Donkey Kong Country
General information
Format	Children's television series
Developers	Jacques Goldstein Philippe Percebois
Director	Mike Fallows
Theme composer	Pure West
Opening theme	"Donkey Kong Country Theme" "Ashita ni Nattara..." (Japanese)
Closing theme	"Donkey Kong Country Theme" (instrumental) "Banana Tengoku" (Japanese)
Composers	Timothy Foy Paul Koffman
Countries of origin	Canada France (seasons 1–2) China (season 3)
Original language	English
Translations	Basque[1] Danish[2] Dutch[3] Filipino[4] Finnish[5] French German Greek[6] Icelandic[7] Indonesian[8] Italian[9] Japanese Korean[10] Mandarin (Taiwan)[11] Norwegian[12] Polish[13] Portuguese (Brazil)[14] Portuguese (Portugal)[15] Sinhala[16] Slovak[17] Spanish (Latin America) Spanish (Spain)[18] Swedish[19] Thai[20] Valencian[21]
Ratings	TVPG: - Youth seven years and older[22] CHVRS: - Guidance[23] MCC: - General[24] Eirin: - Guidance[?] BBFC: - Parental guidance[25] IFCO: - Guidance[26] FSK: - All ages[27] Kijkwijzer: - All ages[28] ACB: - General[29]
Number of seasons	3
Number of episodes	40
Production
Production companies	Nelvana Medialab (seasons 1–2) Hong Guang Animation (Su Zhou) (season 3) WIC Entertainment SMDE (Japanese) TV Tokyo (Japanese)
Runtime	30 minutes
Broadcast
First aired	September 4, 1996[?] August 15, 1997[30] 1997[2] 1997[31] April 5, 1998[8] August 15, 1998[32] September 13, 1999[33] October 1, 1999[34] 1999[35] 2000[15] 2001[36] 2001[6] 2010s[37] October 8, 2024[9][38]
Last aired	1999[35] June 30, 2000[?] July 7, 2000[32] July 7, 2000[30] 2000[31] 2001[36]
Status	Ended
Chronology
Related programs	DKTV

“It's the wildest, hairiest, most fur-ocious adventure yet, as the popularNintendocharacter swings into his own 3-D animated full-length feature!”

—The first few lines of the description of the VHSThe Legend of the Crystal Coconut

Donkey Kong Country (also known as theDonkey Kong Country Animated Series)^[39] is a computer-animated musical television series based on thevideo game series of the same name. The program first debuted in France on September 4, 1996, onFrance 2, and then premiered in Canada onTélétoon on September 8, 1997, as a launch program. The English version made its worldwide debut in Canada on Télétoon's English counterpartTeletoon on October 17, 1997, once again as a launch program. The show then began airing in the United States on theFox Family Channel on August 15, 1998^[32] (occasionally airing onFox Kids), and the original run finished on July 7, 2000.^[32] In Japan, the series began airing with a Japanese dub onTV Tokyo on October 1, 1999, and finished its run on June 30, 2000.^{[citation needed]}

Donkey Kong Country ran for three seasons with 40 episodes in total. Like the television series based on theSuper Mario franchise before it, the show generally followed an episodic format. During the run, however, some episodes were aired out of order from the original airing, such as "Bad Hair Day" being aired as the third episode in its run in the United States despite airing first in France. While the first two seasons were produced byMedialab, the third season was instead produced by Chinese companyHong Guang Animation (Su Zhou) and switched to a newer and sleeker style of computer animation, as well as dropping the use of title cards to introduce each episode. Also similar to the earlierSuper Mario cartoons, each episode (excluding "Message in a Bottle Show") features one or twooriginal songs based on events in the episode, performed by the cast.

Donkey Kong Country was one of the earliest television series to be entirely computer-animated, similar to the artistic style of the video games. The computer animation style of the series was met with critical acclaim in France and Japan but with mixed reception elsewhere.^{[citation needed]} Despite this, the series has managed to gain a cult following.

