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A Crossover That Could Have Changed Disney Gaming Forever
Long before Disney became one of the most powerful forces in modern entertainment, its enormous collection of characters created an unusual problem: what happens when you own hundreds of iconic worlds but rarely allow them to collide?
That question helped shape Kingdom Hearts, a franchise that proved Disney characters could exist together in a single fantasy universe without destroying the identity of their individual stories. But according to former Disney Interactive concept artist Ken Christiansen, Kingdom Hearts did more than inspire a successful RPG series. It also helped open the door to another ambitious idea: a Disney crossover fighting game inspired by Super Smash Bros.
The project was called
Sadly, the game never escaped the prototype stage.
What remains today is a fascinating collection of concept artwork and Christiansen’s recollections of a project that could have become one of the strangest and most entertaining Disney games ever made.
The Strange Idea Hidden in
The story began publicly in 2013, when Christiansen uploaded a collection of artwork to his online portfolio.
Among the concept pieces were drawings depicting Disney characters preparing to fight one another. The images immediately raised questions about whether Disney had considered creating its own crossover brawler.
At the time, the artwork could only be interpreted as evidence of an abandoned idea. There was no complete game, no public announcement and no detailed explanation of how far development had progressed.
Years later, Christiansen finally provided the missing context.
In a September 1 interview with Time Extension, the former Disney Interactive artist explained that the fighting game concept was real and that its existence was closely connected to the cultural breakthrough created by Kingdom Hearts.
Kingdom Hearts Had to Break
The most interesting part of the story may not actually be the fighting game.
It is the story of how difficult it was to convince Disney executives that characters from completely different worlds could coexist.
Today, the idea feels completely normal. Disney owns Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, Disney Animation and countless other properties. Crossover merchandise, movies, games and promotional events have become routine.
But the situation was very different when Kingdom Hearts was being developed.
Christiansen recalled that one of the major obstacles involved the possibility of characters from The Lion King and The Little Mermaid appearing in the same game.
The Lion King Meets The Little Mermaid?
From a creative perspective, combining Disney worlds was exciting.
From a corporate perspective, it was uncomfortable.
The concern was not simply whether players would enjoy the idea. Disney had spent decades establishing distinct identities for its movies and characters. Putting those characters together risked making their worlds feel less special.
The creative teams apparently saw the situation very differently.
For the artists and producers working on the project, the crossover concept was exactly what made Kingdom Hearts exciting.
The eventual success of that formula demonstrated something important: audiences could accept radically different Disney properties sharing the same universe without necessarily losing what made them special.
That breakthrough would eventually inspire another question.
If Disney characters could coexist in an action RPG, why couldn’t they fight each other?
Enter
Christiansen explained that the proposed game used a clever fictional explanation for the crossover.
Instead of treating the characters as literally invading one another’s worlds, the game would present them as action figures.
That idea would give Disney considerable creative freedom.
Characters from Tarzan, The Lion King, Treasure Planet and other properties could appear together because they were effectively toys gathered into the same collection.
It was a concept reminiscent of Toy Story, but with a competitive twist.
Instead of simply interacting, these action figures would battle.
Disney’s Answer to Super Smash Bros.
The basic structure was remarkably similar to the crossover fighting games that audiences know today.
Christiansen described it as essentially a Disney version of Super Smash Bros.
That comparison immediately reveals the potential of the project.
Imagine selecting a Disney character, entering an arena and fighting another recognizable character from an entirely different movie.
The concept could have transformed
And unlike many licensed fighting games, Disney would have had an almost absurd number of possible characters to choose from.
The Eight Characters We Know About
The surviving concept artwork gives us a glimpse of the proposed roster.
Rather than focusing exclusively on
One battle paired Captain Hook against Beast.
Another featured the Sheriff of Nottingham fighting King Louie.
A third imagined Ursula facing John Silver.
The final known matchup put the Queen of Hearts against the Horned King.
That lineup is arguably more interesting than a conventional Disney roster would have been.
The Horned King Was a Wild Choice
The inclusion of the Horned King is particularly fascinating.
The character comes from The Black Cauldron, one of Disney’s darker and less commercially dominant animated films.
The Horned King is hardly the first character most people would associate with a modern Disney crossover game.
Yet that is exactly what makes the concept artwork so compelling.
The developers apparently weren’t simply selecting the safest possible characters. They were exploring the depth of Disney’s catalog and finding personalities that could create unusual matchups.
