Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country is a 1997 animated television series based on the video game Donkey Kong Country from Nintendo and Rare, co-produced by Nelvana Limited, Medialab Studio L.A. (Season 1) and Hong Guang Animation (Season 2), in association with WIC Entertainment, with the participation of Teletoon—for Season 1, it was produced in co-production with France 2, Canal+, and produced in association with Valar 4.

The show was first introduced in France on September 4, 1996, on France 2, on a hybrid live-action and performance-capture-animated block titled La Planète de Donkey Kong (The Planet of Donkey Kong). It later became a full series and broadcast from August 15, 1997, to July 7, 2000.

Donkey Kong Country is the first television series to be primarily animated using performance capture technology. Several elements of the series, such as the Crystal Coconut, appeared in later Donkey Kong video games like Donkey Kong 64 (itself released three years after the show began airing on television). The second season was produced by Taiwanese CG studio CGCG (which featured updated character models, silkier lighting and key framing as opposed to performance capture), and was first announced in May 1999.