Referenced By / Donkey Kong

Anime & Manga

• Kodocha: In episodes 85 and 86, Akito and his friends visit an arcade that has a couple of scenes where there's audio of a failed playthrough of the 75m level.

Asian Animation

• In the Simple Samosa episode "Khelo Samosa", one of the levels of the game Samosa and his friends save entrapped citizens from is the 25m level from the original Donkey Kong arcade game, but with a strongman in place of Donkey Kong, background character Dahi Puri Mausi in place of Pauline, and the barrels that are thrown into the playfield replaced by big dumbbells.

Film — Animated

• The Lorax: The Once-ler asks Ted "Why aren't you like other kids? Breakdancing and wearing bell-bottoms and playing the Donkey Kongs?"
• Megamind: After training Hal to be a superhero proves disastrous, Minion tries to change tactics by modeling the next training course on a level from the original arcade game, complete with him (who is a Mobile Fishbowl attached to a gorilla suit) throwing the barrels.
• The titular character from Wreck-It Ralph is very clearly inspired by Donkey Kong as he appears in the 1981 arcade game, being a large antagonist who stands on top of a building and wreaks havoc while one of the building's workers tries to stop him.

Film — Live-Action

• Ultraman Ginga S The Movie: Showdown! The 10 Ultra Warriors!: Gouki tries escaping from a bunch of sentient tomatoes rolling after him during his Imagine Spot, in a shot that directly homages the gameplay screen of Donkey Kong. But with tomatoes instead of barrels◊.
• War for the Planet of the Apes: Apes that are loyal to the Alpha Omega troop are called "Donkeys" by its soldiers.

Literature

• In Queens of Geek, Alyssa beats Charlie at Donkey Kong.
• In I Think I Love You, Sharon remembers her father playing Donkey Kong with her boyfriend.

Live-Action TV

• Angel: In the episode "You're Welcome", Spike plays the original Donkey Kong... on the Xbox.
• Big Wolf on Campus: In "Commie Dawkins", Tommy and Merton travel back in time to the year 1989 through a wormhole. Tommy suggests they go to the Factory (a recurring place in the series that's a teen hangout) and see what video games they had, leading to this exchange:
  Merton: Tommy, I for one didn't just leap over the single most significant astrophysical hurdle in the history of mankind (gasp) to play a game of Donkey Kong!
  Tommy: Well maybe they have Frogger.
• Married... with Children: In "Requiem for a Dead Barber", as Al is complaining about how lousy everything is today, he says that he prefers pinball games over video games, citing "What do I care if a monkey can make it all the way to a top of a building? Unless he's up there to throw off his wife, what's the point?"
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood: In Episode 1514: "Mister Rogers Talks About Games", Mister Rogers visits Brandon at the arcade, where Brandon plays Donkey Kong and shows him how to play the game.

Music

• Alestorm's sixth album, Curse of the Crystal Coconut, contains several references to Donkey Kong. The track "Pirate's Scorn" is a cover of a song from the Donkey Kong Country TV series, the title of the album is almost directly the name of an episode from the same show (replacing "Legend" with "Curse"), and the album artwork features a Crystal Coconut from Donkey Kong 64, a gorilla skeleton wearing a tie, a few Kremlings, a TNT barrel, and a DK Coin.
• Donkey Kong makes a cameo in the begining of this song of Destripando La Historia.
• DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince's "Human Video Game" tells the story of Will Smith's (exaggerated) addiction to Donkey Kong and various other arcade games in the early 1980's; complete with the beat being built around a beatboxed interpolation of Donkey Kong's main level theme.

