Disney Clears the Air on Kingdom Hearts Art Controversy
Last month’s Nintendo Direct was a real treat for Kingdom Hearts aficionados, unveiling that the entire Kingdom Hearts trilogy will be making its way to Switch 2 as part of The Kingdom Hearts Collection [I-III]. However, the excitement took a hit when fans got a first look at the trilogy’s key art shared by Square Enix on X. Many fans were quick to point out some bizarre details in the artwork, leading to accusations that generative AI was behind its creation.
After a month of speculation, Square Enix and Disney stepped forward to clarify the situation. In an exclusive statement, they confirmed that the artwork for The Kingdom Hearts Collection [I-III] was indeed crafted by their development team and not through any AI tools. A representative from Square Enix mentioned, “We’re aware of the feedback regarding recent Kingdom Hearts visuals. These assets were created by our development team without the use of generative AI, and the issues resulted from human error.”
What were these so-called “issues”? Well, fans noticed some pretty odd details, such as Donald Duck sporting four fingers on one hand and five on the other! There were also warped clock tower hands, uneven links on the Keyblade’s keychain, and Sora’s crown-shaped belt chain links appearing to merge together. Some fans pointed out that Sora’s shoes were missing the customary crown pattern, and even clothing zippers looked a bit off.
In the same statement, Square Enix reassured fans about their commitment to quality, adding, “Quality is extremely important to us, and updated assets have been implemented where appropriate.”
Following the controversy, Square Enix made adjustments to the artwork, notably fixing Donald’s hand to show the correct four fingers. However, some peculiarities still linger in the new version.
While the original post on X remains unchanged, a new version of the image has circulated online, with the official trailer on YouTube showcasing a slightly altered thumbnail that cleverly obscures Donald’s five-fingered hand. Despite these updates, several oddities from the original artwork remain, including the peculiar crowns on Sora’s belt chain and the absence of crown patterns on his shoe soles, alongside the strange keychain links on Mickey’s Keyblade. Although the clocktower’s hands appear a bit straighter now, it seems the main focus was simply correcting Donald’s hand.
Interestingly, Disney has a reputation for being meticulous when it comes to their characters’ representations, often providing artists with stringent guidelines. So it’s puzzling how an image featuring a nine-fingered Donald Duck made it through multiple layers of approval initially!