10 Songs That Are Perfect for a KINGDOM HEARTS Musical Cutscene

For years now, Nomura has had his heart set on a musical video game. In 2013, after watching Les Misérables, he unsuccessfully tried to convince Square Enix to turn FINAL FANTASY XV into a musical (That tragically didn’t happen and I genuinely wish we could have gotten that version of the game. Literally I can’t put into words how much I wish we had gotten that version of the game). Then in 2017, he gave an interview for the KINGDOM HEARTS Orchestra -World Tour- where he brought up Les Misérables again–“When I watched the movie Les Misérables, I thought, ‘We should do a musical!’ But I wanted to incorporate it into a game, not an on-stage production.”

Clearly this man loved Les Misérables, and clearly he really wants to make a musical video game. Unfortunately, he hasn’t managed to achieve his dream of a musical video game so far, but there was a musical cutscene in FINAL FANTASY VII Remake. I assume that was his idea.

KINGDOM HEARTS is no stranger to musical numbers. We have the musical segments in Atlantica in KH2, but we don’t talk about those. We have the “Let It Go” sequence in KH3, but we don’t talk about that either. Will KINGDOM HEARTS ever get another chance to redeem itself with a great musical cutscene? Should that day ever come, these are 10 Disney songs that would be perfect for a KINGDOM HEARTS musical cutscene.

Rewrite the Stars

I first heard this song on the radio in the grocery store, and I had no idea who was singing it or where it was from, but I was amazed at how perfectly it captured the essence of KINGDOM HEARTS. I looked up the song lyrics right there in the store, and it turned out it was “Rewrite the Stars” from Disney’s The Greatest Showman. The characters, played by Zendaya and Zac Efron, desperately want to rewrite their destinies so that they can be together.

The concept of this song perfectly captures the struggles of being a KINGDOM HEARTS character. KINGDOM HEARTS characters are constantly getting separated from each other. They can never reach each other for various reasons–Heartless destroying their world, darkness, cruel fate etc. Most of the time they physically can’t reach each other, but sometimes they can’t emotionally reach each other either. When Riku walks his dark path and Sora is powerless to stop him, that’s distance.

As perfect as this song is for KINGDOM HEARTS, some of the lyrics are very specific to the plot of the movie. At this point in the movie, Zac Efron’s white parents don’t approve of his relationship with Zendaya, so she runs away in despair. He goes after her and together they sing this song about wanting to be together. Although they never straight up say, “I’m black and you’re white! We can never be together!” certain lyrics do allude to their plight. 

I don’t think they would ever have any KINGDOM HEARTS characters sing this song, but it could make sense for Sora to discover them singing this song. As much as I didn’t like the way KH3 handled “Let It Go,” this song would actually be perfect for the “Let It Go” treatment. I think Sora or any other Kingdom Hearts character would hear them singing this song and think, “I hear you. I can never be with my friends, either.”

Any Song from High School Musical

Speaking of Zac Efron, I would be so happy to see High School Musical make it to KINGDOM HEARTS. I don’t even care which song it is. I just want to see some High School Musical representation in KINGDOM HEARTS! With KH4 taking place in what is basically our real world, perhaps this is our chance to see High School Musical and other live-action Disney movies in KINGDOM HEARTS.

I’ll Try

A long time ago, Disney did a series of albums called “Disneymania,” which featured pop versions of Disney songs sung by various Disney-adjacent celebrities. One of those Disney-adjacent celebrities was Jesse McCartney. He performed several songs across several of the albums, including “I’ll Try” from Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland. 

I know this song is obscure among Disney songs, but wouldn’t it be amazing if they reached into the annals of random Disney music to grab this song and get Jesse McCartney to sing it as Roxas or Ventus? Why not both? They’ve both been to Neverland so it’s not that hard to imagine them going back. Give us the Roxas and Ventus duet we deserve.

Unfortunately I don’t think this song will ever be in KINGDOM HEARTS. Like I said, it’s pretty obscure, and I don’t think the Japanese developers would be like me and think, “Jesse McCartney voices Roxas and Ventus in English. Jesse McCartney sang this song from Peter Pan II: Return to Neverland. We should find a reason for Roxas and Ventus to sing this song! It’ll be great!” But I can hope.

The Honeybee Inn Dance

Okay, so my title is slightly a lie, but I thought “9 Disney Songs That Should Be in Kingdom Hearts + 1 Final Fantasy Song” was a bad title.

In FINAL FANTASY VII Remake, Cloud visits a night club called the Honeybee Inn. The musical cutscene I mentioned earlier leads straight into a dance battle, and Cloud is so not into this dance battle. 

But you know who would be into the dance battle? SORA!! This boy would be up on that stage so fast, and he would nail it. He was born ready for someone to say, “You need to have this dance-off in order to get what you want.”

This is KINGDOM HEARTS, so they would have to make some adjustments to the Honeybee Inn, which is basically a strip club without saying it. KINGDOM HEARTS has never had any FINAL FANTASY locations before though, so maybe they would avoid the Honeybee Inn and have it be a random, family-friendly dance club. They might also have to adjust some parts of the dance that are a little risqué, but for the most part they could copy and paste the dance straight into KINGDOM HEARTS. 

I See the Light

Like many people, I was disappointed with the way KH3 incorporated “Let It Go,” but if Rapunzel and Eugene had burst into “I See the Light” during the lantern scene, I wouldn’t have minded at all. I was actually expecting it the first time I played the game. It would have felt totally organic, and I’ve always wished they had put “I See The Light” in KINGDOM HEARTS instead of “Let It Go.”

