added appeal of Final Fantasy characters being featured in the games. But as far as legal status goes, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney, not Square Enix. So yeah... I would like to know how they can "sell" this franchise. :lol
 

Rahul

Member
The real question is: would Kingdom Hearts still sell if Disney started farming it out to other companies than Square Enix, subsequently removing the attachment to Final Fantasy?
 
Rahul said:
The real question is: would Kingdom Hearts still sell if Disney started farming it out to other companies than Square Enix, subsequently removing the attachment to Final Fantasy?

Only one way it would still sell: If Konami bought the franchise and started inserting Solid Snake everywhere.
 

duckroll

Member
keeblerdrow said:
Only one way it would still sell: If Konami bought the franchise and started inserting Solid Snake everywhere.

Are you sure you don't mean...... mixing Kingdom Hearts with the Bemani brand? :O
 

dirtmonkey37

flinging feces ---->
I have heard a weird matsuno rumor....... (in response to the "selling Nomura" joke)

It's not about "selling" matsuno, per se, but he may be going somewhere.....else......
 
Rahul said:
The real question is: would Kingdom Hearts still sell if Disney started farming it out to other companies than Square Enix, subsequently removing the attachment to Final Fantasy?
Yes, but probably some of the people who previously bought it would be replaced by other people who would buy it.
 
keeblerdrow said:
Only one way it would still sell: If Konami bought the franchise and started inserting Solid Snake everywhere.

What about Nintendo? They've got the mascots with enough pull.

I don't even want to think about what a Nintendoland-Japan would do with that game.
 
duckroll said:
But as far as legal status goes, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney, not Square Enix.

This raises an important question:

Why the hell isn't there a Kingdom Hearts Saturday morning cartoon?

Rahul said:
The real question is: would Kingdom Hearts still sell if Disney started farming it out to other companies than Square Enix, subsequently removing the attachment to Final Fantasy?

The appeal really isn't just all of Disney's properties in one place (that would just make it Disneyland: the Game.) The real trick of Kingdom Hearts is that it gives people who "should" be too old (and too "cool") for Disney an out through all the Hollow Bastion type stuff.

I don't think the FF characters specifically are really important, but I'm honestly pretty sure that no one else would really nail what makes the series successful.
 
charlequin said:
This raises an important question:

Why the hell isn't there a Kingdom Hearts Saturday morning cartoon?



The appeal really isn't just all of Disney's properties in one place (that would just make it Disneyland: the Game.) The real trick of Kingdom Hearts is that it gives people who "should" be too old (and too "cool") for Disney an out through all the Hollow Bastion type stuff.

I don't think the FF characters specifically are really important, but I'm honestly pretty sure that no one else would really nail what makes the series successful.

Well, that's true. But it's not just those who are "too old or cool", it's simply the fact that most people after 18 have outgrown child oriented cartoons. If you made a KH with purely Disney characters, youd see a radical shift in "who" is buying the game.....
 
charlequin said:
This raises an important question:

Why the hell isn't there a Kingdom Hearts Saturday morning cartoon?
... Disney? Make a cartoon? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!1one

:'(

Disney doesn't really make cartoons any more. They just groom kids to become third rate pop stars. Hana Montana YEAH!

:|
 

duckroll

Member
A saturday morning cartoon of Kingdom Hearts was in planning stages at least twice since the debut of KH1. Things just never worked out on the creative/marketing level.
 

Steroyd

Member
Pureauthor said:
What about Nintendo? They've got the mascots with enough pull.

I don't even want to think about what a Nintendoland-Japan would do with that game.

Wouldn't be as Story driven as Kindgom Hearts/Square Enix i mean how dull would it be to enter Hyrule. :lol
 
Chris Remo said:
Yes, but probably some of the people who previously bought it would be replaced by other people who would buy it.


They're probably considering a crossover with Mickey and Guybrush Threepwood for the next one. Pirates of the Carribean... Mighty Pirate. It's something to want.
 

neptunes

Member
where's the animated series/movies that were supposed to come out [x] years ago.

Disney doesn't have the balls to take the series into their own hands
 
Steroyd said:
Wouldn't be as Story driven as Kindgom Hearts/Square Enix i mean how dull would it be to enter Hyrule. :lol
what?

