Donkey Kong Country (TV series)

Donkey Kong Country
Created by	Shigeru Miyamoto
Developed by	Jacques Goldstein Philippe Percebois
Directed by	Mike Fallows
Voices of	Richard Yearwood Andrew Sabiston Joy Tanner Aron Tager Ben Campbell Adrian Truss Louise Vallance Donald Burda Len Carlson Damon D'Oliveira Lawrence Bayne Rick Jones Ron Rubin
Theme music composer	Pure West
Opening theme	"Donkey Kong Country"
Ending theme	"Donkey Kong Country" (Instrumental)
Composer(s)	Pure West
Country of origin	Canada France
Original language(s)	English French
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	40 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Dale A. Andrews Patrick Loubert Michael Hirsh Clive Smith Gérard Mital (Season 1 only) Jacques Peyrache (Season 1 only)
Producer(s)	Maia Tubiana (Season 1) Stephen Hodgins (Season 1; supervising producer, Season 2) Patricia R. Burns (Season 1; supervising producer, Season 2) Pam Lehn (Season 2)
Editor(s)	Samuel Lajus
Running time	30 minutes (per episode)
Production company(s)	Nelvana Medialab (season 1) WIC Entertainment France 2 Canal + TV Asahi (season 1) Ellipsanime (season 2-3) Collingwood & Co. (season 3) Asahi Broadcasting Corporation (season 2-3) Medianet (season 2)
Distributor	Alliance Communications
Release
Original network	Teletoon (Canada) France 2 (France) USA: Fox Kids (two episodes only) Fox Family
Original release	France: September 4, 1996 United States: August 15, 1997 – July 7, 2000

Donkey Kong Country is a French/Canadian computer-animated television series. It is based on the Nintendo franchise Donkey Kong as portrayed in the Donkey Kong Country video game series by Nintendo and Rare. Donkey Kong Country first aired in France on September 4, 1996; it premiered late in the United States on the Fox Kids block on Fox on August 15, 1997, which aired only the first two episodes. The series was later broadcast on Fox Family. In Japan, Donkey Kong Country took over the TV Tokyo 6:30 P.M. timeslot from Gokudo and was later replaced with Hamtaro.

Donkey Kong Country was one of the earliest television series to be entirely computer-animated with motion capture, matching the artistic style of the video games, and garnered critical acclaim in Canada, France, and Japan, but only marginal success elsewhere. Several elements of the series, such as the crystal coconut, appeared in later Donkey Kong Country video games like Donkey Kong 64, which was released a year after the show began airing on Fox.

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.

• Donkey Kong - The show's titular character, and the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island, voiced by Richard Yearwood. 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'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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Dixie Kong - Diddy's unofficial 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.
• King K. Rool - The main villain of the series, always attempting to steal the Crystal Coconut and take over the island. His only noticeable change in physical appearance is that his cape is much shorter. 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. He is very childlike 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, 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. He is voiced by Donald Burda.
• Junior the Giant Klaptrap - As his name suggests, he is an abnormally large Klaptrap (about Diddy's size).
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, similar to how Baby Mario showed up as a different character from Mario in his sports games.
• Robot Candy Clone - A robot look-alike of Candy created by K. Rool to lure DK into certain traps.
• 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. His name was later used in the French version of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the boss Karate Kong.
• Eddie the Mean Old Yeti - A white-furred gorilla 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.
• Robot Kong - Donkey Kong after exchanging minds with Bluster's robot.

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.

Voice cast

Character Role	French Original	Quebec French Re-Dub	English Dubbing
Donkey Kong	Nicolas Bienvenu	????	Richard Yearwood
Diddy Kong	Véronique Alicia	????	Andrew Sabiston
Dixie Kong	Marie Montoya	Annie Barclay	Louise Vallance [1]
Funky Kong	Philippe Sax	????	Damon D'Oliveira
Cranky Kong	????	Yves Massicotte	Aaron Tager
Candy Kong	Véronique Alicia	Camille Cyr-Desmarais	Joy Tanner
Bluster Kong	????	Daniel Lesourd	Donald Burda
King K. Rool	Michel Tugot-Doris	Éric Gaudry	Benedict Campbell
General Klump	Yves Barsacq	Jean Brousseau	Adrian Truss
Krusha	Philippe Sax	????	Len Carlson
Eddie the Mean Old Yeti	????	????	Damon D'Oliveira
Inka Dinka Doo	????	????	Lawrence Bayne
Kaptain Skurvy	????	????	Ron Rubin
Kutlass	????	????	John Stocker
Green Kroc	????	????	Dan Hennessy
Kritters	????	????	Lawrence Bayne
Polly Roger	????	Luba Goy	Rick Jones
Junior the Giant Klaptrap	????	????	Rick Jones
Baby Kong	????	????	Joy Tanner
Kong Fu	????	????	Len Carlson

