Donkey Kong Country (TV series)

Donkey Kong Country is a French-Canadiann computer-animated television series loosely based on the Nintendo franchise Donkey Kong as portrayed in the Donkey Kong Country video game series by Nintendo and Rare. The series was co-produced by Nelvana, Medialab (Season 1) and Hong Guang Animation (Season 2), in association with WIC Entertainment, with the participation of Teletoon, and for Season 1, was produced in co-production with France 2, Canal+, in association with Valar 4.

Donkey Kong Country
Based onDonkey Kong by Nintendo
Donkey Kong Country by Rare
Developed byJacques Goldstein
Philippe Percebois
Directed byMike Fallows
Voices ofRichard Yearwood
Andrew Sabiston
Joy Tanner
Aron Tager
Ben Campbell
Adrian Truss
Louise Vallance
Donald Burda
Len Carlson
Damon D'Oliveira
Lawrence Bayne
Rick Jones
Theme music composerPure West
Opening theme"Donkey Kong Country"
Ending theme"Donkey Kong Country" (Instrumental)
ComposerPure West
Country of origin
  • Canada
  • France (season 1)
  • China (season 2)
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersDale A. Andrews
Patrick Loubert
Michael Hirsh
Clive Smith
Gérard Mital (Season 1 only)
Jacques Peyrache (Season 1 only)
ProducersMaia Tubiana (Season 1)
Stephen Hodgins (Season 1; supervising producer, Season 2)
Patricia R. Burns (Season 1; supervising producer, Season 2)
Pam Lehn (Season 2)
EditorSamuel Lajus
Running time30 minutes (per episode)
Production companiesNelvana Limited
Medialab (Season 1)
Hong Guang Animation (Season 2)
WIC Entertainment Ltd.
DistributorAlliance Communications (Canada)
Nelvana International (Internationally)
Release
Original networkTeletoon (Canada)
France 2 and Canal+ (France, Season 1)
Picture format4:3 480i SDTV
First shown inFrance
Original releaseSeptember 4, 1996 (1996-09-04) –
July 7, 2000 (2000-07-07)

The show debuted in France on September 4, 1996 on France 2, on a block titled La Planète de Donkey Kong (The Planet of Donkey Kong). The French version of the show later premiered In Canada on Télétoon on September 8, 1997, making the series one of the channel's launch programmes, while the English version debuted on it's english counterpart on October 17, 1997, also as a launch programme. In the United States, it was one of the first series to be shown on Fox Family, in which the series was broadcast in its entirety from August 15, 1998 (the same day Fox Family was launched) until 2000. It was also seen on Fox Kids from 1998-1999 for a very short time airing two episodes as specials on December 19, 1998 and aired a few more episodes during the summer of 1999 before being taken off.[1] 40 episodes were produced.[2]

In Japan, Donkey Kong Country took over the TV Tokyo 6:30 p.m. time-slot from Gokudo airing on October 1, 1999 and was later replaced with Hamtaro after ending on June 30, 2000.

Donkey Kong Country was one of the earliest television shows to be entirely animated with motion capture technology.[3] Several elements of the series, such as the Crystal Coconut, appeared in later Donkey Kong video games like Donkey Kong 64, which was released a year after the show began airing on Fox.

Plot

Donkey Kong is an ape who happens to find a magic coconut called the Crystal Coconut, which grants wishes and is capable of answering questions asked of it. Donkey Kong is the protector of the Crystal Coconut, which is housed in Cranky Kong's Cabin. King K. Rool and his minions want to steal the Crystal Coconut from Donkey Kong and company in order to rule Kongo Bongo Island, the setting of the show. Try as they may, King K. Rool and his minions never succeed in stealing the Crystal Coconut. Each episode features two songs performed by the show's characters, and the series spanned a total of 40 episodes in two seasons.

Characters

Main from the games

These characters all came from Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (mostly the former). However, some of them went through some design changes.

Kongs
  • Donkey Kong - The show's titular character, and the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island, voiced by Richard Yearwood. His catchphrase is "Banana slamma!" His singing voice was provided by Sterling Jarvis.
  • Diddy Kong - DK's sidekick and buddy, voiced by Andrew Sabiston, who had earlier voiced Yoshi in Super Mario World.
  • Cranky Kong - DK and Diddy's mentor, who often mixes potions. He is able to use the Crystal Coconut to show up as a hologram whenever he needs to alert DK. The show makes no mention of how he and DK are related or of his days in the arcade games, which he frequently mentions in the game series as a form of meta-reference. He is voiced by Aron Tager.
  • Funky Kong - The resident airport manager. He looks as he did in the first game but has tan fur instead of brown. He is voiced by Damon D'Oliveira.
  • Candy Kong - DK's girlfriend. She is much less passive than in the games, and even has a different design to match. Part of her design for the show was mixed with her old game design for Donkey Kong 64. She is voiced by Joy Tanner.
  • Dixie Kong - Diddy's girlfriend, and the only character on the show who originated in Donkey Kong Country 2. Like Candy, her design differs a bit (but not as much), and she also has been given tan fur like Funky. Ironically, while Candy is less passive than in the games, Dixie isn't quite as dynamic, as she is not given much attention. She also has a habit of losing her pets. She is voiced by Louise Vallance.