Some elements of the series would go on to appear in later video games of theDonkey Kong franchise such asDonkey Kong 64, which was released a year after the show had started airing on ABC Family (Fox Family). There was alsoa commercial for theGame Boy Color gameDonkey Kong Country featuringDonkey Kong,Diddy Kong, andRambi fightingGeneral Klump andKrusha over a giant Game Boy Color, in which all of the characters are depicted with retooled versions of their designs from the series' third season (besides Rambi, who does not appear in the series).

Synopsis[edit]

The show starsDonkey Kong, a gorilla-likeKong living in the jungle who happens to stumble upon a magic orb called theCrystal Coconut in the temple ofInka Dinka Doo. After finding the artifact, Donkey Kong is named the future ruler ofKongo Bongo Island. As he and his friends wait for the day when the Crystal Coconut will proclaim him the ruler of the island, they strive to keep it safe from the clutches of the villainousKing K. Rool and his minions, who desire the coconut so that K. Rool may conquer the island using its power.

Broadcast history[edit]

United States

• Fox Family
• Fox Kids
• Disney Channel^[40]

Canada

• Teletoon

United Kingdom

• Samsung TV Plus (2024–present)^[38]

Basque Country

• ETB 1^[1]
• ETB 3^[41]

Belgium

• RTL Club^[42]

France

• France 2 (1996)
• Canal+ (1998)^[43]
• Gulli (2005)^[43]
• Game One (2010)^[43]
• ADN (2021)^[43]

Italy

• Italia 1 (canceled)^[30]
• Samsung TV Plus (2024–present)^[38]

Greece

• Alter Channel^[44]

Japan

• TV Tokyo (1999)^[34]

Malaysia

• TV2^[45]

Philippines

• Studio 23^[4]

Poland

• Canal+^[46]

Spain

• Club Super 3^[47]
• Fox Kids^[48]
• Samsung TV Plus (2024–present)^[38]

Slovakia

• RiK^[17]
• Lepṣ̌í.TV^[49]
• SledovaniTV^[50]

Sri Lanka

• TV Derana^[16]

Taiwan

• KidsCo^[11]

Cast[edit]

Main article:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) voice actors

• Richard Yearwood –Donkey Kong
  • Sterling Jarvis –Donkey Kong (singing voice)
• Andrew Sabiston –Diddy Kong
• Joy Tanner –Candy Kong,Candy Clone
• Aron Tager –Cranky Kong
• Louise Vallance –Dixie Kong
• Damon D'Oliveira –Funky Kong
• Donald Burda –Bluster Kong
• Ben Campbell —King K. Rool
• Adrian Truss —General Klump
• Len Carlson —Krusha

Characters[edit]

The cast of the main Kongs. Clockwise from the top left:Funky Kong,Donkey Kong,Bluster Kong,Candy Kong,Cranky Kong,Diddy Kong, andDixie Kong.

Kaptain Skurvy (center), one of the main antagonists of the show, with his crew matesGreen Kroc (left) andKutlass (right)

The series features all of theKongs fromDonkey Kong Country, as well asDixie Kong fromDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. However, the show also features several original characters that do not appear in the games, such asBluster Kong,Eddie the Mean Old Yeti, andKaptain Skurvy and hiscrew. Many of the show's main characters are part of a group named theDonkey Kong Team.^[51]

Main protagonists[edit]

