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Two years ago, Kevin Smith teased a mystery writing gig that would be the most “massive IP” the Clerks director had “ever been allowed to play with.” When Netflix announced that Smith was developing a Masters of the Universe animated series earlier this year, we all assumed that was the “massive” mystery gig that the writer-director was speaking of. But Smith recently revealed that two years ago, he had also been developing a Kingdom Keepers series for Disney+ that was ultimately scrapped.
Kingdom Keepers was a series of children’s novels written by Ridley Pearson which followed a group of teens who work as Disney theme park guides by day, and battle Disney villains who come to life in the parks by night. Published between 2005 and 2013, the popular New York Times best-selling series made a brief return in 2015 and is set to make another comeback in 2020. It would have been perfect timing for a Disney+ series adapting Pearson’s novels to make its debut, but alas, that was not meant to be. Smith revealed that this almost was the case, however.
After hinting of his involvement in a Kingdom Keepers series on his Fatman Beyond podcast, Smith revealed that he had been working on a Kingdom Keepers project for Disney+, which was planned to be one of the first shows launched on the streaming platform. However, “a new exec” brought on to oversee Disney+ scrapped the series.
“That was a blast to write 2 years ago,” Smith said in a tweet. “It was planned as one of the first shows to launch on what would become [Disney+]. Then a new exec was put in charge of the app and he killed KK. Said we used too much Disney IP in one project (every character in the park comes to life).”
Smith added that the Kingdom Keepers project was a passion project for him, as a “kid who grew up watching ‘The Wonderful World of Disney’ with his family every Sunday night.” “Felt like they overpaid me to write Disney fan fiction!” he said.
But Smith was still gracious about the experience, concluding that the unnamed executive who scrapped Kingdom Keepers was still the “guy who said ‘Let’s do Star Wars & Marvel Studios shows!’” Smith concluded that “as much as I would’ve liked to make my show, I’m much happier watching The Mandalorian and WandaVision.”
That was a blast to write 2 years ago. It was planned as one of the first shows to launch on what would become @disneyplus. Then a new exec was put in charge of the app and he killed KK. Said we used too much @Disney IP in one project (every character in the park comes to life). https://t.co/8izGTsg10H
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 5, 2020
Thanks, man! It was written with love by a kid who grew up watching “The Wonderful World of Disney” with his family every Sunday night. I renamed the main characters after the original team of Imagineers who worked w/ Walt. Felt like they overpaid me to write @Disney fan fiction! https://t.co/GpZypWuWYK
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 5, 2020
The @disneyplus exec may have scrapped Kingdom Keepers, but he’s also the guy who said “Let’s do @starwars & @MarvelStudios shows!” So as much as I would’ve liked to make my show, I’m much happier watching #TheMandolorian and can’t wait for #WandaVision. #FanFirstFilmmakerSecond https://t.co/XPYoG5iTAy
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) April 5, 2020
It’s unclear which executive Smith is talking about — longtime Disney studio marketing chief Ricky Strauss currently acts as president of Disney+, however he reports to chairman of Disney Direct-to-Consumer and International Kevin Mayer. But regardless, it seems unlikely we’ll get a Kingdom Keepers series. And it remains a mystery whether this is the “massive IP” that Smith was talking about two years ago — despite being a franchise that only major Disney theme park fans know about (I’m sorry to say I’ve never heard of Kingdom Keepers before) — or whether it was Netflix’s Masters of the Universe.
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