Kremlings
  • King K. Rool - The main villain of the series, always attempting to steal the Crystal Coconut and take over the island. His only noticeable changes in physical appearance is that his cape is much shorter, his tail is gone and his left eye is not bloodshot, although it does enlarge often. He is voiced by Benedict Campbell and in the pilot episode by Len Carlson, who had earlier voiced Ganon in The Legend of Zelda.
  • Krusha - K. Rool's bodyguard. Despite his size, he is very childish and enjoys watching the Sing Along with Uncle Swampy Show. He is voiced by Len Carlson.
  • Klump - K. Rool's general. He often carries out his boss's plans in true military fashion, but without success. He was voiced by Adrian Truss.
  • Kritters - K. Rool's standard foot soldiers. They look as they did in the first game but are also armed with Klap-Blasters.
  • Klaptraps - Small crocodiles who like to eat wooden surfaces in the manner of termites. They are fired out of Klap-Blasters by the Kritters and usually give comments on whatever they're eating.

Exclusives to the show

These characters appeared only in the show and have not appeared in any games to date.

  • Bluster Kong - The boss of the Bluster Barrelworks factory, where barrels are produced. He has a huge ego and constantly hits on Candy, his lone employee, unsuccessfully. His alter ego in season 2, episode 11, is named Leo Luster.[4] He is voiced by Donald Burda.
  • Kaptain Skurvy - A secondary, pirate-themed villain for the series. His design is identical that of Kannon from the second Country game, and it has even been revealed that he is Klump's long lost twin brother. He persists in chasing the Crystal Coconut, claiming it to be the birthright of one of his ancestors. He is voiced by Ron Rubin.
  • Kutlass & Green Kroc - Skurvy's minions, the former of whom shares a name with one of the enemies from the second game.
  • Polly Roger the Parrot - The pet parrot of Kaptain Skurvy, Polly Roger later works for K. Rool. He and Klump do not get along well.
  • Junior the Klaptrap - As his name suggests, he is an abnormally large Klaptrap. He is voiced by Ron Rubin.
  • Baby Kong - First appeared on the show as DK after having drunk a youth potion. Confusingly, he appeared again as a separate character from DK in Yoshi's Island DS and Mario Super Sluggers, similar to how Baby Mario showed up as a different character from Mario in his sports games.
  • Eddie the Mean Old Yeti - A white-furred yeti who lives alone in the White Mountains. He doesn't seem to like it when other characters intrude on his territory.
  • Inka Dinka Doo - The temple god from where the Crystal Coconut came. It was he who selected DK to be the future ruler. He appears as a stone column on which expressions are featured. This stone block turns around to show the expression that matches his current mood.
  • Kong Fu - A martial arts "Kung Fu Master" who is hired by K. Rool to defeat Donkey Kong in the Annual Donkey Kong Challenge. He only appears in one episode with the same name. His name was later used in the French version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the boss Karate Kong.

Voice cast

Season 1 of the French version was done in Quebec, with the exception of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong[5] and Funky Kong's voice actors who are from France. Season 2 was not given a French version until later when it got released on DVD years afterwards, which had a new voice cast and it was done in France, with DK and Funky's voice actors reprising their character roles. Hervé Grull did not return as Diddy Kong as he had long since hit puberty and was replaced by an adult woman as a result.[6]

