- Donkey Kong Country (TV series)
-
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country title cardGenre Comedy
Action
AdventureFormat CGI Animated series Created by Jacques Goldstein
Philippe PerceboisDeveloped by Nelvana
Hong Guang Animation (Su Zhou)Directed by Mike Fallows Voices of English-Dub
Richard Yearwood
Andrew Sabiston
Joy Tanner
Aron Tager
Ben Campbell
Adrian Truss
Samuel Vincent
Donald Burda
Len Carlson
Damon D'Olivera
Lawrence Bayne
Rick Jones
Ron RubinTheme 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
CanadaLanguage(s) French
Brazilian Portuguese (Dubbed)
Japanese (Dubbed)
English (Dubbed)
Swedish (Dubbed)No. of episodes 40 (List of episodes) Production Executive producer(s) Gérard Mital
Jacques Peyrache
Dale A. Andrews
Patrick Loubert
Michael Hirsh
Clive A. SmithProducer(s) Maia Tubiana
Stephen Hodgins
Patricia R. BurnsRunning time 30 minutes per episode Distributor Paramount Pictures (North American VHS)
Western International Communications
Nintendo
RareBroadcast Original channel Teletoon (Canada)
France 2 (France)Original run September 4, 1996 (France)
August 15, 1998 (USA) – July 7, 2000 (USA)Donkey Kong Country is a French/Canadian computer-generated animated television series. It is based on the Nintendo franchise Donkey Kong as portrayed in the Donkey Kong Country video game series by Rare. Created by France 2 and Nelvana, it was originally titled La Planète de Donkey Kong (The Planet of Donkey Kong in English translation). 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, 1998 but the show was not shown on the block for long, because of the impeachment of Bill Clinton. After only two episodes, the series moved to 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 computer-animated to match an artistic style and garnered critical acclaim in France and Japan but only marginal success elsewhere. Several elements of the series like 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.
Contents
Plot
The show begins by portraying Donkey Kong, a regular, tie-wearing ape in the jungle who happens to find 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 like K. Rool and Kaptain Skurvy, who wish to possess the Crystal Coconut for themselves. Each episode features two songs performed by the show's characters.
Cast
- Richard Yearwood - Donkey Kong
- Andrew Sabiston - Diddy Kong
- Lawrence Bayne - Kritters
- Donald Burda - Bluster Kong
- Benedict Campbell - King K. Rool
- Len Carlson - General Klump (Season 1)
- Neil Ross - General Klump (Season 2)
- Damon D'Oliveira - Funky Kong
- Dan Hennessey - Green Kroc (uncredited)
- Rick Jones - Inka Dinka Doo
- Ron Rubin - Krusha
- John Stocker - Kutlass (uncredited)
- Aron Tager - Cranky Kong
- Joy Tanner - Candy Kong
- Adrian Truss - Eddie the Mean Old Yeti
- Samuel Vincent - Dixie Kong
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).
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.
Donkey Kong Country was released as a feature-length 88 minute movie on VHS. 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 released in Australia) only held one episode. After over three years of no new English DVD, the UK released I Spy With My Hairy Eye.
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 Canada Teletoon United States Fox Kids and Fox Family United Kingdom Fox Kids UK and KidsCo Australia Network Ten, Fox Kids, FOX8, KidsCo Japan TV Tokyo Finland Yleisradio and YLE FST5 Sweden Canal+ Italy Fox Kids Italy and Italia 1 Germany Fox Kids Germany Spain Fox Kids Spain Brazil Fox Kids Brazil and Rede Record Portugal SIC and KidsCo Malaysia Disney Channel Asia Latin American ZAZ and Disney XD (Latin America) Philippines Net-25 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
- Donkey Kong Country at TV.com
- Donkey Kong Country at Retro Junk
- Donkey Kong Country at TV.com
Donkey Kong series List of video gamesArcade Main Handheld Spin-off games Characters Related articles Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co., Ltd. • Donkey Kong Country (TV series) • The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters • Crazy Kong • Donkey Kong Racing • Donkey Kong (truck)ABC Family History Television networks preceding ABC Family · Christian Broadcasting Network · ABC Family Worldwide Inc.Current original programming The Lying Game · Make It or Break It · Melissa & Joey · Pretty Little Liars · The Secret Life of the American Teenager · Switched at BirthUpcoming original programming Baby Daddy · Bunheads · Intercept · Jane By Design · Village PeopleFormer original programming 1990s debutsAmateur Hour (Revival) · Donkey Kong Country · Great Pretenders · The Home and Family Show · Maniac Mansion · Trimphix2000s debuts10 Things I Hate About You · Back on Campus · Beautiful People · Brat Camp · The Brendan Leonard Show · Da Möb · Greek · Kyle XY · Knock First · Las Vegas Garden of Love · Lincoln Heights · The Middleman · My Life is a Sitcom · Roommates · Ruby & The Rockits · Scariest Places On Earth · Slacker Cats · State of Grace · Switched! · Three Moons Over Milford · Venus and Serena: For Real · Wildfire2010s debutsRelated Categories:- Donkey Kong
- Animated series based on video games
- 1998 Canadian television series debuts
- 2000 Canadian television series endings
- Fox Kids
- Television series by Nelvana
- Fox network shows
- Fox Family shows
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.