Disney's Action Figure Face Off: inside the cancelled Smash-style fighter pitch
Background
Ken Christiansen, a former concept artist at Disney Interactive, recently spoke to Time Extension about a number of internal Disney game concepts that never reached release.
Among those was a pitched fighting game concept, commonly referred to in Christiansen's portfolio as Disney's Action Figure Face Off—a proposed Smash Bros.-style brawler built around toy-action-figure versions of Disney characters.
The concept surfaced publicly via images on Christiansen's portfolio and was covered by outlets in 2013, but the project never progressed past prototype.
Kingdom Hearts connection and internal resistance
Christiansen, who is credited as a senior artist on Kingdom Hearts alongside the late Mary Ann Ramirez (who passed away in 2017), said Kingdom Hearts played a pivotal role in loosening Disney's stance on cross-property interaction.
He explained that early resistance at Disney—particularly concerns about characters from The Lion King appearing in the same world as The Little Mermaid—made crossover concepts difficult to greenlight.
Christiansen recalled that while executives in Disney America were hesitant about characters inhabiting one another's worlds, artists and producers embraced the creative possibilities.
Pitch concept and development details
According to Christiansen, the Action Figure Face Off pitch framed Disney characters as action figures—similar in conceit to Toy Story toys—to justify cross-franchise battles.
He described the pitching process as heavily visual, relying on oversized presentation boards populated with concept art and logos to walk executives through the idea.
The project advanced to a prototype stage but was ultimately shelved as Disney elected to prioritize safer film and television tie-ins at that time.
Later developments and related projects
Christiansen noted that the mindset shifted further after Kingdom Hearts' success and, years later, with toys-to-life titles such as Disney Infinity (released in 2013 by Disney Interactive and developed by Avalanche Software), which realized cross-property interactions on a commercial scale.
Online traces of Action Figure Face Off are sparse; however, LinkedIn entries from former Activision staff—including software engineer Peter Walsh and associate producer Lara Sweeney—list the title and suggest Activision involvement.
Those profiles differ on target platforms, with some referencing PlayStation 2 and PC and others listing PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox.
Conclusion
Disney's Action Figure Face Off remains a documented but unreleased chapter in Disney Interactive's concept history.
Christiansen's firsthand recollections, corroborated by portfolio images and industry resumes, show how Kingdom Hearts influenced internal thinking about crossovers and how early experimental pitches paved the way for later commercial projects like Disney Infinity.
Background
Ken Christiansen, a former concept artist at Disney Interactive, recently spoke to Time Extension about a number of internal Disney game concepts that never reached release.
Among those was a pitched fighting game concept, commonly referred to in Christiansen's portfolio as Disney's Action Figure Face Off—a proposed Smash Bros.-style brawler built around toy-action-figure versions of Disney characters.
The concept surfaced publicly via images on Christiansen's portfolio and was covered by outlets in 2013, but the project never progressed past prototype.
Kingdom Hearts connection and internal resistance
Christiansen, who is credited as a senior artist on Kingdom Hearts alongside the late Mary Ann Ramirez (who passed away in 2017), said Kingdom Hearts played a pivotal role in loosening Disney's stance on cross-property interaction.
He explained that early resistance at Disney—particularly concerns about characters from The Lion King appearing in the same world as The Little Mermaid—made crossover concepts difficult to greenlight.
Christiansen recalled that while executives in Disney America were hesitant about characters inhabiting one another's worlds, artists and producers embraced the creative possibilities.
Pitch concept and development details
According to Christiansen, the Action Figure Face Off pitch framed Disney characters as action figures—similar in conceit to Toy Story toys—to justify cross-franchise battles.
He described the pitching process as heavily visual, relying on oversized presentation boards populated with concept art and logos to walk executives through the idea.
The project advanced to a prototype stage but was ultimately shelved as Disney elected to prioritize safer film and television tie-ins at that time.
Later developments and related projects
Christiansen noted that the mindset shifted further after Kingdom Hearts' success and, years later, with toys-to-life titles such as Disney Infinity (released in 2013 by Disney Interactive and developed by Avalanche Software), which realized cross-property interactions on a commercial scale.
Online traces of Action Figure Face Off are sparse; however, LinkedIn entries from former Activision staff—including software engineer Peter Walsh and associate producer Lara Sweeney—list the title and suggest Activision involvement.
Those profiles differ on target platforms, with some referencing PlayStation 2 and PC and others listing PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, and Xbox.
Conclusion
Disney's Action Figure Face Off remains a documented but unreleased chapter in Disney Interactive's concept history.
Christiansen's firsthand recollections, corroborated by portfolio images and industry resumes, show how Kingdom Hearts influenced internal thinking about crossovers and how early experimental pitches paved the way for later commercial projects like Disney Infinity.
