Big publishers using Kickstarter would come off as lazy, dumb, greedy and a huge slap in the face for those who actually need Kickstarter. The hate campaign that would follow such a move would be earth-shattering and glorious to watch, which is why I hope someone does it.

Bad idea. This would turn gamers the wrong way. The point of kickstarter is for small studios that don't have much cash.

wasn't Knack considered to be sort of crash spiritual successor??

I don´t think there´s much demand for crash outside the (older) web gaming community. Sure they are loud but also few.
Now should somebody make a spiritual crash successor? Yes but only if they can keep the budget really low.
Should Sony force ND to make such a game? NO! Nobody should ever force ND to do something they don´t want to! Also that´d piss off millions of fans...like me

As much as I would like to see a new Crash game, Sony and Naughty Dog have more then enough means to just make the game. They are way too big to use Kickstarter. I'm afraid Naughty Dog has other games on their hands though. Maybe Sony needs to make a new 2nd party studio to handle their classic IP's?

I like the idea. How about instead of a Kickstarter, sell T-shirts or something. Every shirt sold would explicitly be a vote "Yes" for whether they should make another Crash game. (And have a visible running tally of number of shirts sold to build hype in similar fashion.)

Doesn't kickstarter take like 5% of the total funds raised or something?

Exactly how kickstarted shouldn't be used.

It should be there only for things that would otherwise go unfunded or likely fail. Crash Bandicoot successor made by naughty dog/sony doesn't fit any criteria. They have the money and it will sell.

Neither, the premise is just in bad taste. Why do Naughty dog/sony need to measure expectations for their game, when was the last time ND produced a flop? Why do they need to generate hype considering who they are? People don't like being exploited. If sony can fund Knack, they can fund a crash successsor, kickstarted and consumers paying for its development before its even been developed should not be part of the equation.

This reflects and promotes the risk adverse (even though it'd be a certified hit) culture that has plagued the industry for the better portion of the last decade.

Something tells me you have no idea how Kickstarter works.