Episode list

#	Season	Episode	Title	Airdate (France)	Airdate (North America)	Description	Notes	Region 1 DVD Release
1	1	1	Bad Hair Day					He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered / The Complete First Season
2	1	2	Ape Foo Young			Tired of being picked on by the Kremlings, Cranky makes a rejuvenation potion that makes him 40 years younger, and heads to fight them. But he ends up getting jailed by King K. Rool. Meanwhile, while preparing for a date with Candy, Donkey Kong drinks the potion and reverts into a baby, forcing Diddy to protect him.		He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered / The Complete First Season
3	1	3	Booty and the Beast					He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered / The Complete First Season
4	1	4	Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel			Wanting to impress Candy, Bluster swipes the Crystal Coconut from Cranky while he's asleep. But when Donkey Kong and Diddy try to get back from him, a few mishaps lead to the Coconut being sealed in a barrel labeled "007", sending them on a wild goose chase against Bluster, the Kremlings and Eddie the Mean Old Yeti across the island to get it back.		He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered / The Complete First Season
5	1	5	Kong for a Day					Raiders of the Lost Banana / The Complete First Season
6	1	6	Raiders of the Lost Banana					Raiders of the Lost Banana / The Complete First Season
7	1	7	From Zero to Hero					Raiders of the Lost Banana / The Complete First Season
8	1	8	Buried Treasure			Donkey Kong, Diddy and Funky stumble upon a treasure map leading to a treasure in the mines, and head off to find it. Bluster follows them in hopes of using the riches to buy the island, and Candy and Dixie tag along wanting to buy his factory. And when they hear about it, King K. Rool and Krusha search for it, believing that the treasure contains a doomsday device.		Raiders of the Lost Banana / The Complete First Season
9	1	9	Cranky's Tickle Tonic					Kong Fu / The Complete First Season
10	1	10	Get a Life, Don't Save One					Kong Fu / The Complete First Season
11	1	11	Orangutango					Kong Fu / The Complete First Season
12	1	12	Double Date Trouble			Donkey Kong tries to appease both his best friend, Diddy, and his girlfriend, Candy, who demand his exclusive attention. But Cranky wants him to head for Bluster's factory to get two new Trigger Barrels for his hut, and when Donkey Kong tries to tell Candy and Diddy about it, they don't give him time to speak. So he tries to switch around between making the Trigger Barrels for Cranky, watching movies with Diddy, and having lunch with Candy. But he winds up getting trapped in a barrel while his three friends are forced to defend the Crystal Coconut from King K. Rool and his troops.		The Complete First Season
13	1	13	The Curse of Kongo Bongo			Bluebeard Baboon, a ruthless pirate ghost, sends letters containing "The Curse of the Double Dabloon" as he does every 100 years since his ship sank 1,000 years ago, which if read by two individuals, will cause the island to sink, and Donkey Kong ends up being the first one to read it, causing the Crystal Coconut to lose most of its power. Now he and Diddy have to get the letters from everyone else before the island sinks. Meanwhile, King K. Rool and Polly Roger steal Cranky's book of spells, causing magical chaos for Klump and Krusha.		The Complete First Season
14	1	14	Speed			The normally dim-witted Krusha suffers a blow to the head and gains a boost in intelligence, becoming a better villain than K. Rool. With this newfound intelligence, he lures Diddy and Dixie onto a minecart rigged with a bomb, which will explode if the cart stops.		The Legend of the Crystal Coconut / The Complete First Season
15	1	15	Klump's Lumps			General Klump is fired from K. Rool's ranks. He is then befriended by Dixie Kong and tries to fit in with the good guys, with predictable results.		The Legend of the Crystal Coconut / The Complete First Season
16	1	16	Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza			When Bluster starts making commercials for his barrel factory, Candy arranges for Cranky to star in one of them. But Donkey Kong accidentally knocks him out cold with a sleep tonic, and when he and Diddy try to hide the sleeping Cranky from Candy, they accidentally launch him off with one of his Trigger Barrels, forcing them to chase him across the island. Meanwhile, Dixie is tasked with guarding the Crystal Coconut when King K. Rool tries to steal it on live TV.		The Legend of the Crystal Coconut / The Complete First Season
