Dream Drop Distance (film)

Dream Drop Distance is a 2017 American 3D hand-drawn/computer animated fantasy film directed by Mike Gabriel and Takeshi Nozue, based on a video game of the same name and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures.

This also features Russi Taylor in her final film role as Minnie Mouse prior to her death.

Synopsis
Sora and Riku performing their Mark of Mastery exam. They visit new worlds in their sleep in order to improve their abilities as Keyblade Wielders.

Plot
More than ten years later, Yen Sid puts Sora and Riku through a Mark of Mastery exam in order for them to become full-fledged Keyblade Masters and counter the coming return of Master Xehanort. As part of this trial, the two are sent to several worlds that have been restored from the Heartless' attack following the defeat of Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, but have gone into a state of "deep sleep" that disconnects them from the other worlds. These worlds are plagued by Dream Eaters—creatures born from darkness that seek out the sleeping worlds' Keyholes. Sora and Riku's given task is to reawaken the sleeping worlds by unlocking the seven Keyholes they find there and then return to the Realm of Light, after which they will be deemed Keyblade Masters and acquire the power of waking, the ability to free hearts from sleep. The two travel through the sleeping worlds independently from each other after being separated at the beginning of the exam, and recruit benevolent "Spirit" Dream Eaters to aid them in finding the Keyholes and battling the malevolent "Nightmare" Dream Eaters that try to destroy the worlds.

Meanwhile, back in Radiant Garden, Lea awakens and realizes that he has been restored to his original form following the destruction of his Nobody, Axel. He finds that his fellow members, Dilan, Even, Aeleus, and Ienzo, have also been revived, but after searching the world, Lea fails to find any of the other revived members. Ienzo explains that when a Heartless and Nobody of a specific person are destroyed, they return to the world where they lost their heart in the first place, unless their world was destroyed and thus awaken in Traverse Town. Lea, however, remembers that Braig and Isa were in Radiant Garden with them when they became Xigbar and Saïx, and ventures out to search for them when they fail to turn up.

While overseeing the exam with Yen Sid, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy rush back to Disney Castle via the Gummi Ship and confront Maleficent and Pete in the castle library, where they are holding Minnie hostage. Maleficent tells them about her first encounter with Master Xehanort and demands access to the Data Worlds, but Mickey refuses, so Maleficent attacks, but a corridor of darkness appears and the Eternal Flames burst through, one blocking Maleficent's attack and the other distracting Pete long enough for Minnie to escape. Their leverage gone, Maleficent and Pete leave, while out of the corridor of darkness steps Lea himself, who accompanies them back to the Mysterious Tower and makes a shocking request to Yen Sid.

Back in the Sleeping Worlds, Sora and Riku cross paths with the resurrected Ansem and Xemnas, as well as a mysterious young man in a Black Coat with ties to Master Xehanort, all of whom gloat them at every chance. Eventually, once all the seven keyholes are sealed, Sora finds himself in The World That Never Was instead of the Realm of Light. He encounters Xigbar and the young man once again. Trapped in an illusion, Sora discovers that the young man is actually Master Xehanort in his youth, who was paid a visit by the disembodied Ansem via time travel. Young Xehanort thus gained the ability to travel through time and has been going to different periods of time to gather various incarnations of Xehanort. Sora desperately tries to reach the Castle, but is plagued with illusions of Naminé, Roxas, Xion, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus, leaving his heart more vulnerable.

Eventually, he encounters both Xemnas and Xigbar, who go on to explain that Young Xehanort has been gathering several different incarnations of Xehanort in order to create a new Organization XIII, the members so far being Master Xehanort, Young Xehanort, Ansem, Xemnas and Xigbar. This was the original plan for the first Organization XIII, when Master Xehanort had planned to place a fragment of his own heart inside each of the Nobodies, who were deceived into thinking they lacked hearts in order to ensure their loyalty to Xemnas, but their unforeseen independence, which was demonstrated mostly by Axel, Xion, and Roxas, made his plan impossible to realize. Refusing to become one of Master Xehanort's vessels, Sora battles Xemnas. Though he manages to win, his heart is damaged and he falls into a comatose state, where upon he is taken to the Castle by Young Xehanort. Sora thus falls into the darkness, but his broken heart is enveloped by Ventus's Keyblade Armor.

