Disney VP of Games Wants More ‘Elevator Proposals’ Like Kingdom Hearts

ign.com:

Way back in 2004, a story surfaced (in an interview with IGN no less) that the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise exists because of a fateful, literal elevator pitch. And now, over two decades after that strange merger of Square Enix fantasy and Disney magic became a hit, Disney Games is hungry for more wild pitch moments like it.

I meet with the VP of Disney and Pixar Games, Luigi Priore, at the most appropriate place for it: Disneyland. We’re at a preview event for Disney Illusion Island, nestled in a banquet room well-hidden within Tomorrowland, where Priore is clearly jubilant at the prospect of showing off the game at last. Disney Illusion Island has a look reminiscent of a slower-paced, more friendly Rayman game, with four-player co-op of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy in detailed animation that evokes, but does not copy, the classic Disney style. Not far away from our interview, there’s a brand new ride in Toontown that features similarly animated versions of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy getting up to cartoon shenanigans together.

Priore has been working with Disney’s video game efforts for 28 years, and currently oversees Disney, Pixar, and 20th Century games specifically – he’s a bit removed from Star Wars and Marvel. He’s been with the company for countless video game-related ups and downs, from the boom of licensed games through Epic Mickey, and through the six-year period where Disney seemed to vanish from games entirely. Priore has previously told me that Disney was simply strategically biding its time, and following the recent explosion of games like Disney Dreamlight Valley, Marvel’s Midnight Suns, Tron: Identity, Disney: Speedstorm, Marvel Snap, and the upcoming Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, it’s a bit