History Trivia / KingdomHeartsI

* CowboyBebopAtHisComputer: Dan Birley, the author of the game's official strategy guide, stated that Sephiroth shouts an attack called "Sin Harvest". In actuality, the line is supposed to be "Descend, Heartless Angel" but the quiet voice acting and loud sound effects [[{{Mondegreen}} make it easy to mishear it]].

** Aerith's role in the game was originally going to be filled by Aya from ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'' until staff who'd worked on ''Final Fantasy VII'' requested it be Aerith instead.

* SavedForTheSequel:
** A world based off ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'' was planned, but the game engine couldn't handle quadruped movement for the lions. The world was later included in ''II'' after an engine switch.
** Tifa from ''Final Fantasy VII'' was planned as an optional boss, but had to be cut for time. She later appears in ''II''.

** Squall (or Leon) was voiced by ''{{Series/Angel}}'' and ''{{Series/Bones}}'' star David Boreanaz.

** Kairi being voiced by Hayden Panettierre is a borderline example. She'd had a few roles but it was right before her recognizable ones in ''Film/IcePrincess'', ''Film/RaisingHelen'' or ''{{Series/Heroes}}''.

* DuelingWorks: With the 2002 ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil1'' remake. Director Creator/ShinjiMikami blamed the remake's poor sales on ''Kingdom Hearts'''s success.

** Due to the characters being much younger than their canon counterparts, Tidus and Wakka have different voice actors. Tidus is voiced by Sean Fleming instead of James Arnold Taylor, while Wakka is voiced by Creator/DeeBradleyBaker instead of Creator/JohnDiMaggio.

** Before Ansem was craeted, Chernabog was going to be the final boss, being the embodiment of all darkness. This was changed for various reasons. Some concept art shows that the battle would take place at Hollow Bastion as he would have emerged from the Final Keyhole (End of the World was not created until after Ansem was.)

* UrbanLegendOfZelda: It's rumored that Ariel was going to be a Princess of Heart originally, but they couldn't find a way to work her getting legs and captured by Maleficent after defeating Ursula - and thus was hastily replaced with Alice at the last minute.

** Kairi's role in Hollow Bastion was going to be larger. Additionally, it had been toyed around with to make her playable at some point within the game, but that never materialized until years later with ''[[Videogame/KingdomHeartsIII Kingdom Hearts III Re:Mind]]''.

** Chernabog was going to be the final boss, being the embodiment of all darkness. This was changed for various reasons. Some concept art shows that the battle would take place at an unknown castle.

** A sequence from ''Kingdom Hearts III'', [[spoiler:The Final World]], was originally meant to be portrayed in this game.

** Aerith was voiced by pop star Music/MandyMoore, who would go on to voice Rapunzel in ''Disney/{{Tangled}}'' eight years later.

** Kathryn Beaumont, who voiced Alice and Wendy in ''Disney/AliceInWonderland'' and ''Disney/PeterPan'', respectively, reprised her roles despite being in her mid 60s at the time. She's also one of only a few actors/actresses who worked with Creator/WaltDisney directly to be involved with the ''Kingdom Hearts'' games as well; John Fiedler, who voiced Piglet, did the role in the games as well until his death.

* FandomNod: Aurora's dress is colored purple on her illustration during the Awakening. This is a nod to the ''Disney/SleepingBeauty'' fandom sometimes offering purple as a compromise to the pink and blue color war the fairies have.

** Creator/DanCastellaneta voices the Genie instead of Creator/RobinWilliams.[[note]]Castellaneta provided the voice of the Genie in ''Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar'' and [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the television series]]. Williams would reprise his role in ''Disney/AladdinAndTheKingOfThieves''.[[/note]]

** A world based off ''Disney/TheLionKing'' was planned, but the game engine couldn't handle quadruped movement for the lions. The world was later included in ''II'' after an engine switch.

** A world based on ''Disney/TheLionKing'' was planned, but Square did not have the technology necessary to make Sora's lion model function properly. Instead, Simba only appears as a summon and the world was eventually featured in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII''.

** Kairi's role in Hollow Bastion was going to be larger.

** Jodi Benson, who was 31 at the time, once again voiced the 16-year-old Ariel.

** Aerith's role in the game was originally going to be filled by Aya from ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve''.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason Mickey doesn't have a major role in the game is because he was being used for Capcom's ''Disney Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse'', and Capcom wasn't willing to share the character rights with Square Enix. After heavy negotiation, Capcom agreed to allow Mickey in one scene as long he was in silhouette.

* ContestWinnerCameo: Kurt Zisa, a Heartless BonusBoss present in the international and ''Final Mix'' versions, is named after the winner of the contest held in the USA two months prior to the game's North American release. He appears if you try to fly to the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin's house after visiting Hollow Bastion.

** Tifa from ''Final Fantasy VII'' was planned as an optional boss, but had to be cut. She appears in the second game.
* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason Mickey doesn't have a major role in the game is because he was being used for Capcom's ''Disney Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse'', and Capcom wasn't willing to share the character rights with Square Enix. After heavy negotiation, Capcom agreed to allow the use Mickey for one scene as long he was in silhouette.

* ContestWinnerCameo: Kurt Zisa, a Heartless BonusBoss present in the international and ''Final Mix'' versions of the game, is named after the winner of the contest held in the USA two months prior to the game's North American release. He appears if you try to fly to the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin's house after visiting Hollow Bastion.

* ContestWinnerCameo: Kurt Zisa, a Heartless BonusBoss present in the international and ''Final Mix'' versions of the game, is named after the winner of contest held in the USA two months prior to the game's North American release. He appears if you try to fly to the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin's house after visiting Hollow Bastion.

* ContestWinnerCameo: Kurt Zisa, a Heartless BonusBoss present in the international and ''Final Mix'' versions of the game, is named after the winner of contest held in the USA two months prior to the game's North American release.

* Kurt Zisa, one of the game's {{bonus boss}}es, is named after a fan who won a contest. He appears if you try to fly to the Cave of Wonders from Aladdin's house after visiting Hollow Bastion.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason Mickey doesn't have a major role in the game is because the character was being used for Capcom's ''Disney Magical Mirror Starring Mickey Mouse'' and they weren't willing to share the character rights with Square Enix. After heavy negotiation, Capcom agreed to allow them to use Mickey for one scene as long he was in silhouette.

** Creator/DanCastellaneta voices the Genie instead of Creator/RobinWilliams.[[note]]Castellaneta provided the voice of the Genie in ''[[Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar The Return of Jafar]]'' and [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the television series]].[[/note]]

* ContestWinnerCameo: Kurt Zisa--a Heartless BonusBoss present in the international and ''Final Mix'' versions of the game--is named after the winner of contest held in the USA two months prior to the game's North American release.

** Squall from ''Final Fantasy VIII'' was originally designed with longer hair - and Leon's appearance here is a reference to that.

** Creator/DanCastellaneta voices the Genie instead of Creator/RobinWilliams (however Castellaneta ''did'' voice the Genie in [[WesternAnimation/AladdinTheSeries the television series]] as well as Disney/AladdinTheReturnOfJafar, making this a case of TheOriginalDarrin as well).

* While some character models were massively updated for the HD remaster, other models, such as Sora and Ansem's, were instead ripped from ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance''.

** Creator/DanCastellaneta voices the Genie instead of Creator/RobinWilliams due to the latter's refusal to work with Creator/{{Disney}} at the time.