Sheriff of Nottingham Versus King Louie
The Sheriff of Nottingham is another wonderfully unexpected choice.
Rather than automatically selecting Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck or another universally recognizable Disney mascot, the concept considered characters with very different personalities and silhouettes.
That suggests the designers were thinking about the game as an actual fighting title rather than simply an interactive Disney advertisement.
Character design, animation style and personality could all become gameplay advantages.
Ursula Versus John Silver
Ursula and John Silver would also have produced an unusual matchup.
Ursula brings an enormous physical presence and magical abilities from The Little Mermaid, while John Silver from Treasure Planet has an entirely different visual language.
A crossover fighting game thrives on contrasts like these.
The more different the fighters are, the more interesting the roster becomes.
Why the Action Figure Concept Was So Clever
The action-figure premise solved one of
It created an internal explanation for why characters from completely unrelated movies could exist together.
The characters
They could simply be representations of
This approach would have also opened the door to elaborate environments, collectible items and playful references without requiring Disney to establish a complicated shared universe.
Disney Had Already Used Similar Presentation Ideas
Christiansen also provided an unusual glimpse into how Disney Interactive pitched games internally.
According to his recollection, developers often created enormous presentation boards for executives.
These
They could be several feet long and covered with printed artwork, logos and visual examples designed to make the proposed game feel tangible.
The goal was to walk executives through the experience visually.
For a project as ambitious as
The game had to sell not only the gameplay idea but also the concept of putting Disney’s characters together.
The Prototype Was Real, But the Game
Unfortunately for fans of strange crossover games, the concept never became a finished product.
According to the report, the project progressed as far as the prototype stage before Disney ultimately abandoned it.
The company instead focused on movie and television tie-in games.
That decision makes sense when viewed through the business environment of the time.
Licensed games based directly on upcoming movies offered Disney an obvious marketing connection. A completely original crossover fighting game was a much bigger gamble.
The Opportunity Disney Walked Away From
The cancellation is particularly frustrating because the ingredients were already there.
Disney had recognizable characters.
It had villains.
It had heroes.
It had decades of animation history.
It had Pixar.
It had worlds ranging from fairy tales to science fiction.
And Kingdom Hearts had already demonstrated that audiences were willing to accept unusual combinations.
The missing ingredient was simply the decision to commit.
Imagine the Roster Today
A modern version of the concept would be almost impossible to contain.
Disney’s library has expanded dramatically since the original idea.
A modern crossover fighter could potentially draw from Disney Animation, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars, although mixing all of those properties would create a completely different project.
Even restricting the game to classic Disney animation would leave developers with hundreds of possibilities.
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Goofy, Stitch, Aladdin, Mulan, Hercules, Simba, Scar, Maleficent, Captain Hook, Ursula and countless others could theoretically enter the arena.
The Villains Could Have Stolen the Show
One of the strongest aspects of the surviving concept is its emphasis on villains.
Disney has an unusually deep collection of memorable antagonists.
Maleficent.
Ursula.
Jafar.
Scar.
Hades.
Captain Hook.
The Queen of Hearts.
The Evil Queen.
Cruella de Vil.
Dr. Facilier.
The Horned King.
A fighting game could turn these characters into an incredibly distinctive roster.
Instead of another superhero brawler dominated by familiar protagonists, Disney could have created something with a much more theatrical identity.
Why the Game Still Feels Modern
Ironically, the idea may have been ahead of its time.
Crossover games have become significantly more accepted since the early 2010s.
Players now expect characters from different franchises to appear together.
Games such as Super Smash Bros., MultiVersus and numerous licensed crossover titles have demonstrated the commercial appeal of bringing recognizable characters into one competitive experience.
Disney’s Action Figure Face Off would have arrived with a powerful built-in advantage: nearly every character could have brought decades of recognition with them.
Kingdom Hearts Changed More Than Disney Expected
The connection to Kingdom Hearts may be the most important part of this entire story.
The success of Kingdom Hearts wasn’t simply about combining Disney characters with Square Enix’s RPG universe.
It demonstrated that Disney could loosen its traditional boundaries.
Characters did not have to remain permanently trapped inside their original films.
They could become game characters.
They could interact.
They could travel.
And, apparently, they could potentially fight.
The Forgotten Side of Disney Interactive
Christiansen’s comments also reveal how many ideas Disney Interactive explored that never became public.
He described working on numerous concepts during his four years at Disney.
