How can Kingdom Hearts appeal more to mainstream Disney fans?

[Ouch!]

I think the most important point to attempt to drive home is that there is a significant rift between the elements of the Disney franchise appearing in the Kingdom Hearts games and the type of Disney schlock we get through the Disney Channel. Movies like Beauty and the Beast, Alladin, Hercules, etc. are legitimately good movies, albeit aimed primarily at younger audiences, which just about anyone can enjoy (which would include an RPG's target audience). The stuff on the Disney Channel is crap directed at preteen girls (not the target audience of any video game). I'm sure you're probably already aware of this (and I hope for your sake that you are), but you being a 20-year-old male and enjoying Disney Channel television programs is atypical of your age group and also atypical, I'd wager, of the target demographic of just about any video game Square Enix produces.

It may not alienate you from the games by adding that kind of in, but you can't possibly be so ignorant of the Disney Channel's relative unpopularity to truly believe that it would mesh well for larger audiences...

I think how Pirates of the Carribean's inclusion in KH2 didn't work so well is an example of how putting even good new Disney (the first move was good) has backfired. It didn't mesh well. If good Disney from the 21st century isn't meshing well, how do you expect bad Disney from the 21st to be successful?

[RedPouch]

It may not alienate you from the games by adding that kind of in, but you can't possibly be so ignorant of the Disney Channel's relative unpopularity to truly believe that it would mesh well for larger audiences...

Hence why I gave [what I feel to be] good advertisement suggestions that don't involve adding annoying nonsense to the Kingdom Hearts games. I'm pretty sure that adding such things to the games won't increase awareness to Disney fans, since I don't think Miley Cyrus being in Kingdom Hearts in some fashion or whatever will magically make Disney Channel fans instantly aware of it. Adding a bunch of random song junk to the game will only be noticed by people already aware of the game and playing it, and will not magically spread "awareness" of this game to people that haven't heard of it yet.

Kingdom Hearts already has characters from Disney's best animated films, as well as other characters we grew up with [like Winnie the Pooh], which is there to appeal to people that liked Disney things growing up. All you need to do now is spread awareness of such. The best methods of doing this would not involve messing around with the games themselves at all.

Please stop suggesting that things like Miley Cyrus or The Jonas Brothers or whatever should be put into the game. Too many people would hate it and see it as a huge joke, myself included.

I think how Pirates of the Carribean's inclusion in KH2 didn't work so well is an example of how putting even good new Disney (the first move was good) has backfired. It didn't mesh well. If good Disney from the 21st century isn't meshing well, how do you expect bad Disney from the 21st to be successful?

Good point.

[SuperMillionaire]

My intention is not to alienate the current audience, though...

The implementation of your suggestions most certainly would alienate the current audience, of that you should have no doubt. Please trust us on this. Pretty much everyone here has face-palmed over these silly suggestions. To a NORMAL PERSON, this should be a CLUE as to what the reactions of other SE fans might be.

Want Kingdom Hearts advertised to Disney audiences better? One good way to try this would be to go through the legal work and maybe make some rides in Disneyland or Disney World based on Kingdom Hearts. All sorts of people go to these theme parks, and seeing such rides might make them go "Hey look at that cute Sora guy standing next to Goofy and Donald. What's that?", and it'll easily be successful as people pay very high prices to take their families to these parks for 2-3 days usually, so they're generally trying all the rides they can possibly think of. I think this was already mentioned, but perhaps they could also work some deal with SE to have them make either a movie or an anime series based on Kingdom Hearts to be shown on the Disney Channel [or both, and the movie should be released in theatres obviously]. The anime series only has to be moderately good, as things like the Aladdin and The Little Mermaid TV series actually did pretty well with that audience. Those are actual ways you'd give more exposure of Kingdom Hearts to some of the Disney audiences.

None of these are likely to happen, but I actually think they'd be pretty fun if they did. Regardless, it's best if we try not to screw up the Kingdom Hearts games by tinkering around with them and adding things like The Jonas Brothers or Hannah Montana, or what have you. The suggestions I just mentioned are guaranteed to work exponentially better than putting more songs, or singing, or Disney Channel singers into a Kingdom Hearts game.

Some of those suggestions are actually pretty good!

And I don't actually watch many of those shows (except Kim Possible), but I still like some of the music. I guess the reason why I suggested me ideas was because Kingdom Hearts has Disney characters in it, but it feels too much like Final Fantasy. Disney is supposed to give it a unique feel, but now it's becoming more and more like another Final Fantasy game, and this is not Final Fantasy.

I've also spoken to other KH fans outside this forum that would like some of my ideas implemented into the games.

[qwertysaur]

Kingdom Hearts does have a unique feel though. It's the combination of Disney and Final Fantasy. You want to increase the effect of the Disney part, and that's a fair thing to want. You are suggesting to increase it with things that would drive away the Square Enix half of the game, which most of the fans are drawn from.

Disney is a lot larger than the Disney channel, which as has been said many times now, has a very narrow and well defined target. It is rare to have someone in that target be interested in Kingdom Hearts now, and trying to cater the game to bring them in will turn off those outside that target, and the game will suffer and lose more fans than they will gain.Disney is also huge and has more to it than the Disney Channel. Think about what makes the films beloved by so many people, that's what Disney is best suited to contribute.

Can you get those other fans to come here and join in on the discussion? I'm interested in hearing what they have to say

[SuperMillionaire]

To me, it appears to be 90% Square Enix and only 10% Disney. It doesn't feel anything like Disney at all. No wonder why 9/10 Disney fans are not fans of the games yet! 9/10 KH fans come from Square Enix, and only 1/10 come from Disney.

[qwertysaur]

Only 1/10 of disney fans are from Disney channel as well

[SuperMillionaire]

I would actually estimate that Disney Channel accounts for about 25-50% of all Disney fans.

[Rostum]

I would actually estimate that Disney Channel accounts for about 25-50% of all Disney fans.

I don't think you understand what Disney is. They were the pioneers of animation back in the very early 1900's. They are probably the biggest inspiration for animators throughout the industry's life, including what you see in Japan. The nine old men were some of the most talented animators and storytellers the world has ever seen.

I can garantee you that there is no way in hell that 25-50% of Disney fans like the Disney Channel. You are just pulling that out of your arse and I honestly don't think you know what Disney is about.

There is a certain respect that both the film and video game have for Disney, and it's deep. While it's business first, it is still an honor to work with Disney in the way Square is.

Note: I know I said I'd leave it, but this thread is just too good.

[SuperMillionaire]

Well then why are all those shows so popular today? I see them all over the place!

[blackmage_nuke]

Theyre very poular with preteen girls who make their parents spend money on the merchandise, not with the KH audience

[Ouch!]

Well then why are all those shows so popular today? I see them all over the place!

There are also preteen girls all over the place. It's a fairly pervasive target audience. Just because something is popular amongst one group of people does not mean it is popular with all groups of people. I'd imagine preteen girls and people who play video games have a fairly limited crossover.

[RedPouch]

Well then why are all those shows so popular today? I see them all over the place!

You are not even listening to anything that anybody is saying. You're just making up a bunch of nonsense justifications to support silly ideas. Few people outside the preteen girl audience actually like the Disney Channel. PLEASE listen to us on this.

[SuperMillionaire]

To tell you the truth, I don't actually watch those shows; I just like some of their music, and I never said that I wanted those shows to be worlds in the next KH game. I merely wanted their music (and ONLY music) in the next game.

[Ouch!]

The music is also directed towards preteen girls. I fail to see how this information is supposed to invalidate our argument.

[RedPouch]

This discussion is going absolutely nowhere.