List of Donkey Kong Country (television series) pre-release and unused content
This is a list of pre-release and unused content for the television series Donkey Kong Country.
Early ideas
Early reference sketches for production depict multiple concepts that were considered but ultimately unused in the show proper, including the Animal Friends characters Rambi, Expresso, and Winky, a more game-accurate appearance for Candy Kong and a desert-like area for Kongo Bongo Island.
Character size chart showing the Animal Friends and a different design for Candy Kong
Reference sheet for Donkey Kong and the Kremlings
Concept art for DK's Tree House
Partially-covered concept art for Kongo Bongo Island
Early scripts
After thirteen episodes were written, Medialab asked Nelvana for assistance after firing the original writers due to them including various racist and sexist jokes.[1] As storyboards had already been produced for ten of the original scripts, Nelvana decided to write new stories around these storyboards to save money.[1]
Early footage
An official video by Medialab was released that featured two clips containing pre-release footage of the show, voiced over by a woman explaining the show's production.[2] The first of which is shown to be much earlier footage, with unfinished visuals, while the second is near-complete. The first clip starts off with a title card, with a man saying, "Donkey Kong Country take one! And action!" It then shows Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong jumping around on a tree, making monkey noises. They then stop to look at Cranky's Cabin. They see King K. Rool marching towards Cranky's Cabin, with harmful intentions, with Cranky standing outside. DK then sets off a Trigger Barrel, setting off traps, with K. Rool running away from them. Diddy then sets off a Trigger Barrel, creating a hole in the bridge and making K. Rool fall.[2] The sequence shares some similarities with "Bad Hair Day."
The screen then changes to the second clip, featuring a near-complete version of "Bad Hair Day." It starts with the scene where DK, Diddy and Funky are all in the plane, flying off. It then cuts to the scene where DK is looking in the mirror, trying to look good so he can impress Candy. It then cuts to the scene in K. Rool's lair where the Candy Clone is being built. The Candy Clone is shown to have a much different voice compared to the final.[3]
References
- ^ a b "Medialab owned the property (optioned from Nintendo) and had 13 episodes written (that were HORRENDOUS - with racist/sexist jokes and just sooo bad for a kiddie show.) They fired the original writers and asked Nelvana to repair what had been done. Since almost 10 storyboards were already conceived from the 10 horrible scripts, Nelvana was forced to use them - to save some money. So new stories were written based around the drawings/storyboards. No easy task!" – Erika Strobel (canuckgirl1966) (August 5, 2008). Donkey Kong Country. Retrojunk. Archived December 27, 2008, 06:03:42 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ a b Fabienne Legrand (November 11, 2011). Aventure_DonkeyKong_Medialab.wmv. YouTube. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
- ^ Rare tendo (September 18, 2022). Donkey Kong Country Bad Hair Day I'm Candy Kong's Clone Differences and Comparisons (Lost Media). YouTube. Retrieved February 28, 2025.
