Animal crate
An animal crate containingRattly the Rattlesnake
First appearance	Donkey Kong Country (1994)
Latest appearance	Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (2025)

Ananimal crate,^[1][2] also called agoodie crate,^[3] is a crate that contains anAnimal Friend. Animal crates first appear inDonkey Kong Country and have since recurred throughout theDonkey Kong franchise. The contained Animal Friend is identifiable from its depicted silhouette on the animal crate. TheKongs can usually break one open byjumping on it, therefore freeing the Animal Friend, and ride on it until the end of alevel.

Animal crates have a similar counterpart, theAnimal Barrel. Instead of freeing an Animal Friend, these barrels transform the Kongs into the one depicted on it. Animal crates are usually placed in areas where an Animal Friend comes in useful. For example, freeing Enguarde from his crate makes underwater levels easier for the Kongs because Enguarde can defeat most underwater enemies. Similarly, Animal Barrels are usually placed where the Kongs are required to use their pictured Animal Friend, for instanceRattly inRattle Battle, because of his high jumping ability.

History[edit]

Donkey Kong Country series[edit]

InDonkey Kong Country, all five Animal Friends had their own animal crate, includingSquawks. Animal crates made a second appearance inDonkey Kong Land, where they retained their functionality. The game only has two Animal Friends, both of whom have their own crate:Rambi andExpresso. In the originalDonkey Kong Country, after the Kongs open an animal crate, it lies on the ground unfolded. It disappears after they move a distance away with the Animal Friend and return. In the sequels, the crate immediately vanishes after the Animal Friend is freed. Another difference is that a short jingle plays when the animal crate opens instead of a realistic sound effect like in the first title. TheGame Boy Advance remakes of all three games reused the crate-opening sound effect from the originalDonkey Kong Country.

InDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest andDonkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, crates were changed slightly. Their sprites were aligned slightly differently. The Animal Friends' icons from the firstDonkey Kong Country were also redesigned on the crates. Animal Barrels also appeared in the sequels, meaning that a level may either have the Kongs ride an Animal Friend or transform into one.

Animal crates function like Animal Barrels in theGame Boy Color remake ofDonkey Kong Country, except the Squawks Crate, which is the only animal crate to function identically as in the original version, since the Kongs cannot rideSquawks.

Rambi Crates are the only variant inDonkey Kong Country Returns and itsNintendo 3DS andNintendo Switch ports, because he is the only mountable Animal Friend of the game. Donkey Kong can open these crates either byGround Pounding from atop or by rolling into it. InDonkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze,Rambi the Rhinoceros Boxes,^[4] as they are called, appear smaller than inDonkey Kong Country Returns, and cannot be opened by rolling into them.

Donkey Kong 64[edit]

Two animal crate variants appear inDonkey Kong 64: the Rambi Crate (also calledRambi Transformation Box^[5]) and theEnguarde Box (also calledEnguarde Transformation Box^[5]), which are usable by onlyDonkey Kong andLanky Kong respectively. These crates function similarly to Animal Barrels, since when DK and Lanky hop into their crate, they transform into their respective Animal Friend temporarily.

Types[edit]

Name	Animal Friend	Games
Ellie Crate	Ellie	Donkey Kong Country 3
Enguarde Box[6]	Enguarde	Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Country 2 Donkey Kong Country 3 Donkey Kong 64 Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Expresso Crate	Expresso	Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Land
Parry Crate	Parry	Donkey Kong Country 3
Rambi Crate[7][8]	Rambi	Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Land Donkey Kong Country 2 Donkey Kong 64 Donkey Kong Barrel Blast Donkey Kong Country Returns Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Rattly Crate	Rattly	Donkey Kong Country 2
Squawks Crate	Squawks	Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Country 2 Donkey Kong Country 3
Squitter Crate[9]	Squitter	Donkey Kong Country 2 Donkey Kong Country 3
Winky Crate	Winky	Donkey Kong Country

Profiles[edit]

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest[edit]

• Wii U Virtual Console manual description:
  • English:
    If you jump on it, the animal friend shown on the crate will be released.^{[page number needed]}

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Animal crate.

Names in other languages[edit]

References[edit]

• Blocks
• Donkey Kong 64 objects
• Donkey Kong Country objects
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest objects
• Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! objects
• Donkey Kong Country Returns objects
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze objects
• Donkey Kong Land objects

• Articles with sources lacking page numbers