Donkey Kong Country (TV series)
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| Donkey Kong Country | |
|---|---|
 Title card |
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| Genre | Animation, comedy |
| Created by | Jacques Goldstein Philippe Percebois |
| Developed by | Western International Communications |
| Directed by | Mike Fallows |
| Voices of | Richard Yearwood Andrew Sabiston Joy Tanner Aron Tager (as Aaron Tager) Ben Campbell Adrian Truss Louise Vallance Donald Burda Len Carlson Damon D'Olivera Lawrence Bayne Rick Jones Ron Rubin |
| Theme music composer | Pure West |
| Opening theme | "Donkey Kong Country" theme |
| Ending theme | "Donkey Kong Country" theme (instrumental) |
| Composer(s) | Pure West |
| Country of origin |  France |
| No. of episodes | 40 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
Gérard Mital Jacques Peyrache Dale A. Andrews Patrick Loubert Michael Hirsh Clive Smith |
| Producer(s) | Maia Tubiana Stephen Hodgins Patricia R. Burns |
| Story editor(s) | Peter Sauder |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | France 2 (France) TV Tokyo (Japan) |
| Original run | September 4, 1996 – July 7, 2000 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Donkey Kong Country is a French 7 d'Or Award-winning computer-generated animated television series based on the successful Nintendo franchise Donkey Kong as portrayed in the Donkey Kong Country video game series by Rare. The series was created by French studio France 2 and Nelvana. It was originally titled La Planète Donkey Kong. It first aired in France on September 4, 1996; it premiered late in North America on August 15, 1998.
The show begins by portraying Donkey Kong, a regular ape in the jungle who happens to stumble upon a magic coconut called the Crystal Coconut that summons (at Donkey's command) a pile of magic bananas. After Donkey and his friends consume the bananas, they are granted with increased intelligence and strength, enabling them to defeat enemies such as King K. Rool and Kaptain Skurvy, who wish to possess the Crystal Coconut for themselves. Each episode features two songs performed by cast members.
Four episodes were released in North America on a single VHS cassette titled, Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut and was marketed as a feature length film. But these episodes were recorded in poor chronological order, when a flash back shown in the third episode actually happened in the fourth episode of the tape. In the DVDs Donkey Kong Country Vol.1 (Released in Australia) and Donkey Kong Country - Bad Hair Day (Released in the United Kingdom) they also put a few episodes. The other two DVDs, Donkey Kong Country: Hooray for Holly Kongo Bongo and Donkey Kong Country: The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights (Both were released in Australia) only held one episode.
Donkey Kong Country was one of the earlier television series to be computer-animated to match the artistic style of the Rare video game series, and garnered critical acclaim in France and Japan but only marginal success in the West. Several elements of the series appeared in later Donkey Kong Country video games such as Donkey Kong 64, which was released a year after the show had started airing on ABC Family.
The show had a large line of merchandise in Japan including a collectible card game, featuring drawings of characters some that never appeared in the series. The card game was later adapted to be based on Donkey Kong 64. The television series took over the TV Tokyo 6:30 P.M. timeslot from Gokudo, and was later replaced with Hamtaro.
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[edit] Characters
Much of the characters come from the video games Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, with some design changes.
[edit] Protagonists
The main protagonist of the program is Donkey Kong (voiced by Richard Yearwood in the American version and by Kōichi Yamadera in the Japanese version), the protecter of the Crystal Coconut and future ruler of Kongo Bongo. He has an optimistic (if frivolous) personality and tremendous physical strength. He has a liking for bananas, and is in a romantic relationship with Candy Kong. Donkey Kong's partner is Diddy Kong (voiced by Andrew Sabiston and Megumi Hayashibara), a small chimp who makes up for it with his cleverness. The elderly Cranky Kong (voiced by Aron Tager and Ryūsei Nakao) keeps the Crystal Coconut safe in his house, and enforces this with a set number of traps built into his bridge. Donkey Kong's love interest, Candy Kong (voiced by Joy Tanner and Mika Kanai), is a strong-willed employee of Bluster's barrel factory who is often frustrated with Donkey Kong's absent-mindedness.
