There was a question today on Reddit, and it was a sentiment I hear very often: “I don’t like Disney, so why would I like Kingdom Hearts?”
After all, Disney is an ever-present theme in the KH franchise - they appear in every single game in one way or another. Often, you are involving yourself with Disney characters and plots. So what if you don’t like Disney?
First thing’s first: I’m not a huge Disney fangirl. Growing up, I wasn’t into the Donald/Goofy/Mickey thing. I didn’t care at all for Tarzan or Peter Pan or Hercules. I actually I hated Hercules. In the first game, I think the only movie I really loved was Alice, and that level drove me crazy! Oh, and Halloweentown. That’s not to say I don’t like Disney, but the Disney stuff I liked didn’t have KH levels, i.e. Fox and the Hound, Aristocats, Beauty and the Beast (though Beast and Belle appear in the first game and they get a world in KH2!). Now I like Frozen and Tangled and Big Hero 6 and two of those are coming in KH3! But eleven year old Kaci, with KH1 and my selective taste in movies? Nah.
When the game first came out I absolutely refused to play it because it was Disney. Then KH2 came out, I saw the awesome Deep Dive video, and played a little bit as Roxas and Sora for the opening of KH2 and was like “Oh man, I gotta play this now!" Now here I am. I have 100% completion on all the games. I run a KH blog. I’m completely hooked on this stupid phone game. So no, I don’t think being into Disney is required.
The relevance to Disney is literally that each individual world has characters from a specific Disney movie. Probably 70% of the worlds are Disney worlds, but they are still great to experience. Not because they are like the movies, but because of how exciting and intricate the level designs can be. It’s a whole new way to experience the content. But still, my favorite worlds in the game are places like Radiant Garden and Twilight Town - unique to the KH franchise.
The story in itself is exceptional. The cast is about 50% original characters. A lot of Final Fantasy characters are there, too, between FF6 and FFX-2. But I’d never played any FF games before KH1 either and it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the game. I think they add a lot of depth and easter-egg-like value to the franchise for Square fans, and it fills out the cast nicely.
The bottom line is, Disney’s involvement is mostly there for padding. Going through a game where you go to 12 different worlds, each with their own story and resolution, and then bouncing to the next, would be a colossal undertaking. You’d find a lot of the padding pointless and boring, and often you do with the Disney worlds as well. But now they are telling a story that has nostalgia, a clear and concise conclusion, and you feel content to never see Tarzan or Mulan again. The use of Disney in the franchise is just great game design, that’s all there is to it.
Short version: Disney is there for nostalgia and padding out the game’s timer, with very few exceptions. Though Disney content is abundant, that’s not why it gets the love and praise it gets. As long as you don’t outright hate Disney on principle, you’ll adore the franchise.