Even though the lantern scene has already passed, maybe Sora and friends will eventually return to the Kingdom of Corona, and we can finally hear Rapunzel and Eugene sing this song.

We Don’t Talk About Bruno

I’ve listened to this song so many times. It’s so catchy! This is another song where I wouldn’t mind if they gave it the “Let It Go” treatment. I can imagine Sora, Donald and Goofy watching in bewilderment as the Madrigal family sings about why they don’t talk about Bruno.

In Encanto, there’s a character named Isabela who can magically make flowers grow wherever she wants, and during her part of the song, she elegantly descends from the ceiling on a swing made of flowers. If this song is ever in KINGDOM HEARTS, Marluxia should crash her part of the song and descend from the ceiling instead.

This is literally the only reason I want this song to be in KINGDOM HEARTS. I’m not saying he should be singing her part, just interrupting her part of the song to give his evil monologue. I am so serious when I say I want this to happen. He has flower power, she has flower power. It’s perfect.

This song was wildly popular when Encanto came out, so I bet Disney would be totally okay with putting this song in KINGDOM HEARTS. Not sure how they would feel about the Marluxia thing though.

Once Upon a Dream

Sleep is such a common theme in Kingdom Hearts and Nomura’s work as a whole that it just makes sense to include this song. I’m not sure if a KINGDOM HEARTS character would witness Aurora and Prince Phillip singing this song or if KINGDOM HEARTS characters would sing this song, but either way it has major potential to tie in with the themes of KINGDOM HEARTS.

On a side note, sometimes I wonder if Nomura includes sleep and dreams in so much of his work because he actually has trouble sleeping. This man created Noctis, a guy literally named Night who is prince of a place called Insomnia. It kind of feels like a cry for help. I hope Nomura can get some sleep.

How Far I’ll Go

I have thought for the longest time that Moana needs be in KINGDOM HEARTS so that she and Riku can bond over living on an island and wanting to get the heck out of there. How perfect would it be for Riku to hear Moana’s song and be like, “Girl, your song has moved me because I felt the same way.” Maybe he joins in because “How Far I’ll Go” is the heart song of all hearts that yearn for freedom. Is it plausible? I don’t know, but this is KINGDOM HEARTS, and if anything can find a way to make the implausible plausible, it’s KINGDOM HEARTS. 

Honorable Mention

Somewhere Out There

Okay, so my title is even more slightly a lie, but I thought “8 Disney Songs That Should Be in Kingdom Hearts + 1 Final Fantasy Song + 1 Non-Disney Song” was a bad title.

This song is not owned by Disney, but it fits so well with KINGDOM HEARTS that I had to include it in my list. This is another song that perfectly captures the essence of what it means to be a KINGDOM HEARTS character. It’s from An American Tale, which is about a little mouse who is separated from his family and trying to get back to them. In the middle of the movie, he and his sister sing about how they know they’ll be together again, even though they’re far apart. KINGDOM HEARTS characters are always far apart! It would be so moving to see some KINGDOM HEARTS characters sing this song.

As much as I think this song is perfect for KINGDOM HEARTS, Disney is not about to go negotiate with Universal for the rights to put this song in KINGDOM HEARTS, but I still wanted to mention it because its so perfect for KINGDOM HEARTS.

That was where I thought the story ended until I was gathering up the YouTube videos to put together this article. I noticed the description for “I’ll Try” said it was “Provided to YouTube by Universal Music Group.” I wondered why Universal had anything to do with a Disney song, so I looked into it.

It turns out Universal Music Group does the distribution for Disney songs worldwide. They’ve had a strong partnership for literal decades. If Disney wanted to go negotiate with Universal for the rights to put this song in KINGDOM HEARTS, they would be in a strong position to go do just that. The channel of communication between the companies is already there.

So if the Japanese developers were like me and thought, “This non-Disney song from An American Tale would be great for KINGDOM HEARTS! We should make the KINGDOM HEARTS characters sing this song!” there’s a chance they could get it done. Disney would still have to be willing to go ask and Universal would still have to be willing to say yes, but the path is there, and that’s really fascinating to me.

This one is a bit of a longshot, but I would be so happy if they actually put this song in KINGDOM HEARTS. It’s too perfect.

But there’s one song that’s even more perfect…

Rainbow Connection

The songs up until this point were in no particular order, but this song is truly the number one Disney song that should be in Kingdom Hearts. “Rainbow Connection” is a Muppet song by Kermit the frog, and it is the ultimate KINGDOM HEARTS song. This song is pure optimism and hope, and that’s exactly what Sora is. The light of hope and youthful idealism, the belief that you can make a difference and change the world.

I don’t think it should just be Sora singing this song. It should be everyone. This song is perfect as an ensemble song with a bunch of the characters singing this song together while far apart. Like I keep saying, being far apart and hoping to be together is what it means to be a KINGDOM HEARTS character, and this is one of Disney’s most hopeful songs. It would be a beautiful sequence. I will cry if this song ever makes it to Kingdom Hearts.

I would be really happy to see any of these songs in KINGDOM HEARTS, but I would also be really happy to see any great song in KINGDOM HEARTS. I just want them to have a chance to redeem themselves for all the finny fun we’ve had to endure over the years.

If there are any other songs that would be perfect for KINGDOM HEARTS, please put them in the comments.

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