Some projects eventually received funding and reached consumers, including games connected to properties such as Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Peter Pan 2 and Kim Possible, along with Pixar-related projects.
But for every project that survived, many others disappeared during the pitching and approval process.
That means Disney’s Action Figure Face Off was probably only one of many fascinating experiments hidden inside Disney’s archives.
Concept Art Is Sometimes a Window Into Lost History
This is why old concept art can be so valuable.
A finished game tells us what a company ultimately decided to create.
Concept art tells us what the company was willing to imagine before business realities intervened.
In the case of Action Figure Face Off, the surviving artwork gives us a rare glimpse into an alternate version of Disney Interactive.
It shows a company considering its entire library as a single playground.
The
The irony is difficult to ignore.
Disney owned almost everything necessary to make the game work.
Yet the same corporate caution that initially made Kingdom Hearts difficult to approve may have limited other crossover experiments.
The company had to balance brand protection against creative experimentation.
That tension appears repeatedly throughout
Why the Cancellation Makes the Concept More Valuable
If Action Figure Face Off had been released and failed, it might now be remembered as an obscure licensed fighting game.
Because it never happened, however, the idea exists in a more fascinating state.
Players can imagine what it might have become.
We can look at Captain Hook versus Beast and wonder about the combat system.
We can see Ursula versus John Silver and imagine the arena.
We can look at the Horned King and wonder what special attacks he might have possessed.
The unfinished game becomes a playground for imagination.
What Undercode Say:
Disney Had the Perfect Character Library
The most obvious strength of this abandoned project was its access to an enormous collection of characters.
The Roster Could Have Been Its Greatest Weapon
A fighting game lives or dies by its roster, and Disney already possessed one of the industry’s strongest collections.
Kingdom Hearts Proved the Concept
The success of Kingdom Hearts helped establish that Disney properties could coexist without necessarily damaging their individual identities.
The Action Figure Explanation Was Smart
Turning the characters into toys provided an elegant fictional justification for the crossover.
Super Smash Bros. Was the Right Inspiration
The crossover fighting format naturally fits characters with wildly different abilities and personalities.
Disney’s Villains Offered Huge Potential
A Disney fighter could have distinguished itself through its villains rather than relying exclusively on heroes.
The Deep Cuts Made the Concept Better
Characters such as the Horned King and Sheriff of Nottingham suggest that the developers were willing to explore Disney’s less obvious properties.
The Concept
Christiansen’s recollection confirms that the project existed beyond speculative artwork.
The Prototype Stage Matters
Reaching the prototype stage means the concept progressed beyond a simple brainstorming session.
Disney Ultimately Chose Safer Games
Movie and television tie-ins provided a more predictable commercial strategy.
That Decision Was Understandable
Licensed tie-ins could be coordinated with theatrical releases and television marketing campaigns.
But It Also Limited Innovation
Focusing on direct tie-ins meant potentially groundbreaking original ideas could disappear.
Disney Interactive Had a Huge Untapped Advantage
Few entertainment companies possessed such a deep collection of recognizable characters.
Fighting Games Were a Natural Fit
Disney characters already had distinctive movements, personalities and abilities that could translate into combat mechanics.
Animation Could Have Become Gameplay
Different animation styles could have influenced character movement, attacks and special abilities.
The Arenas Could Have Been Spectacular
Imagine fighting inside Wonderland, Neverland, Pride Rock or the streets of Treasure Planet.
The Music Could Have Been Extraordinary
Disney’s musical catalog alone could have given the game an unforgettable soundtrack.
The Game Could Have Mixed Comedy and Competition
Disney’s lighter characters could have kept the tone playful instead of excessively violent.
It Could Have Been More Than a Smash Clone
The action-figure premise offered enough personality to establish its own identity.
Collectibles Would Have Made Sense
A toy-based game could naturally incorporate collectible figures, accessories and unlockable characters.
The Merchandise Potential Was Enormous
Physical action figures could have complemented the game and created another revenue stream.
Disney Could Have Built a New Gaming Brand
Instead of another movie tie-in, the company could have created a recurring crossover franchise.
The Timing Was Perhaps the Biggest Problem
The market and
Modern Audiences Would Understand It Immediately
Today’s players are much more accustomed to crossover universes.
Disney’s Current IP Portfolio Is Even Larger
The
Pixar Would Add Another Dimension
Characters from Pixar could dramatically expand the visual and mechanical variety.
