"Donkey Kong Country" (1997) TV series 1997-2000

Director:

Mike Fallows

Writers:

Richard Elliott (writer)
Simon Racioppa (writer)

Seasons:

1 | 2 | unknown

Genre:

Action | Family | Animation | Comedy | Adventure

Plot:

Donkey Kong and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, star in a new computer-generated rendition of the classic video game...

Plot Keywords:

Donkey Kong | Banana | Monkey | Surrealism | Mario

Cast

Andrew Sabiston	...	Diddy Kong (41 episodes, 1997-2000)
Richard Yearwood	...	Donkey Kong (40 episodes, 1997-2000)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Donkey Kong (40 episodes, 1997-2000)

Runtime:

USA:30 min (40 episodes) (including commercials)

Country:

France | Canada

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:G | UK:PG (DVD rating) | USA:TV-Y7

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

A direct to home video movie was made back in November 9, 1999 titled as "Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut". However instead of it being an entirely original full length movie it was only four Captain Scurvy episodes edited together. The episodes were recorded in poor chronological order, for example "Ape-Nesia" was presented as the third episode on the tape. While "Booty and the Beast" was the last one on the tape. This created a confusion when "Ape-Nesia" showed a flashback of a clip from "Booty and the Beast".

Quotes:

Donkey Kong: I never knew any problem that couldn't be solved without a little nap!

Movie Connections:

Remake of Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (1996) (VG)

Meh

I'm a fan of the Donkey Kong games, so I was kind of excited when I saw they'd made this into a show. I'd had great experiences with my other favorite video game heroes, Earthworm Jim and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Sadly, I found myself disappointed with the show. It was made for younger audiences, which can always lower a rating with older fans. I accepted the overall plot of K. Rool being after the Crystal Coconut. It was kind of corny, but I could get past that.

Now, as much as I love music, I believe that having a song in pretty much every episode slowed things down. DK's voice actor had a lovely singing voice, yes, but the singing (in my opinion) got in the way of things. They usually had poor lyrics too. The dialogue wasn't the greatest either, but it wasn't horrid.

My major complaint is that I wasn't happy with how some of the characters were dealt with. I didn't mind the addition of Bluster, though I think they went overboard with his character flaws. I didn't mind the absence of certain characters. I simply would have liked to see them come in and do something or other. The only one I really wished would have made it was Wrinkly Kong. Actually, the only two characters I had a problem with were Candy and Dixie. I didn't mind Candy's design change. It might bother most fans of the game, but I took it as an improvement. Her personality lacked severely though. I doubt the Candy from the games was the smartest cookie in the cracker barrel, but at least she was helpful and kind. The Candy in this show is essentially useless, bossy and annoyingly shallow. She was a bit of a control freak too.

Dixie wasn't much better. I could accept the change in design, even if I didn't care for it. Again, it was personality that really got to me. She lost her pizazz. She was much more passive and bland. She had no spunk, and for some reason lost her animals on a continuous basis. (What did she do to those animals, anyway?) Dixie was one of my favorite characters from the game, so it was disheartening to see such an extreme change that wasn't for the better. I'm not sure why they limited themselves. Had they kept her original spunk, they could have had so many more opportunities for show ideas.

King K. Rool and the Kremlings also become fairly blah in the show. They were a bit on the dippy side. I know that was done because they wanted to aim the show at younger audiences, but I still don't care for the changes.

I didn't hate the show. I watched it. I was merely disappointed in it. People who are huge fans of the video games and would throw a fit if any injustice were done to it should steer clear of this show. It strays from the video game a little too much. (I know in some cases they need to stray a little to make it work.) Those unfamiliar with the games or are only "meh" fans might like it, or just not care one way or another.