Rumor: Kingdom Hearts 3 Almost Had Cars World (2024)

Key Takeaways

Kingdom Hearts 3 almost had a Cars world, according to leaked data hinting at a potential crossover with Lightning McQueen and Mater.
Sora and friends from KH3 could've encountered Radiator Springs, but the concept likely didn't make it far in development.
Unanswered questions linger around the unused Cars idea in KH3, sparking speculation for potential inclusion in Kingdom Hearts 4.

Kingdom Hearts 3 could have had a world based on the 2006 Pixar movie Cars, at least according to a recent data leak. One of the main drawing points of Square Enix’s sprawling Kingdom Hearts series is how it combines the universes of Disney and Final Fantasy, with main protagonist Sora and his friends meeting iconic characters like Cloud Strife, Hercules, Squall Leonhart, Ariel from The Little Mermaid, and countless others while on a quest to save reality from the forces of darkness. This arc culminated in 2019’s Kingdom Hearts 3, which marked the conclusion of the "Dark Seeker Saga" storyline centered around the villainous Xehanort and Organization 13.

Kingdom Hearts 3 also took the series’ crossover concept a step further by including worlds from Pixar’s line of beloved CGI movies. During their latest adventure, Sora and company visited Andy’s Room from the Toy Story series and the factory from Monsters Inc., even taking on new forms as toys and monsters respectively. There was also a cooking minigame inspired by Ratatouille in which Remy helped Sora prepare meals by controlling him, just like he did with Linguini in the movie. As it turns out, Kingdom Hearts 3 nearly had another Pixar-themed world, one that had been featured in several other video games beforehand.

One Disney World Wouldn't Have Made Sense For Kingdom Hearts 3, But It Does For KH4

Kingdom Hearts 3 featured multiple worlds from Disney's animated catalog, and one unused property makes perfect sense for the series' next entry.

Earlier this week, a group of dataminers managed to access Kingdom Hearts 3’s Premium Showcase files, which show how the game’s cutscenes looked during different stages of development. There is also a list of worlds that were either featured in Kingdom Hearts 3 or cut during said development, and as noted by Twitter user ligero_miguel, one of them is simply listed as "カーズ（仮)." This roughly translates to "Cars (Tentative)," meaning that there might have been a world based on Cars planned at some point.

Cars’ Radiator Springs Could Have Been a World in Kingdom Hearts 3

If Sora and the gang really were meant to visit Lightning McQueen and Mater during their travels in Kingdom Hearts 3, the idea must not have made it too far in development as ligero_miguel apparently couldn’t find any other resources linked to it in the data leak. One Twitter user suggested that Riku’s Braveheart Keyblade might have been originally tied to this Cars world, as it somewhat resembles a car key, while another pointed out that the Hot Rod Heartless from Kingdom Hearts 2 could have fit in nicely as enemies.

There are still plenty of unanswered questions about Kingdom Hearts 3’s ultimately unused Cars concept, particularly which locations from the films would have been featured and if Sora, Donald, and Goofy would have taken on new vehicle forms to better fit in with the locals. Perhaps Square Enix and Disney could circle back to the idea for Kingdom Hearts 4 which is already in development as of this writing.

Kingdom Hearts 3

Sora is joined by Donald Duck and Goofy, two emissaries sent by King Mickey from Disney Castle, to stop an evil force known as the Heartless from invading and overtaking the universe. Through the power of positivity and friendship, Sora, Donald and Goofy unite with iconic Disney-Pixar characters old and new to prevail tremendous challenges and persevere against the darkness threatening their worlds.

Also includes Re Mind - the other tale that unfolded during the climax of KINGDOM HEARTS III. In this additional chapter, Sora travels to the Keyblade Graveyard determined to rescue Kairi and discovers truths that he never before imagined.

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