Name	Description
Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong is the main protagonist of this show and the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island. In this show, he is depicted as somewhat of a dim-witted slacker who loves bananas above all else, much like his portrayal in later games in the franchise. Most episodes of the show consist of Donkey Kong and his best friend Diddy Kong protecting the Crystal Coconut from King K. Rool and the lizards.
Diddy Kong	Diddy Kong is Donkey Kong's best friend and sidekick. Despite being a lot smaller and less capable of fighting when compared to Donkey Kong, Diddy is a much smarter character, having much more common sense.
Candy Kong	Candy Kong is the girlfriend of Donkey Kong and the sole employee of Bluster Barrelworks, where she appears to be the quality inspector. She is shown to be a very short-tempered character, often blaming matters on her boyfriend, even when it is not his fault. Candy's boss, Bluster Kong, is shown to be romantically interested in her, but Candy does not feel the same way back to him.
Cranky Kong	Cranky Kong is Donkey Kong's old, grouchy, and bitter mentor. Unlike the games, there is nofamily relation between the two. Unlike the games before this show's release, Cranky is shown to be a genius, showing an interest in both chemistry and machinery, making various items and objects in those subjects. Despite Cranky being shown to be very bitter, he does generally care for most of the apes, even considering Donkey Kong to be like a son to him.
Dixie Kong	Dixie Kong makes sporadic appearances throughout the show, appearing much differently to how she does in the games. She is shown to a very innocent and friendly ape, even befriending Klump, King K. Rool's general, on one occasion. Dixie's clothing is also different, consisting of a teal singlet with a flower on it, somewhat resembling what her sister Tiny Kong would later wear. Her ponytail is also smaller than it is in the games.
Funky Kong	Funky Kong is the adventure-loving owner of Funky's Flights and one of Donkey Kong's best friends. A running gag throughout the show involves him being incompetent at maneuvering his plane. In addition to enjoying surfing and dancing, Funky is portrayed as exceptionally spiritual in the show, known to talk about subjects such as karma quite often.

Main antagonists[edit]

Name	Description
King K. Rool	K. Rool is the king of the lizards and the main antagonist of the series. K. Rool is bossy, loud, megalomaniacal, flamboyant, dramatic, and slightly clumsy; despite this, however, he is not without a soft side, as seen in episodes such as "Baby Kong Blues" and "Four Weddings and a Coconut." K. Rool often disrespects his minions, insulting and showing a lack of care towards them.
General Klump	Klump is King K. Rool's second-in-command and general. While he is often constantly berated and disrespected by his king, he still remains faithful to K. Rool. Despite his tough military man-like exterior, Klump has a kind personality in reality; he even befriended some apes in certain episodes, like Dixie and Funky.
Krusha	Krusha is a minion of King K. Rool. He is the strongest of the group, but Krusha is shown to be very dim-witted and childish. Krusha is shown to not be able to do simple tasks such as swimming and telling the time, and Krusha even watches a television series meant for young children, titled the "Sing Along With Uncle Swampy Show."

Other characters[edit]