17	1	17	Legend of the Crystal Coconut			Donkey Kong seeks to understand the mysteries of the Crystal Coconut and why it chose him to rule, but must also protect it from the claws of Kaptain Skurvy.		The Legend of the Crystal Coconut / The Complete First Season
18	1	18	Kong Fu			K. Rool enlists the help of an ape-jutsu master to best Donkey Kong in a contest of strength and skill for the Crystal Coconut.		Kong Fu / The Complete First Season
19	1	19	I Spy with My Hairy Eye			While guarding the Crystal Coconut with Donkey Kong, Diddy wishes that he was invisible, and the Coconut grants his wish. He is able to pull all kinds of mischief, much to Donkey Kong's annoyance, but soon, Diddy's chances of becoming visible again are put at risk when Candy Kong's robot double steals the Crystal Coconut for King K. Rool.		The Complete First Season
20	1	20	Bug a Boogie					The Complete First Season
21	1	21	Watch the Skies					The Complete First Season
22	1	22	Baby Kong Blues					The Complete First Season
23	1	23	Ape-Nesia			An accident in his treehouse home causes Donkey Kong to develop amnesia. Kaptain Skurvy takes advantage of this situation by telling him that he's "Donkey Croc", a pirate who works for him, then King K. Rool tells him that he's his servant "Donkey Rool".		The Complete First Season
24	1	24	The Big Chill Out			As Kongo Bongo Island is hit by a massive heat wave, Donkey Kong comes up with an idea to impress Candy. He and Diddy make and sell "Coconut Chill" shakes for two bananas, and Bluster, wanting to get rich from the idea, convinces the two to share 50% of the business. Meanwhile, after taking a bunch of Coconut Chills from his Kritters, King K. Rool plans to steal a bunch of them to avoid a mutiny.		The Complete First Season
25	1	25	To the Moon Baboon					The Complete First Season
26	1	26	A Thin Line Between Love & Ape			Crazed to get Candy's affection, Bluster asks the Crystal Coconut for advice, and obtains the recipe for a love potion. But King K. Rool steals the potion and ends up getting Candy's love himself.		The Complete First Season
27	2	1	Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo			After hearing that Hollywood directors make tons of money, Bluster decides to direct his own film. Donkey Kong tries his best, but he ends up getting the role of the film's bad guy, while King K. Rool gets the lead role.
28	2	2	The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights
29	2	3	Speak No Evil, Dude
30	2	4	The Day the Island Stood Still
31	2	5	Monkey Seer, Monkey Do			Funky displays a talent for predicting the future with a mystic lava lamp, and everyone tries to get their hands on it and change their fate.
32	2	6	Four Weddings and a Coconut			Candy strong-arms Donkey Kong into a marriage agreement, and he has trouble deciding if he should make it to the altar or not. Meanwhile, K. Rool plans revenge for not being invited to the wedding.
33	2	7	Follow That Coconut
34	2	8	Vote of Kong-Fidence
35	2	9	The Big Switch-A-Roo			While guarding the Crystal Coconut for Cranky, Donkey Kong plays around with a special mind-switch helmet, and accidentally switches bodies with a robot that Cranky built for Bluster. Things get crazier when the Kremlings steal the helmet and Klump switches bodies with Candy Kong.
36	2	10	Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster			Using a potent hair tonic mixture accidentally turns Bluster Kong into the swinging ladies' man Leo Luster, who can win any girls's heart with a glance and hypnotize any foe into fulfilling any order, making Donkey Kong immensely aggravated.
37	2	11	Best of Enemies
38	2	12	It's a Wonderful Life			After trying to run away, Donkey Kong dreams himself into an alternate world where he never existed, and as a result of that, Diddy is an evil tyrant with Cranky and Funky as his minions, Bluster has easily won Candy's heart, and King K. Rool is destined to rule the island with a paper-mache lilypad.
39	2	13	Just Kidding			On All Fools Day, a holiday extremely similar to April Fools Day, Cranky pulls lots of pranks on Donkey Kong, Diddy and Candy, and the three of them try to get him back by having DK wear a King K. Rool suit and pretend to give the Crystal Coconut to K. Rool. But a series of misunderstandings lead to Diddy and Candy mistaking the real King K. Rool for the suited DK, which allows him to pull the ultimate prank of all four of them.
40	2	14	Message in a Bottle Show			A clip show centered around Donkey Kong's imminent departure from the island and the farewell party in his honor.

