Filmmaker Kevin Smith revealed he once worked on a Kingdom Keepers series for Disney+, at least until it was canceled by a new executive in charge of the streaming service.
Smith said on a recent episode of his Fatman Beyond podcast that he witnessed the unique screen technology used on Disney Plus’ The Mandalorian when he visited Disney studios for a tech day while working on a potential Kingdom Keepers show, as originally reported by Attractions Magazine.
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“I saw that wall in real life, when we were working on the…potential Disney Plus show Kingdom Keepers,” Smith said. “They brought me in for…a tech day and they were like, ‘this wall here can duplicate any background,’.”
Smith quote tweeted Attraction Magazine’s story on Twitter on April 5 and added that he wrote the potential Kingdom Keepers show two years ago. He said it was planned as one of the first shows to launch on what we now know as Disney+.
“Then a new exec was put in charge of the app and killed KK,” he said. “Said we used too much Disney IP in one project (every character in the park comes to life).”
You can check out the original tweet below.
That was a blast to write 2 years ago. It was planned as one of the first shows to launch on what would become @disneyplus. Then a new exec was put in charge of the app and he killed KK. Said we used too much @Disney IP in one project (every character in the park comes to life). https://t.co/8izGTsg10H
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 5, 2020
If you’re unfamiliar with the Kingdom Keepers series, it’s a series of books written by Ridley Pearson that features a cast of characters hired by Disney to be holographic guides at theme parks like Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. When the parks close at night, Disney characters come out to play. Naturally, villains like Maleficent have grander plans. The cast of characters, or the Kingdom Keepers as it were, fight to protect the parks and the outside world from these Disney villains come to life.
Smith followed up his tweet and said the executive that scrapped Kingdom Keepers is the same person who decided to put Star Wars and Marvel shows on Disney+.
“So as much as I would’ve liked to make my show, I’m much happier watching #TheMandalorian and can’t wait for #WandaVision. #FanFirstFilmmakerSecond,” he said in the tweet.
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Smith responded to another person on Twitter and said Kingdom Keepers was written with love by a kid (referring to himself) who grew up watching “The Wonderful World of Disney” with his family every Sunday night. He said he renamed the main character after the original team of Imagineers that worked with Walt Disney himself.
“Felt like they overpaid me to write Disney fan fiction,” he said in a tweet.
While Kingdom Keepers won’t be coming to Disney+, Marvel’s What If…? show will and you can read our story about the Marvel’s What If…? Disney Plus animated series explained. You can also check out how Disney’s Artemis Fowl is now slated to release on Disney Plus after its theatrical release was canceled. Read up on everything coming to Disney Plus in April 2020.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN who would’ve loved to have seen this series. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Source: IGN.com Kingdom Keepers: Kevin Smith Reveals Canceled Disney Plus Series