Name	Description
Bluster Kong	Bluster Kong runs Bluster Barrelworks, Kongo Bongo Island's resident barrel factory, although the factory is actually owned by hismother. He is constantly flirting with Candy Kong, his lone employee, despite the fact that she is dating Donkey Kong. Bluster is depicted as a stereotypical rich, spoiled coward. He is the antagonist of several episodes, though he is more of a nuisance than a genuine threat such as King K. Rool.
Eddie the Mean Old Yeti	Eddie the Mean Old Yeti is the sole resident of the White Mountains, an area consisting of nothing but snowy mountains. Due to how distant he is from the rest of the island, Eddie does not understand many simple concepts. Earlier episodes portray Eddie as a threat, while later episodes portray Eddie to be less harmful.
Inka Dinka Doo	Inka Dinka Doo is a living stone temple that resides in his temple on Kongo Bongo Island. Long ago, Kaptain Skurvy'sgreat-great-great-grandfather hid the Crystal Coconut in Inka Dinka Doo's eye. Years later, however, it fell out and Donkey Kong came and picked it up, thus making him the future ruler of the island. Donkey often visits Inka Dinka Doo's to ask him for advice on his current situation or help him solve a dilemma.
Kaptain Skurvy	Kaptain Skurvy is the captain of the pirates and a relatively major antagonist of the show. In a few episodes of the show, Skurvy and the pirates arrive to Kongo Bongo Island by their ship in search of the Crystal Coconut, Skurvy's birthright. One episode revealed that Skurvy is the older brother of Klump.
Kutlass	Kutlass is a member of the pirates, and Skurvy's first mate. He is shown to be a much more knowledgeable pirate than Green Kroc, as he is shown to know more about thePirate Handbook than him.
Green Kroc	Green Kroc is a member of the pirates and one of Skurvy's shipmates. Due to his lack of knowledge about being a pirate, he sometimes questions the purpose of pirate rules, and he does not understand burying stolen treasure if they are going to dig it back up again.
Polly Roger	Polly Roger is a villainous talking parrot who makes a few appearances in the series. While originally being a member of the pirates, later episodes see Polly working for King K. Rool and the lizards instead.
Jr. Klap Trap	Jr. Klap Trap is a Klap Trap character who is much larger than the rest of his species, being around the size of Diddy Kong. Jr. also has dentures, and they are usually removed by whomever he works for whenever he annoys them. After this, he complains about his hunger, though the words come out slightly slurred.
Candy Clone	Candy Clone is a villainous robotic double of Candy Kong that works for King K. Rool. Despite her robotic voice, her appearance is identical to Candy Kong, so much so that the apes cannot tell her apart from the real Candy Kong.
Kong Fu	Kong Fu was a mercenary hired by King K. Rool and was set to challenge Donkey Kong in theAnnual Donkey Kong Challenge. However, during the challenge, after his fear of the dark got mocked by King K. Rool and the lizards during the solar eclipse, he forfeited the challenge, making Donkey Kong the victor.
Baby Kong	While originally appearing as the baby form of Donkey Kong in "Ape Foo Young," Baby Kong later appears in "Baby Kong Blues" as a separate character. During the latter episode, Baby Kong is lost while being babysat by DK and Diddy. King K. Rool later finds Baby Kong, and he attempts to raise him for an heir (renaming him Prince Junior Croc), but Donkey Kong eventually manages to convince him otherwise.
Robot	A robot created by Cranky for Bluster's barrel factory that does whatever it is told to do, though it proves to be literal-minded. Donkey Kong accidentally switches bodies with the Robot with a brain transfer helmet that was also created by Cranky.

Species[edit]

Name	Description
Kritters	Kritters are armed soldiers of King K. Rool, often being equipped with Klap-Blaster weapons.
Klap Traps	Klap Traps are ammunition for the Klap-Blaster weapon in the series, and they are bipedal and capable of speech, unlike their counterparts in the games. Klap Traps often make sarcastic comments about their job or what they had just eaten.

Episodes[edit]

Two conflicting season numbering schemes exist for the show.Nelvana considers the show to have three "cycles" (13x13x14),^[52] and this is the numbering used for the show's release on services such asPluto TV andTubi. The show's official DVDs and release onApple TV,^[53] however, identify two seasons, the first being made up of the 26Medialab-produced episodes and the second being made up of the 14 Hong Guang-produced episodes. The list below follows the former scheme.

The episodes are listed in production order,^[54] which differs from the order of the original North American air dates.^[32]

Season 1

1. "Bad Hair Day"
2. "Ape Foo Young"
3. "Booty and the Beast"
4. "Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel"
5. "Kong for a Day"
6. "Raiders of the Lost Banana"
7. "From Zero to Hero"
8. "Buried Treasure"
9. "Cranky's Tickle Tonic"
10. "Get a Life, Don't Save One"
11. "Orangutango"
12. "Double Date Trouble"
13. "The Curse of Kongo Bongo"

Season 2

1. "Speed"
2. "Klump's Lumps"
3. "Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza"
4. "Legend of the Crystal Coconut"
5. "Kong Fu"
6. "I Spy With My Hairy Eye"
7. "Bug a Boogie"
8. "Watch the Skies"
9. "Baby Kong Blues"
10. "Ape-Nesia"
11. "The Big Chill Out"
12. "To the Moon Baboon"
13. "A Thin Line Between Love & Ape"