Character Role French (Season 1) French (Season 2) English Japanese
Donkey Kong Franck Capillery Richard Yearwood
Sterling Jarvis (singing voice)		 Kōichi Yamadera
Diddy Kong Hervé Grull Lucile Boulanger Andrew Sabiston Megumi Hayashibara
Cranky Kong Yves Massicotte Yves Barsacq Aaron Tager Ryusei Nakao
Funky Kong Emmanuel Curtil Damon D'Oliveira Banana Ice
Candy Kong Camille Cyr-Desmarais Odile Schmitt Joy Tanner Mika Kanai
Dixie Kong Unknown Annie Barclay Louise Vallance Becky
Bluster Kong Daniel Lesourd Patrice Dozier Donald Burda Daiki Nakamura
King K. Rool Éric Gaudry Michel Tugot-Doris Benedict Campbell Jurota Kosugi
General Klump Jean Brousseau Jacques Bouanich Adrian Truss Keiichi Sonobe
Krusha Unknown Daniel Beretta Len Carlson Tomohisa Aso
Eddie the Mean Old Yeti Unknown Patrice Dozier Damon D'Oliveira Kenyu Horiuchi
Inka Dinka Doo Unknown Unknown Lawrence Bayne Tomohisa Aso
Kaptain Skurvy Unknown Unknown Ron Rubin Katsuhisa Hoki
Kutlass Unknown Unknown John Stocker Unknown
Green Kroc Unknown Unknown Richard Newman Unknown
Kritters Unknown Unknown Lawrence Bayne Unknown
Polly Roger Unknown Unknown Rick Jones Unknown
Junior the Giant Klaptrap Unknown Unknown Ron Rubin Unknown
Baby Kong Unknown Unknown Bryn McAuley Unknown
Kong Fu Unknown Unknown Richard Newman Unknown

Episodes
Main article: List of Donkey Kong Country episodes

Home video releases

Over thirty Donkey Kong Country DVDs have been released with only five being in English for the longest time.

For North America, four episodes of Donkey Kong Country that feature Kaptain Skurvy were edited together into a VHS cassette release titled Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut and was marketed as a feature-length anthology film. However, these episodes are not in chronological order, as a flashback shown in the third episode actually occurs in the fourth episode of the tape. It was released in Canada around 1997 with distribution handled by Seville Pictures and Nelvana themselves as the secondary distributor.[7] The United States version of the tape was distributed by Paramount Home Video and was released in the nation on November 9, 1999, marking this the only time that the U.S. had a VHS release of this series.

In Japan, the TV series was very popular and proven to be successful, since the videogames that the series is based on, was also a hit. It was also because the Japanese dubbed version of the series was produced with a very high budget thus investing to having a big-name well known voice cast. The Japanese dubbed version of the entire series has been released on home video through Rental VHS tapes in 2000. Shogakukan Video has released all the episodes of the series spreading through 13 volumes and they were sold by Nippon Columbia, a record label company. Each tape contains three episodes each and in consistent order of its Japanese broadcasting on TV Tokyo, with the exception of its series finale, Message in a Bottle Show was not included due to mostly being a clip episode. However, that episode was later introduced as part of another TV Tokyo program which is a quiz show known as Ohashi.

In the PAL regions, Donkey Kong Country Vol.1 (released in Australia) and Donkey Kong Country - Bad Hair Day (released in the United Kingdom) were released on DVD. The other two DVDs, Donkey Kong Country: Hooray for Holly Kongo Bongo and Donkey Kong Country: The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights (both released in Australia) only held one episode. After over three years of no new English DVD, I Spy With My Hairy Eye was released in the UK in 2008.

Finally in 2013, Phase 4 Films, a small Canadian low-budget film company, officially purchased the rights to license and distribute the series for a DVD release in Region 1 alongside with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and began releasing episodes starting off with the He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered DVD that was released on August 20, 2013. The Complete First Season was then released on DVD in Region 1 on May 12, 2015.[8][9]

In 2017, Pidax Film has gotten the distribution rights in Germany to release all fourteen episodes of Season 2 on DVD with English and German dubbing audio included. Germany still has yet to get a release of the first season.

The episodes of the show are all available on iTunes.

39/40 episodes are available on Retro Rerun's YouTube channel.

