Donkey Kong Country | |
---|---|
Based on | Donkey Kong by Nintendo Donkey Kong Country by Rare |
Developed by | Jacques Goldstein Philippe Percebois |
Directed by | Mike Fallows |
Voices of | Richard Yearwood Andrew Sabiston Joy Tanner Aron Tager Ben Campbell Adrian Truss Stevie Vallance Donald Burda Len Carlson Damon D'Oliveira Lawrence Bayne Rick Jones |
Theme music composer | Pure West |
Opening theme | "Donkey Kong Country" |
Ending theme | "Donkey Kong Country" (Instrumental) |
Composer | Pure West |
Country of origin |
|
Original languages | English French |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 40 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producers | Dale A. Andrews Patrick Loubert Michael Hirsh Clive Smith Gérard Mital (Season 1 only) Jacques Peyrache (Season 1 only) |
Producers | 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 | Samuel Lajus |
Running time | 30 minutes (per episode) |
Production companies | Nelvana Limited Medialab Studio L. A. (Season 1) Hong Guang Animation (CGCG) (Season 2) WIC Entertainment Ltd. |
Distributor | Alliance Communications (Canada) Nelvana International (International) |
Release | |
Original network | Teletoon (Canada) France 2 and Canal+ (France, Season 1) |
Picture format | NTSC |
Original release | August 15, 1997 July 7, 2000 | –
Donkey Kong Country is a computer animated musical television series that is based on the video game Donkey Kong Country from Nintendo and Rare. The series was co-produced by Nelvana, Medialab Studio L.A. (Season 1) and Hong Guang Animation (Season 2), in association with WIC Entertainment, with the participation of Teletoon—for Season 1, it was produced in co-production with France 2, Canal+, in association with Valar 4.
The show was first introduced in France on September 4, 1996, on France 2, on a hybrid live action and motion capture animated block titled La Planète de Donkey Kong (The Planet of Donkey Kong). Later, the show premiered as a full series on August 15, 1997, until the final episode's ending on July 7, 2000.
Donkey Kong Country was one of the earliest television shows to be primarily animated with motion capture technology.[1] Several elements of the series, such as the Crystal Coconut, appeared in later Donkey Kong video games like Donkey Kong 64, which was released three years after the show began airing on television. The second season was produced by Taiwanese CGI studio CGCG—which updated the character models, silkier lighting, and used key framing—having been announced as early as May 1999.[2]
Taking place on Kongo Bongo Island, the show focuses on Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong as they protect a magical artifact known as the Crystal Coconut from the villainous King K. Rool and his Kremling army who long to steal it in order to rule Kongo Bongo. Each episode features two songs performed by the show's various characters.
Season 1 of the French version was done in Quebec, with the exception of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong[3] 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 afterward, 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 never returned as Diddy Kong, as he had long since hit puberty, replaced by Lucile Boulanger as a result.[4]
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 Donald Reignoux (singing voice) |
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 | Violette Chauveau | Annie Barclay | Stevie Vallance | Becky |
Bluster Kong | Daniel Lesourd | Patrice Dozier | Donald Burda | Daiki Nakamura |
King K. Rool | Éric Gaudry | Daniel Beretta | Benedict Campbell | Jurota Kosugi |
General Klump | Jean Brousseau | Jacques Bouanich | Adrian Truss | Keiichi Sonobe |
Krusha | Pierre Auger | 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 | Takuma Suzuki |
Green Kroc | Unknown | Unknown | Richard Newman | |
Kritters | Unknown | Michel Tugot-Doris | Lawrence Bayne | Tokuyoshi Kawashima Toshitaka Hirano Takayuki Yamaguchi Daiki Nakamura Tomohisa Aso |
Polly Roger | Unknown | Unknown | Rick Jones | Motoko Kumai |
Junior the Giant Klaptrap | Unknown | Unknown | Ron Rubin | Kappei Yamaguchi |
Baby Kong | Unknown | Unknown | Bryn McAuley | Kōichi Yamadera |
Kong Fu | Unknown | Unknown | Richard Newman | Hōchū Ōtsuka |
Main article: List of Donkey Kong Country episodes |
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 26 | August 15, 1997 | December 29, 1997 | |
2 | 14 | December 2, 1999 | July 7, 2000 |
Over seventy percent of the character animation in the series was produced using performance capture.[5] Two performers were required for each character; one performed the character's body movements, while the other used hand movements to control the character's face.[6] The limitations of the technology used meant that actions like picking an object up could not be produced with this method and had to be keyframed.[7] This process allowed the character animation of one episode to be completed in two weeks, as compared to the six to eight weeks keyframed animation was estimated to require for the same length.[8]
