Toy Box

Toy Box is a world in Kingdom Hearts III. It is based on the Pixar film series Toy Story.

Creation and development
The proposal folder shown to Buena Vista included plans for a world based on Toy Story in the original Kingdom Hearts.

Settings and Areas
Sora, Donald and Goofy first arrive in Andy's room from under his bed. They can go out the window and down the street to Galaxy Toys.

Galaxy Toys is a toy store which has rails leading to the different floors. Sora can access some stores through the ventilation system.

Story
Upon discovering the original world, Young Xehanort becomes intrigued at how the toys in it possessed hearts of their own. Wishing to experiment to see how real the hearts were, in order to figure out a way to fill the ranks of the Organization, he creates a copy of their world called the Toy Box and places Woody, Buzz, Hamm, Rex, the L.G.M.s, three Green Army Men and their Sarge in the duplicate world to see how they handle the strain of being apart from their friends and owner Andy. This has an odd affect on the toys, such as making Buzz's laser real. He sends the Heartless to torment them, as the toys simply decided to wait for their owner to return over taking any other action. Rex spends the time playing the video game Verum Rex, becoming a major fan of the main character Yozora; Hamm, on the other hand takes a liking to the Gigas mechs.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive in the world, being confused by they appearance as toys. Donald reminds him it is to keep the world order, prompting Goofy to point to the Heartless that appeared in Andy's bedroom. Taking them out, the trio is met by the toys, with a highly suspicious Buzz aiming his laser at them. Despite there being very little similarity, Rex mistakes Sora for Yozora. Hamm assumes that Andy's mother bought them for Andy, while Rex thinks they have come to find out what happened to everyone else. When Sora asks for any clues, Buzz reveals seeing someone in a black coat, with Sarge reporting he was last seen at Galaxy Toys. Woody is able to convince Buzz to investigate the disappearance of their friends with Sora, Donald, and Goofy's help.

The group arrive at Galaxy Toys, where Sora notices a Gigas toy and asks Woody why some toys are immobile. As Woody explains toys have yet to figure it out, Young Xehanort appears and places Heartless in the cockpit of a Gigas. Hamm, not knowing its hostile tries to see it better and is saved by Sora, Donald, and Goofy as it attacks. Young Xehanort explains his plans and leaves more possessed Gigas behind as he leaves. Donald and Goofy convince Sora to take control of Gigas to fight back on equal footing. After the fight, Buzz tries making sense of Young Xehanort's words. Sora explains that Toy Box is a fake world, and the others are in the original world; however, Buzz thinks Sora is suffering from delusions from his franchise like he first did, as well as denying the fact he's seen things only magic can do. Sarge reports that the other toys have vanished, prompting the group to search the store for them. They find Rex in action figures, where he accidentally helps defeat a Heartless-possessed monster toy; Rex is sent back to the entrance to wait for them. Sarge reports that Hamm was last seen in the girl toys section; they find a lost Army Man stuck in a toy tuba, who reports a giant hand put him in it. Seeing a doll house shake, they open it find Hamm and are attacked by a Heartless-possessed doll. After defeating it, Buzz worries that they could be possessed next, but Sora assures him that if they keep heart, they can resist. A toy UFO grabs the aliens, but its quickly taken down, thanks to Sora commandeering a Gigas.

When everyone attempts to leave, they find out, much to their annoyance, that Rex headed off to the video game section to find proof that they can trust Sora. The group enters and sees a display full of Verum Rex games and two posters next to it; Woody and Buzz see Yozora on the poster and mistake Sora for him just like Rex. Sora is confused, as his clothes in toy form nearly match Yozora's outfit; he asks Donald about the oddity, but is told the character is not him. Donald and Goofy then note that Yozora looks more like Riku, who has matching silver hair. When Buzz says its time to leave, Young Xehanort appears again, stating that his experiment isn't over. When Sora voices opposition to his plans, Young Xehanort decides to move to the final stage and has a Heartless possess Buzz to see if the bond between the toys can withstand this trial. Rex and Donald restrain Buzz as Goofy shields Woody from laser blasts. When Sora attempts to step in, Young Xehanort blasts him into the Verum Rex game, forcing Sora to beat it to get out. When he gets out, Sora learns Young Xehanort took Buzz through a dark corridor. Sarge reports a dark portal has been found in the vent in Kid Koral.

The portal leads to an area shrouded in darkness, with Buzz suspended in the air. Young Xehanort talks about how toys were given hearts in this world and how easily their bonds can be broken. However, Woody stands up to Young Xehanort, telling him that all toys are loved by their owners and the bond of friendship between all them is stronger than him. Woody uses his pull string to lasso up to Buzz and pull him free. Now free of the darkness, Buzz thanks Woody for saving him. Young Xehanort takes this in stride, happy to learn that "empty puppets" CAN be given hearts. When Sora attempts to stop him, Young Xehanort vanishes, whispering for him to find the hearts connected to his own. The darkness in the area converges into a single mass, becoming a Heartless called the King of Toys. Defeating the Heartless, everyone prepares to leave Galaxy Toys. However, Sora becomes saddened that once Toy Box vanishes, he won't be able to see his new friends again. However, both Buzz and Woody encourage Sora to not be sad and instead continue his journey "to infinity and beyond."

Sometime after Xehanort's defeat, Toy Box later merges back together with its original counterpart, unknown to the rest of the toys. Hamm plays Verum Rex, as Rex reads off how to beat the Bahamut boss. As Woody and Buzz talk, they see the door-handle in Andy's room move, meaning they've come back home. All the toys "play dead", but secretly smile to each other.

Characters

 * Characters who are mentioned but not seen include the toys' owner Andy, his younger sister Molly, their mother Mrs. Davis, and fellow toy Slinky Dog. Emperor Zurg is also alluded to, albeit not by name. A statue of Reptillus Maximus can also be seen inside Galaxy Toys.
 * In the Bugs and Beasts section, an advertisement display for Dissidia Final Fantasy NT can be found, along with scale models of Bahamut, Ifrit, and Odin. Boxes for models of Ramuh, Leviathan, and Alexander can also be found near the display.
 * After assembling all the blocks in the play room, it creates a Cactuar.
 * Yozora is featured in an advertisement for Verum Rex.

Character Design
Sora, Donald and Goofy turn into Toys when they visit the Toy Box.

Trivia

 * The world contains two visual easter eggs that are well-known for showing up in Pixar's various films and shorts:
 * A Pizza Planet truck is parked outside the Galaxy Toys entrance. Pizza Planet is a restaurant in the Toy Story universe that served as a key location in the first film. The truck has made various cameos both inside and outside the Toy Story universe since.
 * appears on the license plate of a car opposite Andy's house, and on a signpost outside the Kid Corral.
 * As in the Toy Story films, Andy's room features a Mickey Mouse clock on the wall, based on the by the.
 * Likely due to a translation error Sarge says Hamm was located in Babies and Toddlers, but the group actually ends up in the section for girl toys. He later says the window to Kid Koral is located in Babies in Toddlers.
 * After assembling the Cactuar from blocks, the iconic "Victory Fanfare" plays.