NameRelease DateEpisodesRegionAdditional Information
The Legend of the Crystal Coconut1997 (Canada)
November 9, 1999 (USA and Canada)		4VHSIncludes Legend of the Crystal Coconut, Bug a Boogie, Ape-Nesia, and Booty and the Beast edited together in a feature-length format.
ドンキーコング Vol. 1 (Donkey Kong Vol. 1)June 21, 20003VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 1-3 (Bad Hair Day, Ape Foo Young and Booty and the Beast).
ドンキーコング Vol. 2 (Donkey Kong Vol. 2)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 4-6 (Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel, Kong for a Day and Raiders of the Lost Banana).
ドンキーコング Vol. 3 (Donkey Kong Vol. 3)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 7-9 (From Zero to Hero, Buried Treasure and Cranky's Tickle Tonic).
ドンキーコング Vol. 4 (Donkey Kong Vol. 4)August 19, 20003VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 10-12 (Orangutango, Double Date Trouble and The Curse of Kongo Bongo).
ドンキーコング Vol.5 (Donkey Kong Vol. 5)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 13-15 (Speed, Get a Life, Don't Save One and The Big Chill Out).
ドンキーコング Vol.6 (Donkey Kong Vol. 6)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 16-18 (To the Moon Baboon, I Spy with My Hairy Eye and Klump's Lumps).
ドンキーコング Vol.7 (Donkey Kong Vol. 7)October 21, 20003VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 19-21 (Kong Fu, Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza and Legend of the Crystal Coconut).
ドンキーコング Vol.8 (Donkey Kong Vol. 8)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 22-24 (Watch the Skies, Bug a Boogie and Baby Kong Blues).
ドンキーコング Vol.9 (Donkey Kong Vol. 9)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 25-27 (Ape-Nesia, A Thin Line Between Love & Ape and The Day the Island Stood Still).
ドンキーコング Vol.10 (Donkey Kong Vol. 10)December 21, 20003VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 28-30 (Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo, The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights and Speak No Evil, Dude).
ドンキーコング Vol.11 (Donkey Kong Vol. 11)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 31-33 (Monkey Seer, Monkey Do, Four Weddings and a Coconut and Vote of Kong-Fidence).
ドンキーコング Vol.12 (Donkey Kong Vol. 12)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 34-36 (Follow That Coconut, The Big Switch-A-Roo and Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster).
ドンキーコング Vol.13 (Donkey Kong Vol. 13)3VHSIncludes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 37-39 (Best of Enemies, Just Kidding and It's a Wonderful Life).
Donkey Kong Country - Vol. 1TBA44Includes Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo, The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights, Speak No Evil, Dude and The Day the Island Stood Still.
The Kongo Bongo Festival of LightsTBA24Includes The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights and Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo.
Speak No Evil, DudeTBA24Includes Speak No Evil, Dude and The Day the Island Stood Still.
Monkey Seer, Monkey DoTBA24Includes Monkey Seer, Monkey Do and Four Weddings and a Coconut.
Bad Hair DayJune 6, 200542Includes Bad Hair Day, Ape Foo Young, Booty and the Beast and Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel.
I Spy with My Hairy EyeJune 9, 200832Includes I Spy with My Hairy Eye, Baby Kong Blues and The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights.
Raiders of the Lost BananaAugust 3, 200952Includes Raiders of the Lost Banana, Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel, Kong for a Day, From Zero to Hero and Buried Treasure.
He Came, He Saw, He Kong-queredAugust 20, 201341Includes Bad Hair Day, Ape Foo Young, Booty and the Beast and Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel.
Raiders of the Lost BananaOctober 1, 201341Includes Raiders of the Lost Banana, Kong for a Day, From Zero to Hero and Buried Treasure.
Kong FuJanuary 21, 201441Includes Kong Fu, Get a Life, Don't Save One, Cranky's Tickle Tonic and Orangutango.
The Legend of the Crystal CoconutMarch 11, 201441Includes Legend of the Crystal Coconut, Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza, Klump's Lumps and Speed.
The Complete First SeasonMay 12, 2015261Includes all 26 episodes from season 1.
The Complete Second SeasonTBA141Includes all 14 episodes from season 2.

Legacy

The show had a large line of merchandise in Japan, including a manga and collectible card game featuring drawings of characters—some of which never appeared in the series. The card game was later adapted to be based on Donkey Kong 64.

Pirate's Scorn, a song from the cartoon, was covered by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm in their Curse of the Crystal Coconut album. Additionally, the album cover contains several nods to the Donkey Kong video game franchise.[10]

References
  1. "Fox Kids Saturday Morning Lineups (1998-1999) The Kids Block Blog". wordpress.com. 2011-06-07. Retrieved 2017-01-11.
  2. Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 277–278. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. Solomon, Charles (1 June 1999). "An Emmy Awards Debate: What Makes 'Donkey Kong' Run?". Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  4. "Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster". Super Mario Wiki. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
  5. http://www.rsdoublage.com/comedien-512-Herve-Grull.html
  6. "Planète Jeunesse - Donkey Kong". planete-jeunesse.com. Retrieved 2017-01-12.
  7. "Donkey Kong Country: The Legend Of The Crystal Coconut - Your VHS Collector". vhscollector.com. Retrieved 2017-03-12.
  8. "Amazon.com Donkey Kong Country: He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered". amazon.com. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  9. "Amazon.com: Donkey Kong Country: Season 1". amazon.com. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
  10. Craddock, Ryan (June 4, 2020). "Random: Pirate Metal Band Alestorm's Latest Album Features Several Donkey Kong References". Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
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