Mefisutoferesu said:
Disney doesn't really make cartoons any more. They just groom kids to become third rate pop stars. Hana Montana YEAH!
you mean to become obsessed over by pedophile's right?
 
duckroll said:
A saturday morning cartoon of Kingdom Hearts was in planning stages at least twice since the debut of KH1. Things just never worked out on the creative/marketing level.

That's... surprising to me.
 

jarrod

Banned
cw_sasuke said:
who would buy that crap ?
AQ Interactive would I'd bet. Cavia's there now and they're loaded thanks to the MGS/MistWalker deals.

Actually, that makes me wonder if maybe tri-Ace (with some MGS funding) are going to buy back their games (Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile & Radiata Stories).
 

reriel

Member
dirtmonkey37 said:
I have heard a weird matsuno rumor....... (in response to the "selling Nomura" joke)

It's not about "selling" matsuno, per se, but he may be going somewhere.....else......
are you serious ? what you mean ?
 

J-Rzez

Member
charlequin said:
This raises an important question:

Why the hell isn't there a Kingdom Hearts Saturday morning cartoon?

A more important question is why didn't they work on a MOVIE yet? I would bet that it would do rediculously well... It would draw out the young and old to see it, myself included... And they already have 3 games out there with movie like scripts to them, you would think it would make an easy transition to the big screen...

It would net them a fortune... They'd sell even more of the first installments of the game... and be able to go all out on the 3rd console installment no worries, it'd sell heavy...

Someone get someone from Disney on the phone... They're sitting on a gold mine and don't even realize it...
 

genjiZERO

Member
duckroll said:
Okay this just hit me and I really don't want to bump those silly rumor threads where this originated from. But regarding the rumor that Square Enix is "selling" their franchise of Kingdom Hearts..... how is that even possible when Disney wholely owns the Kingdom Hearts franchise?

It's always "(C) Disney Enterprises, Inc. Developed by SQUARE ENIX" all over the place. Even the Kingdom Hearts logo is a Disney copyright. When the project first started, it was also specifically stated that Sora, Riku and Kairi are Disney characters created by Nomura for Kingdom Hearts, not Squaresoft characters created for the crossover.

The reason why Kingdom Hearts stays at Square Enix is simply because of Nomura's involvement with the series and the added appeal of Final Fantasy characters being featured in the games. But as far as legal status goes, Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney, not Square Enix. So yeah... I would like to know how they can "sell" this franchise. :lol

I wouldn't be at all suprised if here was something in the contract between SE and Disney stipulating exclusive right to development by SE
 

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
gamergirly said:
Well, that's true. But it's not just those who are "too old or cool", it's simply the fact that most people after 18 have outgrown child oriented cartoons. If you made a KH with purely Disney characters, youd see a radical shift in "who" is buying the game.....

...Disney stuff means "child oriented cartoons"?

You haven't seen many old Donald Duck shorts, have you?
 

Yoboman

Member
dirtmonkey37 said:
I have heard a weird matsuno rumor....... (in response to the "selling Nomura" joke)

It's not about "selling" matsuno, per se, but he may be going somewhere.....else......
No you didn't
 

Pachael

Member
charlequin said:
This raises an important question:

Why the hell isn't there a Kingdom Hearts Saturday morning cartoon?

+

Mefisutoferesu said:
Disney doesn't really make cartoons any more. They just groom kids to become third rate pop stars. Hana Montana YEAH!

:|

=

Live action Kingdom Hearts with tweens acting as the kids with clothing designed by Nomura and CGI Disney characters! Creative/Marketing would splooge at the idea!

At least the fans would swallow that up...
 

reriel

Member
but...but...but...quiter say square sell KH to buena vista, chrono trigger to mistwalker and star ocean to microsoft =__=
 
Adagio said:
Important...question?

From a marketing perspective (and also a "how much does Disney value this brand" perspective, which is relevant to the current conversation.) "Disney is primarily invested in live-action child star outlets instead of original animated content at this time" is a fairly satisfactory answer.
 
DavidDayton said:
...Disney stuff means "child oriented cartoons"?

You haven't seen many old Donald Duck shorts, have you?

Im not talking about the "old" cartoons and movies they made. Mostly the last 10 years stuff.
 

Matt_C

Member
charlequin said:
From a marketing perspective (and also a "how much does Disney value this brand" perspective, which is relevant to the current conversation.) "Disney is primarily invested in live-action child star outlets instead of original animated content at this time" is a fairly satisfactory answer.


