Kingdom Hearts 3 Scenes Compared to Their Disney Movie Counterpart
Kingdom Hearts 3 is finally here, ladies and gentlemen. It’s been a long journey, but we’ve finally made it.
With the last mainline, or rather numbered, Kingdom Hearts game released over 13 years ago, time has favored the series. In past entries, the Disney worlds always looked great, but never perfect.
The technology of the time made it difficult for the worlds to look as good as the source material. Now, though, 13 years later, the technology has caught up and video games can look as good.
Let’s take a look at some of the most exciting worlds in Kingdom Hearts 3 and how they stack up to their counterparts.
Tangled
When Tangled was released to theaters back in 2010, it was one of the most stunning animated movies ever released. The greens were luscious, the purples were stunning and while the world looked realistic, it was still definitively Disney.
Rapunzel’s hair in Tangled consisted of 100,000 strands for crying out loud. This movie was top-notch when it was released and still is today (don’t even get me started on the floating lantern scene).
When it was revealed back in 2015 that the Kingdom of Corona would be a world in Kingdom Hearts 3, it was tough to determine how well the game might stack up against one of Disney’s best.
In past iterations, there would be no question but with Kingdom Hearts 3, the conversation might go a little differently.
Exhibit A
The scene pictured above is one of Tangled’s best scenes. Not only is it one of her first interactions with another human (that isn’t her “mother”), it’s also one of her first interactions with a man. Just like in the movie, Kingdom Hearts 3’s version of this scene goes to great lengths to show that just because Rapunzel has been locked away from the outside world, doesn’t mean she’s a helpless damsel in distress. She’s a badass and she knows it.
Visually, Kingdom Hearts 3 trades vibrancy for detail. The top cut is from Kingdom Hearts 3 and when compared to the Tangled cut below it, it certainly pops more on screen, which could easily lead you to believe it looks better.
In a way, it does. But, if you look closer, you’ll see that Tangled — which is arguably still Disney’s best-looking movie today — edges out Kingdom Hearts 3 in detail.
In the movie, Rapunzel’s eyes reflect light. A shadow is cast across her face. Her cheeks and their blush have deeper contrast.
On the surface, it doesn’t draw as much attention to itself as Kingdom Hearts 3’s iteration does, but a closer look reveals that the Disney magic is alive and well in Tangled.
Exhibit B
The scene above is the quintessential scene of Tangled and one of Disney’s best on-screen moments. It wasn’t a surprise that Kingdom Hearts 3 would replicate this.
Similar to Exhibit A, the Tangled version of this scene simply has more detail. Her hair looks more natural, the contrast of colors yields more expression and warmth to the scene and Flint looks significantly less cardboard than his Kingdom Hearts counterpart.
That’s not to say that Kingdom Hearts 3 did a bad job, though. At first glance, you’d be hard pressed to tell which was which, but like the above example, a closer look reveals that Tangled takes home the trophy here.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Scenes Compared to Their Disney Movie Counterpart
Toy Story
Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 were released in 1995 and 1999, respectively, so when you compare a video game releasing in 2019 to movies that are over 20 years old, it’s tough for the video game to not come out on top.
In Kingdom Hearts 3’s case, it is far and away better than the Disney movies it’s taking inspiration from, with the exception of Toy Story 3, perhaps. In the following shots, you’ll be able to easily tell which is which.
It’s important to note, though, that we didn’t pull screens from Toy Story 3 as canonically, that movie takes place after the events of Kingdom Hearts 3.
Exhibit A
As you can see, almost everything about the Kingdom Hearts 3 shot (right) is better than the Disney movie counterpart. The scene is brighter, the colors are more vibrant and the actual state of the toy Woody is more visible with threads and a sheen that you’d actually see on a figure like this in real life.
The only aspect of this comparison that I would say Toy Story edges out Kingdom Hearts 3 in is the lighting. Disney’s movie seems to have more dynamic lighting whereas the Kingdom Hearts scene’s lighting falls a little flat and monotone.
Exhibit B
Similar to Exhibit A, Kingdom Hearts 3 (right) takes the cake in almost every way except, again, the lighting.
