If you issue a tiny squeak when Donkey Kong enters the chat in The Super Mario Bros. Movie it might be because he's your favourite Nintendo character. Or it might be the soundtrack, which will specifically delight anyone who obsessed over Nintendo's Donkey Kong 64 in the '90s.
In one of the best moments of directors Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic's film, Mario (Chris Pratt), Peach (Anya Taylor Joy), and Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) have travelled to the Jungle Kingdom on a diplomatic mission. The ruler of the Jungle Kingdom, Cranky Kong (Fred Armisen), won't negotiate with any ol' princess or plumber, however, and challenges Mario to fight his son, Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen), in an arena scene worthy of Thor: Ragnarok.
It's here, Donkey Kong struts into the battle zone and flexes in overt bravado to the unmistakeable sounds of the beloved, completely silly "DK Rap." Written by Rare composer Grant Kirkhope pretty much as a joke for the game and performed by creative leads George Andreas and Chris Sutherland, this cheesy little number will be familiar to Nintendo 64 fiends, who refused to skip the opening number from Rare's 1999 game Donkey Kong 64.
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Seth Rogen, who voices DK in the film, called it "objectively one of the worst rap songs of all time." A bit harsh, but not entirely without merit.
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Rogen told Mashable he'd played most iterations of Donkey Kong, from the iconic 1981 arcade original to Rare's 1994 game Donkey Kong Country released on Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), to the 1999 Nintendo 64 version in question.
“I’m probably in the age where I played every version of [Donkey Kong]. Now, there’s like hundreds that have probably passed by me in the last decade or so. Donkey Kong was in the original Mario Bros. game, then Super Mario which I had on Commodore, it predated the Super Nintendo Entertainment System," Rogen told Mashable reporter Ty Cole.
"Then, when Nintendo 64 came out, I had that and that Donkey Kong 64 game. Donkey Kong Country, it’s funny looking back at it now because, you know, it doesn’t look fantastic, but at the time it blew my mind, it was a real leap forward."
As a kid, I personally worshipped Donkey Kong 64, the funny, multi-character platformer developed by Rare and published by Nintendo in 1999. I was 11 years old, thriving from years of visits to my cousins' house to destroy my tiny palm with spinning games on Mario Party on their Nintendo 64 any chance I could get (I love my cousins too, of course, they're the best). Finally, one Christmas, my sister and I landed our very own Nintendo 64 in Ice Blue. ICE BLUE, PEOPLE. (Thaaaaanks Mum.) Of course, we devoured the Rare-developed Treasure Trove Coves and Freezeezy Peaks of Banjo-Kazooie first in '98, but then moved on to the bright yellow cartridge that was Donkey Kong 64 in '99.
The first thing you see when you load DK 64, before you jump into the Frantic Factory and Crystal Caves of it all? The "DK Rap". All five playable members of the Kong crew — Donkey, Chunky, Tiny, Diddy, and Lanky — perform their special abilities while Andreas and Sutherland rap about each character, and Cranky Kong helms the decks as DJ. Though Tiny, Chunky, and Lanky Kong don't appear in the film, Diddy gets a shoutout in the crowd at least.
Donkey Kong 64's creative leads George Andreas, Grant Kirkhope, Mark Stevenson, and Chris Sutherland created the "DK Rap" as a joke for the game. Sadly, Kirkhope hasn't been included in the credits for The Super Mario Movie, a fact he lamented on Twitter.
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"What began life as a lunchtime joke between Andreas, Kirkhope, and Rare programmer Chris Sutherland, the song was panned by fans and critics upon the game's release for its cringy lyrics and seemingly foolhardy attempt at a serious rap track," wrote Tom Power for Games Radar in 2019. "Like Donkey Kong 64, time has changed people's perceptions of the DK Rap. It's become a meme, been remixed by DJs across the globe, and appeared on DK-themed stages in the Super Smash Bros franchise. The DK Rap has taken on subcultural significance, and its tongue-in-cheek nature — one of Rare's hallmarks — has helped it to transcend generations."
Here's DK's verse, just so you can understand the majesty of it all:
He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well
He's finally back to kick some tail
His coconut gun can fire in spurts
If he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt!
He's bigger, faster, and stronger too
He's the first member of the DK crew!
So, yeah, Rogen's not wrong about the artistry of the lyrics — though the song's coda repeats the highly catchy line "Walnuts, peanuts, pineapple smells/Grapes, melons, oranges and coconut shells/Aww yeah." But to see DK enter the arena to fight Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, technically a longer-term adversary of Mario's than Bowser, to the sounds of "DK! Don-key Kong!" was an absolute treat for nostalgic millennial gamers like me.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie comes to theatres on April 7.