John_Lasseter.jpg

"Hello."

Seriously, I would even get into Kingdom Hearts if the next game involves in some of the former Pixar properties. In the next few years, I would not be shocked if the new Disney would work on a Kingdom Hearts feature as the next action heavy franchise for the Pirates demographic.

Change is abrewing in Disney animation and expect Kingdom Hearts to be a part of this change.

IMHO: It is more likely for Disney to have a controlling interest of Square Enix, like buying off Sony's shares, than Buena Vista developing their own Kingdom Hearts games. Dragon Quest on the iPhone, FTW ;)
 

RumFore

Banned
I dont know where some of you are coming from but Disney still has some of the best cartoons and CGI animations. Also nearly all of them have adult overtones weather it be death or adult situations that a 5 year old wont get but the parents definitely would. But hey I wouldn't be surprised if these same ones felt Dragon Ball Z and Naruto was the epitome of animation.
 
Matt_C said:

Right, right.

In the next few years, I would not be shocked if the new Disney would work on a Kingdom Hearts feature as the next action heavy franchise for the Pirates demographic.

Does it really make sense as a movie franchise, though? The reason I said "saturday morning cartoon" is that a recurring format like that would let them do individual episodes focusing on specific existing Disney properties (much like the games do.)

IMHO: It is more likely for Disney to have a controlling interest of Square Enix, like buying off Sony's shares

Do you just mean an interest? Sony has way, way less than a controlling interest in S-E and I don't know that enough shares are fluid to allow for an actual attempt at 50+% shares.
 

Nameless

Member
Disney may own control of the name, and obviously it's characters, but I'm pretty sure Square has ownership over Sora, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, Ansem and the rest the original characters that they designed for the game. IF Square sold anything, it would probably be the rights to those characters; making KH without Sora would be like doing a Harry Potter film, without Harry Potter.

Either way, as I said in the original thread, I doubt very seriously this rumor has to do KH. I think it will be a series with potential that they havn't used in a while(Parasite Eve?), and or a series thats recently gone on the back burner(Star Ocean?).
 

Error

Jealous of the Glory that is Johnny Depp
Nameless said:
Disney may own control of the name, and obviously it's characters, but I'm pretty sure Square has ownership over Sora, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, Ansem and the rest the original characters that they designed for the game. IF Square sold anything, it would probably be the rights to those characters; making KH without Sora would be like doing a Harry Potter film, without Harry Potter.
duckroll said:
It's always "(C) Disney Enterprises, Inc. Developed by SQUARE ENIX" all over the place. Even the Kingdom Hearts logo is a Disney copyright. When the project first started, it was also specifically stated that Sora, Riku and Kairi are Disney characters created by Nomura for Kingdom Hearts, not Squaresoft characters created for the crossover.
.
 

Yossarian

Member
While Disney may own the copyright in Kingdom Hearts and its characters, they may have assigned the copyright's inherent video game producing rights to Square Enix.

Essentially, think of Kingdom Hearts copyright as a bundle of sticks, with each stick representing a right that comes with copyright ownership. Disney originally owned all of these sticks, but they have given/sold/leased one of those sticks (the video game stick) to Square Enix.

Such rights can be resold by Square Enix unless the contract specifies otherwise. If this is the case, Square Enix could quite easily and legally sell their rights to make Kingdom Hearts video games to another company.
 

Matt_C

Member
charlequin said:
Does it really make sense as a movie franchise, though? The reason I said "saturday morning cartoon" is that a recurring format like that would let them do individual episodes focusing on specific existing Disney properties (much like the games do.)

Do you just mean an interest? Sony has way, way less than a controlling interest in S-E and I don't know that enough shares are fluid to allow for an actual attempt at 50+% shares.

As for a Saturday morning cartoon, maybe if the production team simultaneously develop and market it for Japan, Europe, and North America. I wonder if it would be CG or a Disney fluid/anime detailed hybrid of a show with an epic budget. Who knows, it might make it to prime time viewing for the coveted 18-30 something television demographic. If a show is done right, it will a little less to produce Desperate Housewives or Grey's Anatomy.

The reason why I mention feature film because I think CG films are ready for kick butt action when Bruckheimer is busy doing other films. The action narrative can do so much on the small screen ;)

Yeah I meant an interest, maybe even buy out Sony's shares since Sony could use the money.
 
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