Gorilla Ghost (episode)

Saturday Supercade episode
"Gorilla Ghost"
Segment	Donkey Kong Jr.
Season	1
Episode	11
Airdate	November 26, 1983[?]
Writer(s)	Matt Uitz Michael Maurer
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"Gorilla Ghost" is the eleventh episode of Saturday Supercade's Donkey Kong Jr. segment.

Plot synopsis

Donkey Kong Jr. and Bones head to the City Zoo to visit Uncle Julius, as Donkey Kong Jr. believes that his literal uncle could figure out the whereabouts of Donkey Kong. They stop at the entrance, only to find it to be closed, with a suspicious woman telling them that the animals are all "sick," but "[she's] taking good care of them". The duo decide to hop the fence anyways. Bones crashes into a tree that an ape is sitting on, with Donkey Kong Jr. confirming that the ape is in fact Uncle Julius. Uncle Julius embraces his nephew, claiming he thought they were the Gorilla Ghost. He explains that the Gorilla Ghost is an odd white "gorilla" with red eyes that kidnaps animals at night. Donkey Kong Jr. decides to spend the night at the zoo to figure out the truth, to which Bones reluctantly agrees.

That night, the trio awakes to an eerie sound, and they jump out of the tree to find the Gorilla Ghost kidnapping the elephants. Donkey Kong Jr. unleashes his "Monkey Muscle!" as he and Bones ride a wheeled popcorn dispenser to give chase. The Gorilla Ghost simply throws a boulder to distract them, causing the popcorn dispenser to crash into the ostrich exhibit and the popcorn to fall right by the ostriches, who both eat it up. The duo then uses the ostriches to continue the chase. They attempt to split up to corner the Gorilla Ghost, but both of them jump too high and get ensnared in a nearby dangling rope.

The Gorilla Ghost then throws both of them into the pit near the snake exhibit. As they try to figure out how to exit the pit, Bones takes out a handful of popcorn kernels. Donkey Kong Jr. takes out the kernels and rubs them in his hands to create frictional heat and pop them. They succeed in exiting the pit, but lose track of the Gorilla Ghost.

Uncle Julius tells the duo that all of the elephants were stolen, and that he might be the Gorilla Ghost's next victim. Donkey Kong Jr. then reassures his uncle, pointing to Bones, now in an ape costume. The Gorilla Ghost then appears, and Bones manages to distract him long enough. However, the tree branch he is standing on collapses, and he falls right on top of Donkey Kong Jr. just before the Gorilla Ghost drags him away. Donkey Kong Jr. tries to unleash "Monkey Muscle!" again, but is easily knocked away. Sensing the peril, Uncle Julius unleashes his own "Monkey Muscle!", knocking out the Gorilla Ghost to find that he is actually a human. As the Gorilla Ghost continues to chase Bones, Donkey Kong Jr. knocks down all of the bananas from a nearby tree, quickly eating the bananas and tossing the peels at the Gorilla Ghost, causing him to slip. The trio celebrates their victory, but their celebration is cut short when the suspicious woman from earlier (whose name is revealed to be Aurora) captures them and takes them to her mine, which is nearby.

Aurora and the Gorilla Ghost are revealed to be the masterminds behind an animal slavery movement to speed up the search for gold in her mine. As Aurora goes to check on the elephants, the Gorilla Ghost mocks Bones for his not-so-superhuman strength. Bones manages to stub the Gorilla Ghost's toe with his boulder, as Donkey Kong Jr. tosses him into a mine cart and pushes him away. The trio breaks out of their chains, and Donkey Kong Jr. manages to break down some boulders for all three of them to hide in.

Meanwhile, Aurora forces the elephants to break up some rocks with water and pressure, forming a small bit of gold. As Aurora is beyond pleased with her haul, the Gorilla Ghost, unaware of the trio hiding in boulders, reports that the trio has escaped. Aurora vows to find them, and as the Gorilla Ghost leaves, Donkey Kong Jr. and Uncle Julius mistakenly attack Bones after confusing him for the Gorilla Ghost, causing Aurora to spot them. As Aurora ties them up once more, she and the Gorilla Ghost escape on elephants with all of their gold.

Uncle Julius manages to break the rope by rubbing it on a sharp stone, and they chase the criminal duo by riding boulders. As Donkey Kong Jr. and Uncle Julius manage to rip out the gates from their hinges to bend them into a cage, Bones crashes directly onto Aurora and the Gorilla Ghost, knocking them out. As the criminal duo regain their consciousnesses, they are flung by the elephants into the makeshift cage. Donkey Kong Jr. then labels it "Crook Exhibit."

As Donkey Kong Jr. prepares to leave, Bones informs them that he thinks he now knows what it is like to be a gorilla. However, the tire swing he swings on pops off, and he is flung straight onto the motorbike. The episode ends with Donkey Kong Jr. says "Oh, you're the toughest with me, Bones...except for papa Donkey Kong, of course!"

Gallery

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  Title card

Animation and continuity errors

• Just as Donkey Kong Jr. and Bones fall into the pit in the snake exhibit, the snakes are seen just above the pit. However, as Donkey Kong Jr. pops enough popcorn to exit the pit, the snakes are seen leaving the pit.
• When Bones is hiding in the boulder, he is seen in his normal clothing instead of his ape costume in one shot.