Season 3

1. "Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo"
2. "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights"
3. "Speak No Evil, Dude"
4. "The Day the Island Stood Still"
5. "Monkey Seer, Monkey Do"
6. "Four Weddings and a Coconut"
7. "Follow That Coconut"
8. "Vote of Kong-Fidence"
9. "The Big Switch-a-Roo"
10. "Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster"
11. "Best of Enemies"
12. "It's a Wonderful Life"
13. "Just Kidding"
14. "Message in a Bottle Show"

Differences from theDonkey Kong Country games[edit]

TheDonkey Kong Country television series is different in comparison to its respective video game series. The series uses elements from the firstDonkey Kong Country game andDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, though the show differs heavily from the source material. It also introduces elements that were not seen in previous games such as the inclusion of Bluster Kong and Eddie the Mean Old Yeti.

• None of the musical themes from the games appear; the soundtrack either consists of original music or public domain tracks.
• Donkey Kong is depicted as bipedal rather than walking on fours, though later games likeDonkey Kong 64 would depict Donkey Kong moving on two feet more often.
• Thebanana hoard never appears in the series. TheCrystal Coconut serves a similarMacGuffin as K. Rool and his minions attempt to steal it in a similar way.
• Cranky is never stated to be DK'sgrandfather, with the latter referring to Cranky by his name, rather than a family title. Likewise, the series never states him to be theoriginal Donkey Kong. "Ape Foo Young" depicts ayounger Cranky, not resembling any previous youthful appearance of him.
• Cranky does not have any hair on his head and instead, has white eyebrows.
• Candy Kong looks different from her appearance in thefirst game, not wearing a pink bikini, but instead a tank-top with shorts, sandals (rather than being barefoot), and having a different hairstyle that is shorter with a headband and orange hair, rather than being blonde and having a bow.
• Funky Kong has blonde fur rather than brown, wears black goggles instead of sunglasses. He has no necklace.
• Dixie Kong has a different design than she does in herfirst appearance. Her fur is brighter to a yellow-like color rather than brown and wears a green blouse with a daisy on it. She also lacks eyelashes and her face shape appears is closer in design to Diddy's; Dixie's face in the games has a different shape from Diddy's. Her beret lacks theRare logo.
• Swanky Kong andWrinkly Kong do not appear.
• Kremlings are never referred to by name, being generically referred to as "lizards", "gators", and similar terms.Kritters andKlap Traps are properly referred by their names, however.
• Klap Traps are depicted as bipedal, rather than on fours like an actual crocodilian. They are also depicted as ammo, being shot fromguns; Klaptraps andsimilarentities walk on the ground and are not shot. They also have a habit of eating, which aside from their biting attacks, is a trait that did not happen in prior games.
• Not all Kremlings are part of K. Rool'sgroup, withKaptain Skurvy and histwominions being separate from the group and being occasional enemies of K. Rool, rather than allies.
• No other enemies appear such asGnawties orNeckies.
• TheAnimal Friends are absent.
• Donkey Kong Island is named Kongo Bongo Island or simply, Kongo Bongo.
• The series has various locations that are vaguely inspired by the ones in the first game.
  • Monkey Mines andKremkroc Industries, Inc. appear to serve as inspiration for K. Rool's base.
  • The White Mountains appears to be inspired byGorilla Glacier.
• TheGangplank Galleon never appears in the series, with K. Rool lacking a pirate motif.Kaptain Skurvy's ship appears to take inspiration from said ship.
• Cranky's Cabin takes place in a forest and does not resemble the cabin that appears in any previous game.
• King K. Rool does not wear a gold chestplate and has a regular chest, similar to his later appearances. Neither one of his eyes are bloodshot by default, although they do enlarge depending on his emotions and become bloodshot in "Ape Foo Young". He also has no tail.

DKTV[edit]

Main article:DKTV

The logo ofDKTV

In addition to the animated series, Donkey Kong hosted onFrance 2DKTV, which was a mix of children's programming and original content featuring part of the cast of theDonkey Kong Country series. The original segments featured Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Funky Kong, and Candy Kong performing musical numbers, parodies of contemporary movies and television shows, and comedic sketches. It debuted on September 4, 1996, the same day theDonkey Kong Country television series premiered, and the block continued its run on the channel until September 1, 2001.