Donkey Kong Country was first introduced 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-language version of the show later premiered in Canada on Télétoon on September 8, 1997, making the series one of the channel's launch programs, while the English version premiered on its English counterpart on October 17, also as a launch program. In the U.S., it was one of the first series to be shown on Fox Family (now Freeform), 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 to 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.[9] 40 episodes were produced.[10] In Japan, the series aired with a Japanese dub and took over TV Tokyo's 6:30 p.m. time-slot from Gokudo the Adventurer airing on October 1, 1999, and was later replaced with Hamtaro after ending on June 30, 2000.
Over the years, the series has been released throughout many VHS and DVDs in several countries. In total, 13 DVDs around the world were released with English audio.
For North America, four episodes of Donkey Kong Country that feature Kaptain Skurvy were edited together into a videocassette 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 both English and French dub tapes separately with distribution handled by Seville Pictures and Nelvana themselves as the secondary distributor.[11] 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. France has gotten a release of this tape as well under: Donkey Kong Le Film!
In Japan, the TV series was very popular and proven to be successful, since the video game 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. On top of that, the Japanese and also the Latin Spanish dub editions had ad-libbed a lot of extra humour that were not in the original scripts. 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' final episode, Message in a Bottle Show was not included due to mostly being a clip episode. 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 United Kingdom in 2008.
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 along 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. The Complete First Season was then released on DVD in Region 1 on May 12, 2015.[12][13]
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.
As of 2022, the show is now added on the Tubi streaming service.
The episodes of the show are all available on iTunes and on the Amazon Prime's Ameba channel. The first two seasons are available on Freevee and on Amazon Video with advertisements.
39 of 40 episodes are available on Retro Rerun's YouTube channel.
Name | Release Date | Episodes | Region | Additional Information |
---|---|---|---|---|
The Legend of the Crystal Coconut (English) Donkey Kong Country: La Légende de la noix de coco en cristal (French) |
1997 (Canada) November 9, 1999 (USA) |
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. A French dub release for Canada was also released. |
Donkey Kong Le Film! | 4 | VHS | French dubbed version of the Legend of the Crystal Coconut compilation feature, release for France. | |
ドンキーコング Vol. 1 (Donkey Kong Vol. 1) | June 21, 2000 | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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, 2000 | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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, 2000 | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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, 2000 | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes 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) | 3 | VHS | Includes Japanese dubbed versions of Episodes 37-39 (Best of Enemies, Just Kidding and It's a Wonderful Life). | |
Donkey Kong Country - 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. |
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. |
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. |
I Spy with My Hairy Eye | June 9, 2008 | 3 | 2 | Includes I Spy with My Hairy Eye, Baby Kong Blues and The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights. |
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. |
The Complete Second Season | TBA | 14 | 1 | Includes all 14 episodes from season 2. |
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 show, was covered by Scottish heavy metal band Alestorm in their Curse of the Crystal Coconut album. This cover of Pirate's Scorn was also included in DKC: Curse of the Crystal Coconut, an animated fan tribute to the show.[14] Additionally, the album artwork contains several nods to the Donkey Kong video game franchise.[15]
In the Nintendo Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the "banana slamma" catchphrase is used in one of Tawks' lines when visiting Funky's Fly 'n Buy while playing as Funky Kong, paying an homage to the animated series.[16]