Donkey Kong Country (TV series)

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Donkey Kong Country

Genre	Animation
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Creator(s)	Jacques Goldstein Philippe Percebois
Starring	Andrew Sabiston Aron Tager Richard Yearwood Joy Tanner Damon D' Oliveira Ben Campbell Len Carlson Ron Rubin Frank Welker Neil Ross Adrian Truss Donald Burda Louise Vallance Andy Hamielton
Country of origin	France
Original channel	France 2
Original run	US: August 15, 1998–July 7, 2000
No. of episodes	40
IMDb profile

Donkey Kong Country is a 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 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 series won in 1999 a (public voted) award at 7 d'Or for Best Animation and Youth Program (Meilleure émission d'animation et de jeunesse).

The Crystal Coconut

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.

A few 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. 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 Fox 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.

1 Characters
- 1.1 Characters From the Games
- 1.2 Characters exclusive to the show
2 Episodes
3 Actors
- 3.1 Character voices
- 3.2 Guest stars
4 External links

[edit] Characters

This shot of the Kongs was used for many products released in Japan.

[edit] Characters From the Games

These characters all came from Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (mostly the former, though). 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.
Diddy Kong - DK's sidekick and his "favorite nephew." Voiced by Andrew Sabiston, who had earlier voiced Yoshi in Super Mario World. But the show makes no reference to their relation. DK just always refers to him as his "little buddy".
Cranky Kong - DK's father, 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, nor does he refer to him as "Pappy" or "Dad".
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. 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.
Dixie Kong - Diddy's unofficial girlfriend, and the only character on the show directly from the second Country. 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 doesn't get much action. She also has a habit of losing her pets.
King K. Rool - The main villain of the series, always attempting to steal the Crystal Coconut and take over the island. About his only change in physical appearance is that his cape is much shorter. Voiced by Ben Campbell.
Krusha - K. Rool's bodyguard. He has the IQ of a young child and enjoys watching the Sing Along with Uncle Swampy Show.
Klump - K. Rool's general. He often carries out his boss's plans, but without success. Voiced by Len Carlson, who had earlier voiced Ganon in The Legend of Zelda.
Kritters - Basically described as K. Rool's answer to Bowser's Koopa Troopas. They look as they did in the first game, but are armed with Klap-Blasters.
Klaptraps - Klaptraps 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 are eating.

[edit] Characters exclusive to the show

These characters appeared only in the show, and did not appear in any games.

Bluster Kong - The boss of the Bluster Barrelworks factory, where barrels are produced. He has an ego the size of Texas and constantly hits on Candy (his lone employee), unsuccessfully.
Junior the Giant Klaptrap - As his name suggests, he is an abnormally large Klaptrap (about Diddy's size).
Polly Roger the Parrot - Formerly the pet parrot of Kaptain Skurvy, Polly Roger now works for K. Rool. He and Klump do not get along well.
Baby Kong - Donkey Kong's nephew. Not to be confused with Kiddy Kong from Donkey Kong Country 3.
Robot Candy Clone - A robot look-alike of Candy created by K. Rool to lure DK into certain traps.
Kaptain Skurvy - A secondary villain for the series, and a pirate-themed one. His design resembles Kannon from the second Country game, and it has even been revealed that he is Klump's long lost twin brother.
Kutlass and Green Kroc - Skurvy's minions, the former of whom shares a name with one of the enemies from the second game. Green Kroc, despite his name, resembles a black Kritter, whereas Kutlass looks like a lighter-shaded K. Rool.
Eddie the Mean Old Yeti - A white-furred ape who lives alone in the White Mountains. He doesn't seem to like it when other characters intrude on his territory. He is possibly based on Manky Kong from Donkey Kong Country.
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 on featured. This stone block turns around to show the expression that matches his current mood. Hidden deep within his temple is the Golden Banana, an item reputed to have magical powers so great, they rival those of the Crystal Coconut.