Nearly thirty years after its inception, the iconic Kingdom Hearts franchise is finally making the leap to television with an official anime series slated for Disney+ and the Disney Channel. This upcoming adaptation serves as a major pillar of the beloved JRPG franchise’s broader multimedia expansion, following hot on the heels of Disney’s successful gaming initiatives.
The project was thrust into the spotlight at the D23 event, where a brand-new trailer for Kingdom Hearts IV treated fans to a first look at the game’s integration of Pixar’s 2017 hit Coco, alongside a teaser for the newly announced 2029 sequel. While panels featuring creative leads and voice actors like Haley Joel Osment (Sora) and David Gallagher (Riku) had fans anticipating major game news, the surprise announcement of the anime series just one day prior caught many by surprise.
Although specific plot and production details remain under wraps, Nana Gadd—Director of Games at Walt Disney Japan’s Disney & Pixar Games—offered some context in an interview with 4Gamer. Discussing the franchise’s ongoing 25th-anniversary celebrations, Gadd highlighted Disney’s push to broaden the reach of its intellectual properties. This strategy mirrors the successful transmedia expansion of Disney Twisted-Wonderland, another prominent Japanese game adaptation that debuted on Disney+ in late 2025.
"As Disney’s game division, we are working hard to expand our various touchpoints through media initiatives," Gadd explained, noting that Kingdom Hearts has traditionally branched out through concerts and merchandise alongside its core games. "With that foundation, titles like Twisted Wonderland… are expanding in unique ways. As our success stories grow, we have more and more to do, and I look forward to expanding it. It’s been 25 years since Kingdom Hearts, but we still have so much we want to achieve. I see the announcement of this animation series as the first step in that direction."
The animated series arrives alongside a pivotal moment for the franchise: Kingdom Hearts IV, scheduled for a late 2027 release across PlayStation, Xbox, PC, and the Nintendo Switch 2.
Meanwhile, Disney Twisted-Wonderland is maintaining its momentum with a second season scheduled for December 2026. The mobile-game-turned-anime has a three-season roadmap mapped out around the game’s distinct dormitories—following Season 1’s "Episode of Heartslabyul" with an "Episode of Savanaclaw" focus for Season 2 and an eventual "Episode of Octavinelle" for Season 3.