Production[edit]

See also:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) pre-release and unused content

“What could be more hip than turning the most popular 3-D game into a computer-animated series? Not only did "Donkey Kong" have a ready-made audience, but the lovable chimp lived in a cool place we'd all like to escape to- the jungle.”

—Computer Animation: A Whole New World

Donkey Kong Country was the first full-length television series to be primarily animated using motion capture,^[55] usingMedialab's proprietary technology which allowed the animators to see the performance play out in real time.^[56] Due to this attribute, the company prefered to use the term "Performance Animation" to refer to the animation style of the show.^[57] This caused controversy when the show was rejected for anEmmy Award nomination, the reasoning being that the TV academy did not consider the then-new motion capture technique to be a form of animation.^[58]

After writers finalized the characters' roles and personalities, artist Phil Mendez worked on the concept sketches, taking care to keep the characters' appearance simple and geometric to make them easy to convert into three-dimensional models.^[59] The 3D modellers grouped characters with similar bodies into "families" and used the Alias/Wavefront modeling software to build the digital skeletons, using the "families" as a base to create the individual model.^[60] Characters' heads were modeled in clay and then digitized.^[61]

Though groundbreaking, the use of motion capture came with many challenges. As the models had to work for both live motion capture and traditional keyframe-based animation, Medialab had to optimize the models to keep the polygon count low.^[62] Writer Simon Racioppa explained that due to the format's limitation, the series bible heavily discouraged new locations and characters, and characters could not be animated picking up objects (although them holding objects was possible). Animating water was also considered "next to impossible".^[63] Speaking of the differences betweenDonkey Kong Country andReBoot, a 3D animated series that did not employ motion capture, producer Maia Tubiana explained that making the models required "experimentation, discipline, and the ability to live with a few compromises", an example being having to shorten King K. Rool's cape to not interfere with the animation.^[64]

According to a post on a fan page byNelvana writerErika Strobel, Medialab had originally obtained the rights to create an animated series fromNintendo. After thirteen episodes were written, Medialab asked Nelvana for assistance after firing the original writers (who, according to Strobel, had produced scripts "with racist/sexist jokes and just sooo bad for a kiddie show").^[65] As storyboards had already been produced for ten of the original scripts, Nelvana decided to write new stories around these storyboards to save money.^[65] The songs, however, were included at the request of Medialab; all of the show's songs, as well as the title theme, were written byPure West Music.^[65][66] Nelvana purchased the rights to the show after Medialab's license lapsed.^[65]

In a YouTube short by video game channel Nintendo Life, formerRare developerSteve Mayles claimed that the development team forDonkey Kong Country games was not involved in the show's production.^[67]

Songs[edit]

Main article:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) songs

In addition to theopening theme song, most episodes in the series feature two unique songs each, performed by one or more characters to illustrate certain points in the story. The Japanese version has two unique theme songs: "Ashita ni Nattara..." as the opening theme and "Banana Tengoku" as the ending theme.

Background music[edit]

The background music for the show was created byPure West (Paul Koffman and Timothy Foy). The following songs appeared on albums released by Nelvana.

Staff[edit]

Main article:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) staff

Donkey Kong Country was produced by Nelvana. It was co-produced withMedialab for the first two seasons and with Hong Guang Animation (Su Zhou) for the third season. The first two seasons were animated by Medialab and the third by an uncredited CGCG Inc.^[69] The soundtrack of the series was composed by the music production company Pure West.

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, seeGallery:Donkey Kong Country (television series).

• 

  The title screen.

• 

  Title card of "Bad Hair Day."

• 

  The main characters of the series.