Home video releases

Over thirty Donkey Kong Country DVDs have been released with only five being in English. Over thirteen VHS tapes of the cartoon were released in Japan.

Four episodes of Donkey Kong Country 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. 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. The North American version of the tape was distributed by: Paramount Pictures, Nintendo, and Nelvana.

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.

Phase 4 Films, a small Canadian low-budget film company, officially purchased the rights to the series in Region 1, and began releasing episodes starting off with the He Came, He Saw, He Kong-quered DVD that was released on August 20, 2013.

The episodes of the show are all available on iTunes.

Name	Release Date	Episodes	Region	Additional Information
The Legend of the Crystal Coconut	November 9, 1999	4	VHS	Includes Legend of the Crystal Coconut, Bug a Boogie, Ape-nesia, and Booty and the Beast edited together in a feature-length format.
Vol. 1	TBA	4	4	Includes Hooray For Holly-Kongo Bongo, The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights, Speak No Evil, Dude and The Day The Island Stood Still.
Bad Hair Day	June 6, 2005	4	2	Includes Bad Hair Day, Ape Foo Young, Booty and the Beast and Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel.
The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights	TBA	2	4	Includes The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights and Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo.
Speak No Evil, Dude	TBA	2	4	Includes Speak No Evil, Dude and The Day the Island Stood Still.
Monkey Seer, Monkey Do	TBA	2	4	Includes Monkey Seer, Monkey Do and Four Weddings and a Coconut.
I Spy with My Hairy Eye	June 9, 2008	3	2	Includes TBA episodes.
Raiders of the Lost Banana	August 3, 2009	5	2	Includes 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-quered	August 20, 2013	4	1	Includes Bad Hair Day, Ape Foo Young, Booty and the Beast and Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel.
Raiders of the Lost Banana	October 1, 2013	4	1	Includes Raiders of the Lost Banana, Kong for a Day, From Zero to Hero and Buried Treasure.
Kong Fu	January 21, 2014	4	1	Includes Kong Fu, Get a Life, Don't Save One, Cranky's Tickle Tonic and Orangutango.
The Legend of the Crystal Coconut	March 11, 2014	4	1	Includes Legend of the Crystal Coconut, Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza, Klump's Lumps and Speed.
The Complete First Season	May 12, 2015	26	1	Includes all 26 episodes from season 1.

Merchandise

The show had a large line of merchandise in Japan including a 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.

Channel details

Country	Channel
France	France 2, Fox Kids, Game One and Gulli
Netherlands	RTL 4
Belgium	Club RTL (French) and VT4 (Dutch)
Canada	Teletoon/Télétoon
United States	Fox Kids and Fox Family
United Kingdom	Fox Kids
Australia	Network Ten, Fox Kids, FOX8, KidsCo
Japan	TV Tokyo
South Korea	MBC
Finland	MTV3 and Canal+
Denmark	Canal+
Sweden	Canal+
Norway	Canal+
Italy	Fox Kids Italy and Italia 1
Germany	Super RTL and Das Vierte as Donkey Kongs Abenteuer
Spain	Fox Kids Spain
Brazil	Fox Kids Brazil and Rede Record
Portugal	SIC and KidsCo
Malaysia	Disney Channel Asia
Singapore	TCS Channel 5 (1997-2000), Kids Central (2000-01) and KidsCo (reruns)
Mexico	ZAZ and Disney XD (Latin America)
Iceland	Stöð 2
Greece	KidsCo and Alter Channel
India	Disney Channel India
Chile	MEGA
Poland	RTL 7

References

1. "Stevie Vallance Animation Acting Resume". Retrieved February 18, 2012.

External links

• Donkey Kong Country at Nelvana.com
• La Planète Donkey Kong at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
• Donkey Kong Country at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
• List of episodes at mariowiki.com
• List of Japanese products based on the series
• Donkey Kong Country at TV.com
• Donkey Kong Country at Retro Junk
• Donkey Kong Country at TV.com