Video Games

• Banjo-Kazooie contains a few references to the Donkey Kong franchise, as both franchises were developed by Rareware at the time:
  • In the file select for the first game, Banjo can be seen playing a Game Boy, and the sound effects are taken from Donkey Kong Land.
  • Conga, the boss of Mumbo's Mountain, looks and behaves like Donkey Kong in his arcade era, only he has black fur and attacks with oranges instead of barrels. His voice is also borrowed from the one Donkey premieres in Mario Kart 64. To a lesser extent, Chimpy looks similar in appearance to Diddy.
  • Gnawty, an enemy from Donkey Kong Country, appears in Click Clock Wood.
  • Three of the incorrect answers in the "Grunty's Furnace Fun" mini-game include "Funky the Monkey", "Cranky Kong", and "Grunty Kong 64".
  • In Banjo-Tooie, Goggles is seen playing with a Donkey Kong plush.
  • In the N64 version of Banjo-Tooie, a sticker for Donkey Kong 64 can be seen on the refrigerator in the break room of Grunty Industries. This was changed to a Banjo-Kazooie sticker in the Xbox Live Arcade re-release.
  • Also in Banjo-Tooie, in the "Tower Of Tragedy" mini-game, one of the incorrect answers to the "What is on the front of the Banjo-Tooie box?" question is "Banjo, Kazooie, and Donkey Kong". In the same mini-game, one of the incorrect answers to the "Which of these is an area in Hailfire Peaks?" question is "Crystal Caverns".
  • In Banjo-Pilot, Expresso, an animal buddy from Donkey Kong Country appears in Jinxy's Dunes.
  • In Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, the correct answer to the "Which game featured a Banjo appearance but wasn't a Banjo game?" question in the "Six of the Best" mini-game is Diddy Kong Racing.
• In Conker's Pocket Tales (another game by Rareware), Conker's Idle Animation involves him pulling out a Game Boy Color and playing Donkey Kong Land on it, with music from that game's bonus stage playing in the background.
• The Sega CD version of Earthworm Jim has the unlockable "Worm Kong" mask, which resembles Donkey Kong with an arrow through his head. This was done in response to the original Donkey Kong Country game outselling the original Earthworm Jim game in retail sales.
• In Infinite Craft, possible crafting recipes include Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and Dixie Kong, among others.
• In a Linked Game in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, Vire kidnaps Princess Zelda and Link has to climb the Black Tower to save her while avoiding Vire's fireballs, similar to 25m.
• In LEGO City Undercover, the Red Brick from the Special Assignment "Miner Altercation" is collected in an area only accessible in Free Play where Chase must climb to the top of a structure while dodging the boulders that roll down it. Chase says that he hopes there's no giant ape at the top.
• In the Licensed Game of The Lion King, the boss of the sixth level, "Hakuna Matata", is a gorilla who climbs higher and higher while throwing coconuts that Simba has to dodge.
• In South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, the "Bad Kitty" mini-game is essentially a clone of the original Donkey Kong game, with Eric Cartman in the role of Donkey Kong, throwing dodgeballs at Mr. Kitty, who tries to get his pot pie.
• In Super Lucky's Tale, one 2D section of of "Securing the Talent" (part of Gilly Island) involves Lucky climbing to the top of the stage, dodging rolling spiked logs being tossed around by a yeti.
• In the Tiny Toon Adventures Licensed Game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, the boss of the fourth level is a gorilla on top of a skyscraper, whom you defeat by attacking the smaller gorillas it summons.

Web Animation

• Animator vs. Animation: In Animation vs. Arcade Games, Donkey Kong is among the many arcade games Yellow creates when he uses his laptop to transfer the games into his arcade cabinet allowing his friends to play, as well as becoming disrupted by Q*bert who's messing with the arcade games. It also has both the main characters from their respective game, Jumpman and Pauline, fight against the main protagonists when their being mind controlled by Q*bert.

Web Video

• Atop the Fourth Wall: During his review of the first part of The Dark Knight Strikes Again, Linkara has this to say about its cover:
  Linkara: Also for some reason, this comic's abbreviation is "DK2". What's wrong with "DKSA"? It's not like the original was just called "Dark Knight". If you wanted to point out that it's a sequel to The Dark Knight Returns, then it'd be "TDKR2". Otherwise, it just looks like you're talking about Donkey Kong.
• Console Wars: In the Ghostbusters (1984) episode, Stanley the Bugman appears as one of the ghosts who invades the city and gets captured by Pat and Dan in the climax.
• The Nostalgia Critic:
  • In one of his first reviews, the trailer for Cloverfield, the Critic wonders if the giant monster is Donkey Kong.
  • In his review of The Lorax, the Critic, based on the quote above, is unsure of how to feel if Donkey Kong is now officially part of the Dr. Seuss canon.
  • In his review of Tarzan, during the scene where Sabor kills Kerchak and Kala's baby, the Critic says "Not even three minutes in and Diddy Kong becomes Cocoa Krispies."

