It’s crazy to think that DK is called anything other than Donkey Kong, but there was a time when Nintendo considered other possibilities, including some wild swings.
In the 80s, Nintendo and Universal were on opposite sides of a lawsuit, with Nintendo accused of basing DK on the iconic movie star King Kong.
According to a 1983 court document from the case, Nintendo had a a lot of (hehe) ideas for possible Kong names before we decided on the Donkey variant.
The documents, which were scanned by gaming historian Norman Caruso in 2020 before recently resurfacing thanks to Mario fan account Supper Mario Broth, include just some of the names Nintendo had on the cards, including “Bill Kong,” “Steel Kong”, “Kong Holiday” and, ahem“Kongdong”…
You know what, this is a list you have to see to believe. Here are all of Nintendo’s suggestions, followed by Caruso’s document itself:
Funny Kong, Kong the Kong, Jack Kong, Funky Kong, Bill Kong, Steel Kong, Giant Kong, Big Kong, Kong Down, Kong Dong, Mr. Kong, Custom Kong, Kong Chase, Kong Boy, Kong Man, Kong Fighter, Wild Kong, Rookie Kong, Kong Holiday
There’s a lot to unpack there, right? Sure, we probably dodged a bullet with “Kong Dong” not making it through basic training, but we can’t be the only ones laughing at the names of the people there — ‘Bill Kong Country Returns HD’ coming next year. And what kind of name is “Funky Kong”? Well done That never appeared again…
The documents also include a doodle by Miyamoto from a 1981 meeting about Donkey Kong. It wasn’t supposed to be a monkey, was it?
Universal, of course, lost the case, with the judge concluding that the two Kongs (Donkey and King) were quite different. Another document shared by Caruso contains the following comparison by Judge Sweet:
The comical, childish and asexual Donkey Kong makes a humorous impression by jumping up and down and strutting back and forth to tease Mario. The Donkey Kong gorilla is thus very different from King Kong, a ferocious gorilla in search of a beautiful woman who goes on a rampage, chasing people, crushing them or throwing them to the ground, and fighting dinosaurs, giant snakes, airplanes and other gorillas. helicopters, all culminating in his tragic and bloody death.
We have to admit he has a point. The billion dollar movies and theme parks would suggest that Nintendo and Universal are now friends again, but these docs are still an interesting look at what once was.
‘Kong Dong Country’ may never have been a thing – and we can all be thankful for that – but Donkey Kong Country is and we’ll be getting a brand new HD release of it on Switch next January.