Marvel Would Completely Change the Scale
Adding Marvel would turn the concept into a much larger crossover proposition.
Star Wars Would Create Another Possibility
Even without Marvel, Star Wars characters could introduce an entirely different combat style.
But More
A modern version would need careful restrictions to prevent the roster from becoming unfocused.
Classic Disney Might Actually Be Stronger
Keeping the game centered on animation could preserve a distinctive identity.
The Villain-Heavy Direction Is Worth Revisiting
The original artwork suggests Disney could embrace its darker characters instead of making another mascot-driven game.
The Concept Art Tells a Story
Those drawings
Christiansen’s Memories Add Important Context
Without his explanation, the artwork could easily have been mistaken for an abandoned pitch with little development behind it.
Lost Games Reveal Corporate History
Cancelled projects often show what companies considered possible before executives made final decisions.
Action Figure Face Off Represents a Missed Opportunity
The project combined Disney’s biggest advantage, its characters, with one of gaming’s most proven genres.
Its Failure
Sometimes good concepts disappear because of timing, budgets, strategy or corporate priorities.
The Idea Could Still Return
Disney has never lost ownership of the fundamental concept.
The Technology Is No Longer the Barrier
Modern development tools make it easier to create large crossover games than they were decades ago.
The Real Question Is Whether Disney Wants It
The biggest obstacle remains corporate strategy rather than technical feasibility.
Kingdom Hearts IV Makes the Connection Even More Interesting
The continued existence of Kingdom Hearts demonstrates that Disney remains comfortable with ambitious crossover worlds.
The Lost Fighter Deserves to Be Remembered
Even without a finished release, Action Figure Face Off represents an intriguing piece of Disney gaming history.
Deep Analysis
Why the Prototype Matters
A prototype indicates that the concept had moved beyond an executive pitch. Developers had enough confidence in the idea to begin testing how it might function as a real game.
A Hypothetical Development Pipeline
A project like this would likely move from character selection to prototype combat, arena testing, animation experiments and eventually broader production.
Archive Search Commands
For researchers examining publicly available archives or their own downloaded concept-art collection, simple commands can help locate references to the project:
find . -type f | grep -iE 'disney|action|figure|face|off|christiansen'
Searching Text Archives
If interview transcripts or notes have been saved locally, a recursive search can reveal references to the game’s title:
grep -RniE "Action Figure Face Off|Face Off|Ken Christiansen" ./archive
Checking Image Metadata
Researchers can also inspect metadata from archived artwork when available:
exiftool ./concept-art/
Why These Commands Are Useful
They
The Core Design Challenge
The greatest challenge would have been balancing radically different characters.
A realistic fighter such as John Silver and a supernatural character such as Ursula cannot simply share identical gameplay systems without losing their identity.
Asymmetrical Abilities Could Solve It
Disney’s roster would lend itself naturally to different fighting archetypes.
Heavy characters could dominate close combat, agile characters could rely on mobility, while magical characters could control the arena.
The Game Could Have Used Cartoon Physics
Rather than attempting to make the fights realistic, exaggerated animation would have allowed almost any character to participate.
That would also keep the experience closer to the playful spirit of Disney.
The Arena Design Could Have Been Exceptional
Disney’s worlds provide ready-made environments with recognizable visual identities.
An arena based on Wonderland could constantly change.
Neverland could feature flying mechanics.
Treasure Planet could introduce zero-gravity sections.
The Characters Could Have Had Story Interactions
Even a competitive fighter could include short dialogue exchanges before battles.
That would give players the crossover moments they actually came to see.
The Boss Structure Could Have Been Interesting
The game could have featured increasingly difficult villains rather than simply reproducing a traditional fighting-game arcade ladder.
The Toy Concept Could Have Influenced Progression
Characters could theoretically begin as basic figures and unlock alternate costumes, accessories and abilities.
Disney Could Have Created Physical Toys
The title practically invites a merchandise strategy.
Every playable character could potentially have become a collectible figure.
The Game Could Have Been a Platform
If successful, Disney could have periodically added characters from new movies.
That would turn the original release into a long-term crossover platform.
The Main Risk Would Be Brand Management
Disney would have needed to ensure that characters were not portrayed in ways that conflicted with their established identities.
Another Risk Would Be Tone
The Horned King fighting the Queen of Hearts can be playful, but the game would need to carefully balance Disney’s darker characters with its family-friendly reputation.