Quotes[edit]

Main article:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) quotes

Releases and other merchandise[edit]

Main article:List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) home media releases

Four episodes were released together in North America on a VHS cassette titledDonkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut. Said episodes were edited together to make them seem like one continuous storyline. However, these episodes were not put together in the proper order; for example, a flashback shown in the third episode actually happened in the fourth episode of the tape. It was released in Canada by Seville Pictures and Nelvana themselves, while in the United States, it was released by Paramount Home Entertainment. Advertisements and the videotape's packaging neglected to mention the program the episodes originated from, with it instead marketed as a standalone film (leading to some confusion among newer viewers of certain content, such asEddie the Mean Old Yeti's brief appearance in "Ape-Nesia").

The DVDsDonkey Kong Country: Vol 1 (released in Australia) andDonkey Kong Country - Bad Hair Day (released in the United Kingdom) feature several episodes of the series. Three other Australian DVDs,Donkey Kong Country: The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights,Donkey Kong Country: Speak No Evil, Dude, andDonkey Kong Country: Monkey Seer, Monkey Do each only feature two episodes. Three years after the release of the previous DVDs, an additional DVD titledDonkey Kong Country: I Spy With My Hairy Eye was released in England. There have been over 30Donkey Kong Country DVD releases. Starting in 2013,Phase 4 Films, under its Kaboom! Entertainment label, began releasing the series on DVD in North America. On May 12, 2015, the company released the first season of 26 episodes in a 3-disc set. Nelvana once had the entire series available for free streaming on its official YouTube channel until it was turned into the officialWayside channel. Additionally, theDonkey Kong Country show is available on Apple TV.

The series had a large line of merchandise in Japan, including playsets, aboard game, and acollectible card game byNintendo andAhomaro Games. A subsequent release of the card game featured characters and gimmicks based onDonkey Kong 64. The television series took over the TV Tokyo Friday 6:30 PM timeslot fromGokudo, and was later replaced byHamtaro. As with most programs in Japan, the series has received home releases through rental tapes.

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 2

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 5

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 6

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 7

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 8

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 9

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 10

• 

  Japanese Rental Volume 13

DVDs and one VHS were also released:

The television series also received a dedicated two volume manga,Uho'uho Daishizen Gag: Donkey Kong. It was serialized in theShogakukan'sCoroCoro Comics from 2000 to 2001.

Legacy[edit]

DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle[edit]

Video thumbnail

DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle is an unofficial animation based on the show that was created by Alex Henderson and released onYouTube on May 8, 2023.^[70] The animation is about King K. Rool's return to his crew after a ten-year absence, during which he was assumed to be dead. He makes his return in musical form by singing "Tip the Scale", which references the songs featured in the show. The short features numerous voice actors from the show itself:Benedict Campbell,Adrian Truss,Ron Rubin, andRichard Yearwood all reprise their roles as King K. Rool, General Klump, Kaptain Skurvy, and Donkey Kong, respectively. AKlinger is also voiced by Campbell. While Donkey Kong is not voiced for most of the video, he does speak in the mid-credits scene.

References to other media[edit]

Donkey Kong Country

• In a few episodes, Diddy Kong repeatedly stomps on his hat when angered, referencing the animation used when he fails abonus room in this game.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

• The song "My Finest Hour" shares the same rhythm as the track "Krook's March" in this game.
• Thepirates are a reference to the overall pirate theme this game had.

References in later media[edit]

Super Mario-kun

• One volume features the plotline of the Crystal Coconut, while another one has Bluster Kong as a character, as well as the series' interpretation of Candy Kong.

Donkey Kong 64

• Cranky Kong's chemistry hobby is retained in this game.
• Crystal Coconuts are used to power theKong Barrel powers.
• The Klump in the intro is stated by the manual to be General Klump.

Donkey Konga 3

• The Japaneseopening andending themes of the series are featured as songs that can be played.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

• For the game's marketing campaign, Nintendo UK'sFacebook page postedan imageMedia:DKC Returns 3D DKC cartoon reference.jpeg titled "What is your Donkey Kong name?". Two of the names listed are "Bluster" and "Eddie", referencing Bluster Kong and Eddie the Mean Old Yeti.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

• In theNintendo Switch version of the game,Tawks will sometimes tellFunky Kong to "give 'em the old banana slamma, dude",^[71] which is a reference to Donkey Kong's catchphrase in the series.

