Donkey Kong Country (television series)

Donkey Kong Country was a short-lived French computer-generated television show starring Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Candy Kong, and King K. Rool. It first aired in France on September 4, 1996, and was originally titled La Planète Donkey Kong ("Planet Donkey Kong"). It premiered late in North America on August 15, 1998, and the original run finished on July 7, 2000; the show is currently airing in Australia as of December 2009. Regardless of this, Donkey Kong Country won a publicly-voted award at 7 d'Or in 1999, for "Best Animation and Youth Program" ("Meilleure émission d'animation et de jeunesse"). In the USA the series originally debuted on Fox Kids. However, the show was moved to Fox Family.

Donkey Kong Country ran for two seasons with forty episodes total before ending. The show followed an episodic format; it was rare that any episode connected in any way to an earlier one. During the run, however, there were some episodes aired out of order from the original airing, such as "Bad Hair Day" being aired as the third episode in the US run, even though it was the first episode in France. The second season showed many changes, such as using new, sleeker styles of computer animation and dropping the use of title screens. Each episode, excluding "Message in a Bottle Show," features one or two songs performed by cast members.

Donkey Kong Country was one of the earliest television series to be computer-animated, matching the artistic style of the Rare video game series. The CG animation style of the series was met with critical acclaim in France and Japan, but with mixed reception elsewhere. Several elements of the series appeared in later Donkey Kong video games such as Donkey Kong 64, which was released a year after the show had started airing on ABC Family (Fox Family).

Plot
The show portrays Donkey Kong, an anthropomorphic ape in the jungle who happens to stumble upon a magic orb called the Crystal Coconut in the temple of Inka Dinka Doo, resulting in him being named the future ruler of Kongo Bongo Island. As he and his friends wait for the day when the Crystal Coconut will proclaim him the ruler of the island, they have to keep the mystical and powerful relic safe from the clutches of King K. Rool and his minions, who desire the coconut so that their leader may rule the island using its power.

Cast
The series features almost all of the Kongs from Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, the exceptions being Swanky Kong and Wrinkly Kong. However, the show also features several characters exclusive to the TV series, such as Eddie the Mean Old Yeti, Kaptain Skurvy and his crew, and Bluster Kong.


 * Richard Yearwood &mdash; Donkey Kong
 * Andrew Sabiston &mdash; Diddy Kong; Junior the Giant Klaptrap
 * Joy Tanner &mdash; Candy Kong; Baby Kong; Candy Clone
 * Aron Tager &mdash; Cranky Kong
 * Ben Campbell &mdash; King K. Rool
 * Louise Vallace &mdash; Dixie Kong
 * Donald Burda &mdash; Bluster Kong
 * Damon D'Oliveira &mdash; Funky Kong
 * Len Carlson &mdash; Klump (season 1); King K. Rool (first episode)
 * Ron Rubin &mdash; Krusha (season 1)
 * Frank Welker &mdash; Krusha (season 2)
 * Lawrence Bayne &mdash; Kritter
 * Charles Adler &mdash; Polly Roger
 * Rick Jones &mdash; Inka Dinka Doo
 * Adrian Truss &mdash; Eddie the Mean Old Yeti
 * Neil Ross &mdash; Kaptain Skurvy; Klump (season 2)
 * John Stocker &mdash; Kutlass
 * Dan Hennessey &mdash; Green Kroc

Japanese Cast

 * Kōichi Yamadera — Donkey Kong
 * Megumi Hayashibara — Diddy Kong
 * Mika Kanai — Candy Kong
 * Ryūsei Nakao — Cranky Kong
 * Jūrōta Kosugi - King K. Rool

Episodes
Note that the following episodes are in the order of the original North American air dates.
 * Season 1:
 * 1) "I Spy with My Hairy Eye"
 * 2) "The Big Chill Out"
 * 3) "Bad Hair Day"
 * 4) "Raiders of the Lost Banana"
 * 5) "Ape Foo Young"
 * 6) "Booty and the Beast"
 * 7) "Kong for a Day"
 * 8) "From Zero to Hero"
 * 9) "Buried Treasure"
 * 10) "Cranky's Tickle Tonic"
 * 11) "Get a Life, Don't Save One"
 * 12) "The Curse of Kongo Bongo"
 * 13) "Orangutango"
 * 14) "Speed"
 * 15) "Klump's Lumps"
 * 16) "Bluster's Sale Ape-Stravaganza"
 * 17) "Kong Fu"
 * 18) "Bug a Boogie"
 * 19) "Watch the Skies"
 * 20) "Baby Kong Blues"
 * 21) "To the Moon Baboon"
 * 22) "Double Date Trouble"
 * 23) "Ape-Nesia"
 * 24) "A Thin Line Between Love & Ape"
 * 25) "Barrel, Barrel... Who's Got the Barrel"
 * 26) "Legend of the Crystal Coconut"
 * Season 2:
 * 1) "The Kongo Bongo Festival of Lights"
 * 2) "Hooray for Holly-Kongo Bongo"
 * 3) "Speak No Evil, Dude"
 * 4) "The Day the Island Stood Still"
 * 5) "Message in a Bottle Show"
 * 6) "Monkey Seer, Monkey Do"
 * 7) "Four Weddings and a Coconut"
 * 8) "Vote of Kong-Fidence"
 * 9) "Follow That Coconut"
 * 10) "The Big Switch-A-Roo"
 * 11) "Hunka Hunka Burnin' Bluster"
 * 12) "Best of Enemies"
 * 13) "It's a Wonderful Life"
 * 14) "Just Kidding"

Long version
Ooh, aah! Ooh aah! Donkey Kong! Hey yo, look out down below! Here he comes, banana slamma! Donkey Kong! Ooh, aah! Ooh aah! Donkey Kong! Ooh, aah! Ooh aah! Donkey Kong! Hey yo, look out down below! Here he comes, banana slamma! Kongo Bongo's hero! Hey yo, Donkey Kong, let's go let's go! Here he comes, banana slamma! Ooh, aah!''

Short version
Ooh, aah! Ooh aah! Donkey Kong! Hey yo, look out down below! Here he comes, banana slamma! Donkey Kong! Hey yo, Donkey Kong, let's go let's go! Here he comes, banana slamma! Ooh, aah!

Media
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. 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. The American version of the tape was distributed by Paramount Pictures, Nintendo, and Nelvana.

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 feature one episode. Three years after the release of the previous DVDs, a new DVD titled I Spy With My Hairy Eye was released in England. There have been over 30 Donkey Kong Country DVDs, but only five have been released in English. As of 2013 however, English language North American DVD's have been released by Kaboom Entertainment.

The show had a large line of merchandise in Japan, including a collectible card game by Nintendo and Ahomaro Games. Some of the cards featuring characters that never appeared in the television 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. As with most programs in Japan, the show has received home releases through rental tapes.

Trivia

 * During the second song (The Coconut is Cursed) of "Just Kidding" while DK sings "It's much worse than I thought! It's the curse that you've got!", when he's dressed like a doctor, it is the only time on the show that Donkey Kong is seen without his necktie.
 * A recurring gag involves Donkey Kong (sometimes with Diddy) constantly crashing into trees.
 * Never once in the show are the villains referred to as Kremlings, only as 'lizards', 'gators' and similar terms.
 * There are no Animal Buddies during the series.