Riku eventually arrives in the Castle, where he finds Sora's comatose body floating within a force field. After fighting a mysterious enemy born from Sora's nightmare, Ansem drags Riku into darkness. He then explains that Riku had been fighting in Sora's dreams all along, acting as a Spirit Dream Eater by destroying the Nightmares within. Ansem, seeing that Riku has accepted his darkness, asks that they join forces. Riku explains that he had initially been doubtful of whether he could rightfully wield the Keyblade after seeing Xehanort lose his own upon becoming a Heartless. Remembering the conversation he had with Terra as a child that spurred his desire to see other worlds, Riku accepts that he can hold darkness in his heart and still be worthy of becoming a Keyblade Master; however, he still refuses to join forces with Ansem. After the two fight, Riku is transported out of Sora's dreams into the true Sleeping Worlds, where he continues to look for Sora.

With the help of Spirits, Riku locates Sora in the Castle throne room, where he is forced to fight Young Xehanort. Though he manages to defeat him and force him back, Master Xehanort is revived just as Mickey arrives on the scene. Master Xehanort announces his plans to create the χ-blade again, after his experiment with Ventus and Vanitas proved a failure. Master Xehanort then prepares to turn Sora into his final vessel as Xemnas and Ansem restrain Riku and Mickey. However, Lea arrives and protects Sora from Xehanort's attack. Riku, Mickey, and Lea escape from The World That Never Was with the timely aid of Donald and Goofy. The members of the Organization then fade into darkness and return to their proper places in time.

Sora's comatose body is brought back to Yen Sid's tower, where Riku enters his body with the power of waking and restores his heart by gathering its broken pieces and fighting Sora inside Ventus's Keyblade Armor, now possessed by a Nightmare. Though Riku manages to defeat Sora and free him from the armor, he stumbles into a digital representation of Destiny Islands, where he meets up with facsimiles and eventually Ansem the Wise, who explains to Riku that he has actually accessed the research data the true Ansem hid inside Sora during his slumber three year ago.

After Sora reawakens, only Riku is declared a Keyblade Master by Yen Sid. Undaunted by his failure, Sora embarks on a new journey by himself to train, after Lea shocks everybody present by summoning his Keyblade revealing that his request to Yen Sid was to become a Keyblade wielder, and he has only just mastered summoning it.

Sora later returns to Traverse Town in the Realm of Sleep, where he finds himself alone, but is immediately reunited with all of his Dream Eater Spirit friends. In the Chamber of Waking inside Castle Oblivion, Ventus, while still asleep, moves slightly and smiles.

Not long after, Yen Sid plans to gather seven Keyblade wielders to combat the new Organization and prevent Master Xehanort from bringing about another Keyblade War. To this end, Yen Sid has Riku bring Kairi to him so she can be trained to wield the Keyblade she previously inherited from Aqua.

Cast

 * Gage Knox as Sora
 * Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
 * Bill Farmer as Goofy
 * David Reale as Riku
 * Bret Iwan as Mickey Mouse
 * Corey Burton as Yen Sid
 * Benjamin Diskin as Young Xehanort
 * Dorian Harewood as Ansem and Xemnas
 * Christopher Lloyd as Master Xehanort
 * James Patrick Stuart as Xigbar
 * Susanne Blakeslee as Maleficent
 * Jim Cummings as Pete
 * Kyle McCarley as Lea
 * Jesse McCartney as Roxas
 * Russi Taylor as Queen Minnie

Development
On April 13, 2016, Disney announced that they started the animation process.

Release
Dream Drop Distance was released in theaters on August 4, 2017 in the United States in 3D, and in selected IMAX 3D theaters.

Home Media
Dream Drop Distance was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on December 12, 2017