The Original Roster Suggests Creative Confidence
The unusual character choices indicate that the team wasn’t merely building a safe collection of famous mascots.
That Is Probably the Best Part of the Concept
A game featuring only Mickey, Donald, Goofy and a handful of obvious protagonists would have been predictable.
The surviving artwork suggests something much stranger.
Strange Matchups Create Memorable Games
Players remember unusual combinations.
Captain Hook versus Beast is inherently more interesting as a conversation than two characters with similar fighting styles.
Disney’s Library Could Support Dozens of Fighting Styles
Pirates, animals, sorcerers, monsters, royalty and robots could all occupy the same roster.
The Concept Also Fits
The action-figure premise wasn’t completely disconnected from Disney’s merchandising culture.
Kingdom Hearts Provided the Creative Precedent
Once Disney accepted that characters from different worlds could appear together, the conceptual barrier became much smaller.
The Abandoned Project Shows How Difficult Approval Can Be
Creative teams can believe an idea is brilliant while executives remain concerned about brand positioning.
That Tension Exists Across the Games Industry
Many ambitious games fail before release because the business case never becomes strong enough.
Action Figure Face Off May Have Needed the Right Moment
If the project had appeared during a period when crossover games were especially popular, Disney might have viewed it differently.
Today’s Market Would Be More Receptive
Modern audiences have grown comfortable with games built around unexpected character combinations.
Yet Modern Disney Would Face New Complications
Its expanded portfolio means that licensing and brand coordination could become considerably more complicated.
The Original Concept Remains Fascinating Because It Was Simpler
It focused on
That Restraint Could Be the Secret
A focused Disney fighter might actually have been more memorable than an enormous everything-included crossover.
The Lost Game Deserves More Than Nostalgia
It demonstrates how creative teams were thinking about Disney’s properties during a transitional period in gaming.
The Bigger Lesson
The story of Action Figure Face Off is ultimately about possibility.
Disney had the characters.
The developers had the idea.
Kingdom Hearts had already challenged the
The prototype existed.
But the project still disappeared.
What Remains
Today, the concept survives through artwork, memories and the imagination of players who can only wonder what might have happened.
And sometimes an unfinished game can tell us just as much about an industry as a successful one.
✅ The Disney Crossover Fighting Game Existed as a Real Concept
Ken Christiansen confirmed that the project was called Disney’s Action Figure Face Off and was inspired by the idea of Disney characters battling as action figures. The project progressed to the prototype stage before being abandoned.
✅ Kingdom Hearts Helped Challenge Disney’s Crossover Reluctance
Christiansen’s account connects the fighting-game concept to the broader creative breakthrough of Kingdom Hearts, which had already demonstrated that characters from separate Disney properties could coexist.
✅ The Surviving Matchups Include Unusual Disney Characters
The reported concept artwork featured Captain Hook vs. Beast, Sheriff of Nottingham vs. King Louie, Ursula vs. John Silver, and Queen of Hearts vs. the Horned King, making the proposed roster notably more adventurous than a conventional Disney lineup.
Prediction
(+1) Disney Could Eventually Revisit the Idea
The modern gaming market is far more comfortable with crossover fighters than it was when Action Figure Face Off was being developed. A carefully designed Disney-only fighter could find a substantial audience.
(+1) A Classic Animation Roster Would Be the Strongest Direction
Rather than throwing every Disney-owned franchise into one game, a focused roster of animated characters could preserve the charm of the original concept while giving the game its own identity.
(+1) Disney’s Villains Could Become the Selling Point
A roster built around characters such as Maleficent, Ursula, Hades, Jafar, Scar, Captain Hook and the Queen of Hearts could make the game feel dramatically different from conventional crossover fighters.
(-1) Disney May Still Be Too Protective of Its Brands
The same concern that made Kingdom Hearts difficult to approve could continue to influence Disney’s decisions. Combining beloved characters in combat requires executives to accept a degree of creative risk.
(-1) Kingdom Hearts Could Remain Disney’s Preferred Crossover Outlet
With the continued development of Kingdom Hearts IV, Disney already has a successful gaming partnership that allows its worlds to intersect without requiring the company to build another crossover franchise from scratch.
(+1) The Abandoned Prototype Could Inspire a Modern Revival
Even if the original project never returns under its old name, its central idea remains exceptionally strong. Disney’s enormous animation catalog is still waiting for the right game to bring these characters together in a completely different way.
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