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Did Mickey Mouse Screw Donald Duck Out Of The Lead Role In Kingdom Hearts?

It's no secret that Disney's Mickey Mouse has been shafting Donald Duck for decades. I never understood the rodent's motivation, but time and time again he's swerved his fowl friend. In a recent interview with Famitsu (translated by 1Up), Square Enix director Tetsuya Nomura revealed that Disney wanted to cast Donald Duck as the leading character for the project that eventually became Kingdom Hearts.

"Square wanted to make a game starring Mickey Mouse, and Disney wanted a Donald Duck title. Meanwhile, I wanted neither. So I built a project plan for KH and began negotiating with both sides. That plan was largely what you see now; a game featuring lots of characters without focusing on any particular one."
 
After being regulated to second-string status in movies and television, video games could have been the medium that allowed Donald to have the spotlight all to himself. Instead, Mr. Mouse shafted him once again. What a rat bastard.
 
In your mind, would Donald Duck have worked as a lead in a Square Enix action RPG? Any other Disney characters work in that role?
 
Tags: Videogames

Comments

Oldest First
  • Synthro

    Would it have worked? Maybe. But from a personal view point, even when playing Kingdom Hearts I always felt Donald Duck was the number one person I wanted to beat to death with a bag of kittens when playing those games(Sorry to the Donald Duck fans out there), he just irritated me.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:46 PM | Reply | Report
    Synthro
  • BrutalViolence70

    Donald Duck would have been cool, but im still waiting for World of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck part 2? lol anyone else remember how cool that game was?

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:48 PM | Reply | Report
    BrutalViolence70
  • Titanguy654

    "Actually," he continues, "the first weapon I showed Disney was a chainsaw. It was this chainsaw-like weapon that I had a rough sketch of when I first showed my concepts to Disney. Everyone got this scrunched-up look on their face and nobody said a word in the entire room. Dead silence. And I thought 'No, I guess this wouldn't work, huh?'"

    I found this 10 times more epic and newsworthy.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:49 PM | Reply | Report
    Titanguy654
  • Titanguy654

    Titanguy654's comment is abusive and has been removed.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:50 PM | Reply | Report
    Titanguy654
  • N8R

    See, there's one thing Mickey has that Donald doesn't...

    Pants.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:51 PM | Reply | Report
    N8R
  • Tommytsunami

    im not sure how well it would have worked but i do like the role he plays in the kingdom hearts games although he did get annoying at times....he was one of the characters that generally remained in my line up the entire game where goofy on the other hand wasnt used as much

    Posted: July 9, 2009 2:52 PM | Reply | Report
    Tommytsunami
  • oOcornflakeOo

    Great, who cares?! i want my KH3 already!! not another GBA card based spin off.. i would have been happier today had you [R Pad] not have even mentioned KH3.. this entire article isn't news worthy period. just pointless bizzitch gossip.. i would have changed the games feel and play MAYBE

    Posted: July 9, 2009 3:01 PM | Reply | Report
    oOcornflakeOo
  • oOcornflakeOo

    Great, who cares?! where are the trailers and release date? i want my KH3 already!! not another GBA card based spin off.. i would have been happier today had you [R Pad] not have even mentioned KH3.. this entire article isn't news worthy period. just pointless bizzitch gossip.. it would have changed the games feel and play MAYBE if he was in fact the lead but thats not the case now, is it? R Pad, if we were in class and i had to give you a grade for your assignment/current event, i'd give you an F

    Posted: July 9, 2009 3:09 PM | Reply | Report
    oOcornflakeOo
  • freakinalex

    Fun fact: Donald Duck has more solo cartoons than and generally sells better than Mickey Mouse.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 3:28 PM | Reply | Report
    freakinalex
  • godofCHEESE

    when i play KH/KH2 donald gets BENCHED but i jump at the chance to be mickey on the boss fight in KH2.....once again donald get pwned

    Posted: July 9, 2009 4:55 PM | Reply | Report
    godofCHEESE
  • khscottieboy

    Donald Duck as the lead character would have been kind of weird, but fighting along side mickey mouse would be awesome. Actually, I would love to be able to control mickey in a future kingdom hearts game.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 5:06 PM | Reply | Report
    khscottieboy
  • i_3at_ur_kat

    i just want a game where i can play as Roxas, that's why i'm looking forward to the ds game, i find Sora to be way to much like a main character in a disney movie (otherwise a guy who constantly says cheesy lines" and roxas is more of a normal person,looks better too

    Posted: July 9, 2009 5:11 PM | Reply | Report
    i_3at_ur_kat
  • pinkvelvet89

    no! this is it's own awesome series with yes, character cameos. but that doesn't mean it should become a game mainly based on a cartoon character. we need characters that are CREATED. like sora and roxas. i'd prefer their traits to lean towards square's character designs, but then again, a disney-like character would also be nice. and yes, controlling mickey would be badass. but not for AN ENTIRE GAME. then it becomes a disney game, which we all know to suck (no offense). Square, players play this series for the original characters, and enjoy the wonderful feeling of nostalgia they get when they see their favorite ff and disney cameos. i believe that's the main reason people commit their lives (trust me, i would know) to this game, and seeing AN ENTIRE GAME about donald duck would tear their hearts to pieces. please, PLEASE don't do it.

    Posted: July 9, 2009 6:08 PM | Reply | Report
    pinkvelvet89
  • jungleman67

    turok is disney now. have him in kh3

    Posted: July 9, 2009 7:09 PM | Reply | Report
    jungleman67
  • MrMatt555

    who cares about who is better then who. I just wanna know when can we actually play flippin kingdom hearts 3!

    Posted: July 9, 2009 8:48 PM | Reply | Report
    MrMatt555
  • BigBlastBoom

    Man, the only reason i kept donald in my party was to use the wisdom form in KH2, that was just about my favorite form... I thought he was annoying as hell, kind of like that annoying little brother that you can't snuff out because other people love him too much...

    Posted: July 10, 2009 2:26 AM | Reply | Report
    BigBlastBoom
  • QUIK_LA_420

    wow like it really matters.hopefully its a good game but im not a fan

    Posted: July 10, 2009 2:49 AM | Reply | Report
    QUIK_LA_420
  • BloodKnight86

    MADE OF WOOD

    Posted: July 10, 2009 3:21 AM | Reply | Report
    BloodKnight86
  • oO_VERTiGO_Oo

    Eh I most likely would of found it kinda odd to try and find donald duck the whole second game, you know because he's a duck... and stuff. but seriously it just wouldent of felt right to me just because of the fact that donald DOES get the shaft from micky all the time (to be honest I think Daffy gets it worse from Buggs than Donald from Micky)

    Posted: July 10, 2009 5:14 AM | Reply | Report
    oO_VERTiGO_Oo
  • jigawig22

    i dont think it really matters who is the main character i just love the game

    Posted: July 10, 2009 9:57 AM | Reply | Report
    jigawig22

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