Donkey Kong Bananza

• In theDK Island & Emerald Rush DLC, one of the perks is titled "Banana Slamma," DK's catchphrase from the show.

Translations[edit]

Though the scripts were written inEnglish and storyboards show that the animation was synched to the English dialogue,^[72] the show was originally broadcasted inFrench. It received 23 other translations inBasque,^[1]Danish,^[2]Dutch,^[3]Filipino,^[4]Finnish,^[5]German,Greek,^[6]Icelandic,^[7]Indonesian,^[8]Japanese,Korean,^[10]Taiwanese Mandarin,^[11]Norwegian,^[12]Polish,^[13]Brazilian Portuguese,^[14]European Portuguese,^[15]Sinhala,^[16]Slovak,^[17]Latin American Spanish,European Spanish,^[18]Swedish,^[19]Thai,^[20] andValencian.^[21] AnItalian translation was created byStudio P.V. to be aired byMediaset, but it was never broadcasted.^[30] In 2024, Deepdub released Italian and Castilian Spanish dubs of the series onSamsung TV Plus, dubbed entirely in artificially generated voices identical to the English cast.^[9] There are minor differences between the translations.

• Various dubs omit, shorten, or do not translate many songs.
• The Japanese opening and credits sequences are completely different, having different visuals and music.^[73]

Lost translations[edit]

Despite the show's wide distribution in a variety of languages, many translations of the show have become partially or entirely lost. Information on missing translations is as follows:

• Danish: Only the episodes "Ape-Nesia" and "To the Moon Baboon" have been found.^[74]
• Filipino: The entire dub has not been found.
• Finnish: Only the reprised version of "Anyone Can Dance" has been found, albeit with various other dubs overlapping it.^[5]
• Icelandic: The entire dub has not been found.
• Indonesian: The entire dub has not been found.
• Korean: Only the opening and the "I Like Evil" song from "Speed" have been found.^[75]
• Taiwanese Mandarin: The entire dub has not been found.
• Norwegian: Only the episode "Baby Kong Blues" and half of the episode "The Big Chill Out" have been found.^[76]
• Polish: The entire dub has not been found.
• European Portuguese: Only the episodes "Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo" and "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights" have been found.^[15]
• Swedish: Only the opening and the "That's Why He'd Rather Be With Me" song from "Double Date Trouble" have been found.^[77]
• Valencian: The entire dub has not been found.

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

• Only three characters never sing in the series: Polly Roger, Baby Kong, and the Klap Traps.
  • Additionally, the only character to neither be a Kong nor a Kremling to have a model in the series is Polly Roger, while Inka Dinka Doo is part of the scenery.
• Though the series is based on the first threeDonkey Kong Country games, itsApple TV listing background back in August of 2022 showed artwork fromDonkey Kong Country Returns, which released a decade after the series ended. As such, the background showsRambi and members of theTiki Tak Tribe, despite them not appearing in the series.^[82] A variant with a horizontally squished logo (also fromDonkey Kong Country Returns without the "Returns" text and the spears behind the logo) was shown in December of the same year.^[83] The listing background now shows appropriate artwork from the show instead.^[53]
• In the Japanese dub, the voice actors for Donkey Kong and Candy Kong, Kōichi Yamadera and Mika Kanai, were married to each other during the series' run.
• In the Sinhala dub, the opening includes theartworkMedia:DKandDiddy DKCR.png of DK and Diddy fromDonkey Kong Country Returns.^[16]
• This show aired onApes of Wrath, a section ofFox Family that aired ape-related shows.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• All full episodes of the show in English officially uploaded on YouTube, courtesy ofNelvana'sRetro Rerun channel

Wikipedia has an article onDonkey Kong Country.

• Television series
• Donkey Kong Country (television series)

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