Timeless River

Timeless River is a world from the past in Kingdom Hearts II. Entered through a door in the Hall of the Cornerstone at Disney Castle, Timeless River is an area back in time to when the world was still monochrome and the Castle had not been built. It is largely based on the 1928 short Steamboat Willie, as well as many other classic Disney shorts.

Pete comes to the Timeless River as part of a wish to return to simpler days, which Maleficent takes advantage of and works into her plans. Heartless invade the sacred land and capture the Cornerstone of Light. This is because the Disney Castle of the future wouldn't have any way to protect itself leaving it vulnerable to the Heartless. The Heartless found in the Timeless River are surrealistic and bizarre. Many of them are toy-like. Instances include the Hot Rod, which is a cartoonish car, and the Aeroplane, which is a toy airplane.

Sora and his friends encountered the Mickey Mouse of the past several times, along with the good (but equally rude) Pete of the past. The boss of the Timeless River is the bad Pete from the future, with the Pete from the past helping Sora in the battle.

During the original visit to the Timeless River, the world's battle level is 19. Later on, the battle level becomes 34, although no new story content is added.

Although there is no specific ruler of this world, Pete seems to have the most authority.

Setting
Sora and his party enter the Timeless River on Cornerstone Hill, where they find both the Cornerstone of Light, unprotected but still safe and discover their new... er, old appearances. Signs around the area announce the impending construction of Disney Castle, and Clara Cluck, Clarabelle Cow, and Horace Horsecollar are around to chat with, as is a Moogle shop.

Heading to the right leads to the Pier, where the party meets up with young Pete for the first time and beats him into a pulp. Continuing on the other path will take the party to the Waterway, site of the battle with modern Pete for the Steamboat Willie, and the Wharf, where young Pete and Sora's group begin the final boss battle with Pete to finish Timeless River. Also of note on Cornerstone Hill are four Windows to the Past that eventually open as the story progresses; each of these leads to a new area based on a classic Disney short film. From left to right, the windows are:


 * The Building Site, a construction site with a rickety platform and based on the 1933 short Building a Building.
 * Lilliput, a tiny town with a big cannon that can be activated by jumping on it. It is from the 1934 short Gulliver Mickey.
 * The Scene of the Fire, a big building with fierce flames that was inspired by the 1930 short The Fire Fighters and the 1935 short Mickey's Fire Brigade.
 * Mickey's House, which shows the inside of Mickey's House, decorated for Christmas, a la the 1931 short Mickey's Orphans.

Kingdom Hearts II
Arriving in a spectacular fashion, Sora, Donald, and Goofy work out that they have gone back to a place in time before Disney Castle was built, where the unprotected Cornerstone sits on a quiet hill. Before they can get much farther in the world, Pete in his old form belligerently runs past them. They chase him down and accuse him of trying to do something with the Cornerstone, but after a fight, the three realize they have just beaten on the wrong Pete. They return to the Hill and spot Heartless jumping into the four windows from the past. They also find a fifth window, which shows how the present Pete's desire to return to his simpler life as a steamboat captain created a door into the past in the first place. The party then leaps into each window, fighting off the Heartless there and discovering new windows that detail Maleficent's plan to take advantage of her lackey's porthole to the past to weaken the defenses of the present Disney Castle.

Upon exiting the last window, the party is aghast to find the Cornerstone missing. They manage to catch up with it at the Pier, in the possession of present Pete, who has also taken the past Pete's beloved Steamboat Willie to transport it. Sora and his party manage to defeat Pete and retake both the Cornerstone and the steamboat. They return the Cornerstone to the hill, and then catch up with past Pete at the Wharf, where he joins the party in a battle against the present Pete to expel him from Timeless River for good. Present Pete is soundly thrashed and is sent fleeing back to Maleficent; Sora locks his door into Timeless River so he cannot return. The Cornerstone and the present Disney Castle safe at last, the three are offered a reward by past Pete: a chance to pilot his beloved steamboat. After all, that pesky cabin boy never showed up for work, anyway....

Areas

 * Cornerstone Hill
 * Waterway
 * Wharf
 * Pier
 * Building Site
 * Lilliput
 * Scene of the Fire
 * Mickey's House

Character Design
In Timeless River, Sora, Donald, and Goofy, are converted into black and white versions based on their original appearances. Sora appears in his original outfit from Kingdom Hearts, and is done in an anime-style similar to Osamu Tezuka. Donald's appearance goes back to his 1934 debut in The Wise Little Hen, and Goofy resembles his original 1932 appearance (though a lot younger here) in Mickey's Revue.

Trivia

 * On an interesting note, the audio quality in this world uses mono (single channel) sound, reminiscent of its source material.
 * Timeless River is one of the few worlds in the game to have a change of day, as in the "Scene of the fire" area, it is clearly seen to be nighttime.
 * Timeless River does not use any of the original voice actors for the various characters it contains, because they are deceased.
 * As a "world within a world", Timeless River cannot be accessed by Gummi Ship.
 * Although Donald and Goofy change into their original Disney appearances here, Pete does not, as his past self was already present.