In Toy Story, the light and subsequent shadows that appear on Buzz make the scene feel like a lot more is happening on screen compared to Kingdom Hearts. Beyond the lighting, though, a closer look reveals that Buzz in Kingdom Hearts has brighter, more toy-like colors and significantly better aperture, which yields a really nice blurred background.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Scenes Compared to Their Disney Movie Counterpart
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is the third movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and is also the second most expensive movie ever made, second only to the fourth movie in the franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
A third visit to this world by filmmakers with an extremely large budget means the product was basically guaranteed to be stunning visually, and it is. Its set pieces are massive, its world feels alive and its characters are decked in some of the most detailed outfits in any Disney movie ever (there is so much storytelling to be found in the outfit Jack Sparrow dons).
So, how does Kingdom Hearts 3 stack up against it? Well, to put it blunt, not great, but the result isn’t terrible — it’s just that Kingdom Hearts 3 isn’t the kind of game to include hyper-realistic humans so when you compare their take on Jack Sparrow and others, the result is very uncanny valley-like.
Exhibit A
A quick glance at this scene reveals a pretty accurate reincarnation on Kingdom Hearts 3’s part of one of Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’s stand out moments. After a few seconds, though, Exhibit A quickly becomes a “find what’s different” puzzle.
The Kingdom Hearts 3 version (top) doesn’t feature Jack the monkey, or Elizabeth’s Pirate Lord hat and hair or the badass charisma oozing off of Keira Knightley’s portrayal of Elizabeth Swann.
It’s easy to forgive a lack of hat or monkey, but goodness, Elizabeth got the short end of the stick here. Whereas Barbossa and Jack look great compared to their on-screen counterparts, Elizabeth looks like someone completely different.
Her face is longer in Kingdom Hearts, her nose is bigger, her hair is different and it just simply doesn’t look like Keira Knightly. This would be understandable if it weren’t for Square Enix showing that they can near perfectly recreate actors in video games as they have shown with Barbossa and Jack.
Exhibit B
While Square Enix failed to make a good model for Elizabeth Swann, they absolutely nailed it with Davy Jones. Truth be told, even looking at it now, it’s tough to tell which is which.
Up top is Kingdom Hearts 3’s version of Davy Jones and the At World’s End version is below it. Both feature extreme levels of details, both feature slimy tentacles that look straight out of the ocean, both feature barnacle-encrusted devil’s tongue hats and both manage to capture the essence of Bill Nighy.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Scenes Compared to Their Disney Movie Counterpart
Frozen
The Toy Box world in Kingdom Hearts 3 is based on Toy Story movies that are decades old. Arendelle, on the other hand, is based on Frozen, which came out just five years ago.
It’s one of the more recent movies developed into a world in this game and for that reason, Kingdom Hearts 3 really threw down the gauntlet when creating this world. Surprisingly, though, it stacks up quite well.
In fact, it could be considered visually better than Disney movie source. Let’s check it out.
Exhibit A
Two of the titular characters from 2013’s Frozen, Anna and Kristoff, had Square Enix failed to bring these characters to life in video game form, the entire Frozen world would have felt cold.
Anna and Kristoff bring the warmth to Arendelle that stops the area from being as cold as Elsa would have it.
Fortunately, Square Enix brought the heat because Anna and Kristoff look great. They’re still as expressive in Kingdom Hearts (top) as they were in Frozen, which is great because they bring the character to the story.
Similar to Tangled’s case, though, the Kingdom Hearts 3 version of Kristoff and Anna are missing that touch of Disney magic and detail that truly bring these characters to life on screen. A quick glance, though, and it’d be tough to bet on which is which.
Exhibit B
If it weren’t for the left photo’s inclusion of Sora’s hair, Goofy’s torso and Donald Duck, I don’t think anybody would be able to guess which side is which.
Save for the backgrounds, there are virtually no differences visible between the two photos. Bravo, Kingdom Hearts 3. Bravo.
Tell us what you think about these side-by-side comparisons! Did we get it wrong? Does Kingdom Hearts 3 look better or worse than their Disney movie counterparts? Let us know in the comments below!
About the author