Western Animation

• Drawn Together: In "Toot Goes Bollywood", after Xandir tells Toot she isn't a hideous beast, the scene cuts to them in a Donkey Kong-like game, with Toot as Donkey Kong and Xandir as Mario.
• DuckTales (1987): Near the beginning of "Once Upon a Dime", Huey, Dewey and Louie try to convince Scrooge that they have a lucky quarter of their own in contrast to Scrooge's Number One Dime. Huey goes on to tell Scrooge that they won six rounds of a game called Ducky Kong with it, and that the arcade machine gave them back their quarter every time.
• The Fairly Oddparents: In "Fairy Fairy Quite Contrary", Timmy and Remy Buxaplenty get into a magical duel over who gets to keep their fairy godparents. The first challenge involves the fairies rescuing their godchild from a giant ape who throws barrels.
• Family Guy:
  • A cutaway from "Encyclopedia Griffin" depicts a "secret level" in Donkey Kong where DK accidentally rips Pauline in half, prompting him and Mario to dispose of the body and invent an alibi.
  • The episode "Single White Dad" opens with Peter unearthing his old NES and introducing Chris to Donkey Kong, inspiring them to build a life-sized game front of the house, with Chris jumping over water jugs thrown by Peter. The main plot kicks off when one jug breaks Lois' foot, forcing Peter to take over her duties while she recovers.
    Chris: Uh, what universe does this even take place in? Everything needs to take place in a universe!
    Peter: It's a warehouse with ladders where a monkey took a girl.
    Chris: What about the microtransactions that slowly bankrupt our family? Or the children slinging racist taunts into your earpiece?
    Peter: It has two buttons, and I have to look down when I press them.
• Futurama:
  • The first episode opens with Fry in 1999 playing a game called Monkey Fracas Jr., which includes a barrel-throwing gorilla.
  • In "A Bicyclops Built for Two", a scene in the video game Death Factory III: The Legend of Death Factory II has Fry dodging barrels thrown by a gorilla.
  • In "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz", Leela asks "Hey, why aren't you Kong Donkeys outside cleaning up?".
  • In the '"Raiders of the Lost Arcade'' segment of "Anthology of Interest II", Donkey Kong appears as the ambassador for the planet Nintendu 64.
    Fry: Hey, I know that monkey! His name is Donkey.
    Professor: Monkey's aren't donkeys! Stop messing with my head!
  • In the Future Challenge 3000 segment of "Reincarnation", the Professor is seen jumping over a barrel and scoring 100 points while he's in a depressed state.
• Get Ace: In "Monkey Madness", Ace has to rescue Tina from an enlarged simian throwing barrels at him from the top of a rollercoaster.
• Glenn Martin, DDS: In "Videogame Wizard", Jackie gets addicted to a similar game called "Monkey Bridge" and ends up using her skills in the real world when a crisis turns out remarkably like one of the game's levels.
• Gravity Falls: In "Fight Fighters", Rumble breaks into a barrel factory and starts throwing barrels at Robbie, who has to dodge them like Mario.
• Inside Job: The episode "Blue Bloods" references King K. Rool's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as one of the big achievements for positive propaganda for the reptoids in The New '10s.
• MAD
  • A sketch from "Pokemon Park / WWER" features an ad for the Donkey Strong exercise program that involves working out by throwing barrels. The 27-disc set comes with the bonus cardio workout, Running from Hammers.
  • In a special monkey-themed episode, Donkey Kong is a contestant on The Celebrity Ape-prentice.
• In the Muppet Babies (1984) episode, "It's Only Pretendo", Baby Gonzo plays a Donkey Kong-style game, with a Mario counterpart as player character. However, instead of Donkey Kong himself, a dragon named King Copacabana throws things down. Screens from the actual Donkey Kong game also appear in the episode.
• Robot Chicken: A sketch from "The Sack" features the first level of Donkey Kong being raided by Spartans.
• Rugrats (1991): In "Diapies and Dragons", part of the video game that Tommy, Chuckie, and Kimi play resembles Donkey Kong, albeit with a dragon in place of Donkey Kong and dragon eggs in place of DK's barrels.
• The Simpsons
  • In "Marge Be Not Proud", Bart is goaded into shoplifting a must-have video game by visions of game characters, including Mario and Donkey Kong ("It's the company's fault for making you want it so much").
  • In "The Springfield Files", the Noiseland Arcade holds an event where people can meet Donkey Kong, played by a cigarette-smoking gorilla, in person. Nobody shows up.
    Manager: Sorry, Donkey Kong, you're just not a draw anymore. (the gorilla chucks a barrel at him) Hey, he's still got it.
  • In "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass", Homer becomes an Internet laughingstock and is noticed by an Italian tour group that includes Mario, prompting Homer to throw trash cans at him in a scene spoofing the gameplay.
  • *In "Gorgeous Grampa", Mr. Burns' Villain Song has him rattling off various pop culture villains (complete with his shadow morphing into their silhouettes), including Donkey Kong from his arcade era.
  • In "The Incredible Lightness of Being a Baby", Courtney tells Marge that her toilet is pricey but the plumbers she hired to replace it are very inefficient. Mario can then be seen in the bathroom, hitting the toilet with a hammer as Donkey Kong throws barrels at him.

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