Bluster Kong (voiced by Donald Burda and Daiki Nakamura) is an original character created for the show. His mother owns the barrel factory on the island, while he manages it. With greasy, parted hair and his own personal helicopter, Bluster is the richest ape in Kongo Bongo. He has a big ego and a noticeable Oedipus complex. Funky Kong (voiced by Damon D'Oliveira and Banana Ice) is the island's airline service manager. He is fond of surfing, and owns his own personal biplane. Diddy Kong's girlfriend is Dixie Kong (voiced by Louise Vallance and Becky), who often loses her pets Crabby the Crab and Thermidore the Lobster. Baby Kong (voiced by Joy Tanner) is the infant nephew of Donkey Kong. He is not to be confused with Kiddy Kong from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
[edit] Antagonists
The main antagonist of the program is King K. Rool (voiced by Ben Campbell and Jūrōta Kosugi), the King of the Kremlings. He is a crafty and vicious individual who attempts to steal the Crystal Coconut and become ruler of Kongo Bongo, only to be thwarted time and again by Donkey Kong. K. Rool's right-hand man is General Klump (voiced by Len Carlson and Keiichi Sonobe), who is quite inefficient in his post. Siding with General Klump is Krusha (voiced by Ron Rubin and Tomohisa Asō), a Kremling with superhuman strength but below-average intelligence. K. Rool rules over a large army of Kritters (voiced by Lawrence Bayne), who all look identical and serve as his underlings. Other enemies include Polly Roger (voiced by Charles Adler and Motoko Kumai), K. Rool's cookie-loving parrot, and the Klaptraps (voiced by Andrew Sabiston), small creatures who eat anything they are shot at.
[edit] Other characters
Eddie the Mean Old Yeti (voiced by Adrian Truss and Kenyū Horiuchi) is an abominable snowman who lives in the White Mountains. Inka Dinka Doo (voiced by Rick Jones and Tomohisa Asō) is the multi-faced god of Kongo Bongo Island. Kong Fu (voiced by Hōchū Ōtsuka) is a Kung Fu master who challenges Donkey Kong on one occasion. Kaptain Skurvy (voiced by Neil Ross) is a pirate who seeks treasure with the aid of his two shipmates (viced by John Stocker and Dan Hennessey).
[edit] Awards
Donkey Kong Country Won In 1999 For a (public voted) award at 7 d'Or for Best Animation and Youth Program (Meilleure émission d'animation et de jeunesse).
[edit] Episodes
- Bad Hair Day
- Ape Foo Young
- Booty And The Beast
- Barrel, Barrel, Who’s Got The Barrel
- Kong For A Day
- Raiders of the Lost Banana
- From Zero to Hero
- Buried Treasure
- Cranky's Tickle Tonic
- Get A Life, Don’t Save One
- Orangutango
- Double Date Trouble
- The Curse Of Kongo Bongo
- Speed
- Klump's Lumps
- Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza
- The Legend of the Crystal Coconut
- Kong Fu
- I Spy with My Hairy Eye
- Bug a Boogie
- Watch the Skies
- Baby Kong Blues
- Ape-Nesia
- The Big Chill-Out
- To the Moon Baboon
- A Thin Line Between Love and Ape
- Hooray For Holly-Kongo Bongo
- The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights
- Speak No Evil, Dude
- The Day The Island Stood Still
- Monkey Seer, Monkey Do
- Four Weddings And A Coconut
- Follow That Coconut
- Vote of Kong-Fidence
- The Big Switch-A-Roo
- Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster
- Best of Enemies
- It's a Wonderful Life
- Just Kidding
- Message in a Bottle Show
[edit] Channel Details
[edit] External links
- La Planète Donkey Kong at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
- Donkey Kong Country at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
- List of Japanese products based on the series
- Official list of Japanese card game based on the series
- Donkey Kong Country at TV.com
- Donkey Kong Country at Retro Junk
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