We have good news and bad news. First the bad news: A show based on “Kingdom Keepers”, the Disney theme park novels by Ridley Pearson, isn’t coming to Disney+. The good news? Its demise may have led to “Star Wars: The Mandalorian”.
Yesterday, we wrote about how on a recent episode of the Fatman Beyond podcast, filmmaker Kevin Smith mentioned working on a potential Disney+ show, “Kingdom Keepers”, and how there wasn’t any official word about the show, but that maybe Disney was at least considering it.
Today, Smith replied to our Tweet about the story, letting us know the show was in development a couple of years ago, and was since canceled:
Later this morning, Smith went live on his official Facebook page, telling the whole story of the show’s development and ultimate cancelation, and how one thing led to another and the cancelation of “Kingdom Keepers” ultimately led to “The Mandalorian” and Marvel shows on Disney+, and even Smith’s upcoming animated version of “Masters of the Universe: Revelation” show on Netflix.
On his Facebook live stream, Smith tells how the show was going to be his version of the story, mashed up with author Pearson’s “Kingdom Keepers”. Smith made the story like the “Avengers of Disney” with lots of different characters. Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse were characters, and the main villain was Captain Hook, who Smith wanted to be played by Russell Brand. Smith had the show written and ready for production when it was canceled.
Here’s the full story from Smith himself. (Warning, adult language)
Imagineer Kevin Lively tweeted how much he enjoyed reading Smith’s story treatment of Kingdom Keepers:
So where does that leave Kingdom Keepers fans? We suggest you let Disney+ know you’d still like to see the show happen. Here’s a link to our step-by-step guide on how to officially submit suggestions to Disney+. As they say, no good idea is ever dead.
As a fan of the series growing up, maybe we could start a petition to get them to revitalize the show.
Yes! We need to!