Original artist reveals alternate knight Goofy and mage Donald designs for KH1

Ken Christiansen — credited as senior artist on the original Kingdom Hearts alongside Mary Ann Ramirez — told Time Extension what Donald and Goofy almost looked like. In his KH1 pitch, Goofy was a full knight in plate armour with sword and shield, and Donald was a classic mage in a wizard hat. The art has sat on his portfolio since 2013, but he had never publicly explained it until this interview.

Christiansen said getting KH greenlit was the hard part. Disney was reluctant to let its worlds cross — he described the internal hangup as “crossing The Lion King into The Little Mermaid.” Kingdom Hearts' success softened that stance.

That shift directly inspired “Disney's Action Figure Face Off” — a Toy Story-conceit fighter where Disney action figures brawl Smash Bros.-style, with Activision attached. It reached prototype before Disney shelved it for safer film and TV tie-ins. Surviving concept art shows match-ups like Captain Hook vs Beast and Ursula vs John Silver.

We had Donald as a mage, Goofy as a knight — full plate, sword and shield. Disney just wasn't ready to mix the worlds yet.

Ken Christiansen — Time Extension

For a series now headlining D23 and its 25th anniversary, it is a rare window into the pre-KH firewall — and a tangible “what-if” in Disney gaming history.