I wrote about Off Campus’ coming showrunner shift and why writers are clamoring to work on Dungeon Crawler Carl, DC’s TV trouble as Lanterns premieres on HBO and Cindy Holland’s streaming strategy at Paramount.
Amid the X-Men cast reveal and footage from Avengers: Doomsday and Coco 2 at last weekend’s D23, Disney Kids & Family may have scored the most audible gasps and screams at the fan event when the division announced it was adapting the popular video game Kingdom Hearts into an anime series.
While the title isn’t as widely known as, say, Fortnite or Grand Theft Auto, Kingdom Hearts — about a boy fighting darkness in various Disney and Pixar worlds alongside beloved characters in a bid to save his friends — is a billion-dollar franchise that’s owned by the Mouse House and publishers Square Enix.
The franchise consists of 14 titles (including a new one coming in 2027) and has sold nearly 40 million games since launching in 2002. It also represents the kind of brand extension that fuels the Ayo Davis-led Disney Kids & Family division.
DKF programs to preschoolers 2-6 (Bluey on Disney Jr.) all the way through to kids 10-14 and their families (Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+). The intention is to get Gen Alpha — via their Disney-loving parents — into the Disney universe from a young age and have them stick with the platform until they, too, become Disney Adults.
“Kids and family is really where the relationship with Disney begins,” Debra OConnell, who was promoted to chairman of Disney Entertainment Television in March, tells me via email. “We have the opportunity to reach fans at such an early age, and when you create that emotional connection with a character or a story, it can stay with them for a lifetime. That’s incredibly powerful for Disney because those fans grow with us across different stories, franchises and experiences.”
OConnell, who effectively serves as content chief Dana Walden’s No. 2, oversees a portfolio including ABC News, Disney Kids & Family, ABC Entertainment and Hulu originals, plus Disney’s studio business at 20th Television and its animation arm. Since expanding her oversight to include Disney’s creative division, OConnell has helped DKF hit the gas with a wave of recent greenlights, including for the series Afterlife With Archie and a pilot order for a reboot of The Mickey Mouse Club as the division represents a key entry point for Disney.
In a landscape where identifying, connecting with and superserving your audience is essential, Disney has a century-old hold on the imagination of the youngest viewers — but that relationship is increasingly threatened by YouTube, social video and the huge range of content and characters kids encounter on screens of all sizes (see Disney’s deal to become the streaming home of CoComelon, which has been at Netflix since 2020 — and will still have its YouTube presence). It’s DKF’s role to keep them hooked on classic Disney IP and build new stories and franchises that resonate with kids now.
So along with OConnell, I spoke to others familiar with the division’s new mission and strategy to uncover:
- DKF’s three core demographics, the execs leading content and strategy for each — and the key projects on each slate
- Who’s creating an “edgy” new Tinker Bell
- How Davis’ unit uniquely powers Disney’s famed flywheel and how it leans on other divisions like Imagineering
- The No. 1 rule that guides reboots of classic Disney shows like The Mickey Mouse Club
- How DKF is leaning into brand and event extensions, including live events
- New ways Disney is minting and developing stars — and the talent leading its next gen
- Which top storytellers behind adult Disney fare (including top ABC and Hulu shows) are being tapped for DKF projects
- The YouTube creator now leading one of Disney’s most valuable TV-movie franchises
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