@@Liggliluff The problem is that Nagasako's DK voice is too Goofy to work in a fighting game. Nintendo confirmed that DK was inspired by King Kong, so it makes sense that DK would be more serious if the focus is combat.
@@orangeslash1667 Eh, the game is not that serious. There's a lot of goofy characters so I think that was a bad move on their part. Robbed us from seeing Dk going "Okay!" while taunting.
@@rocketleax5 Sakurai wanted DK's personally to be like his arcade game incarnation, which was also inspired by King Kong. Why because his arcade game design is much larger than the Country design, which makes it easier to work in a fighting game format. Sakurai likes to simplify characters if it's the easy answer.
@@orangeslash1667Diddy, Bowser, K. Rool, and Dedede also got the same treatment to their voices as DK. I wish they didn’t make that decision because it kinda takes away a bit of the charm of those characters. Not to mention, characters like Banjo and Bowser Jr. have their voices unchanged.
I feel like both Grant's and Takashi's takes on DK are pretty good! I really like how both of them attempted to do a more cartoonish voice for the ape.
I’m more into Soupy and Grant’s DK voices. I just like the general idea of DK being a very likable goofball because just by being himself, he is a cool guy for this reason (much like Richard Epcar’s Bo-Bobo voice); a complete opposite of Richard Yearwood, where it feels that DK is an unlikable moron, because he’s trying to hard to be cool for no reason.
There is a lot of charm in the dk 64 Donkey Kong voice, but I do really like the modern ones laugh and monkey screams. The Mario Striker games have to be the modern voice at it's best if you ask me.
Chirs Sutherland did many voices for the SNES DKC games, so it wouldn't be that outlandish to consider the idea that he might have also done DK's grunts there. His various Kremling voices are truly legendary
Probably depends on your age tbh. The first ones I think of after the "hey-he" are the ones from Retro's DKC games since I've heard them so much whenever starting a level.
imo Takashi's voice is a more refined, more animalistic take on what Grant started. You can hear a lot of the same personality, just expanded upon to fit DK more as a character. His newer voice is awesome and it's my favorite. But it wouldn't be here without what Grant started.
Also I don't feel like the voices divert enough to be nearly as jarring. Also Grant not being a voice actor plays it it not being as refined, but I think you can tell his voice clips did have some influence on how modern DKs voice sounds.
To add to the list of voices, Charles Martinet, yes that Charles Martinet, also voiced Donkey Kong for the Mario in Real Time event. Here's an example of his voice for the character: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-NcdkFsVFzMI.html
10:00 I believe they just wanted to take a new direction with Donkey Kong's voice - like you said, new voice samples for new games. Grant's voice was also used in 2010's Mario Vs. DK Mini-Land Mayhem (alongside Nagasako), and an E3 demo for Jungle Beat used Grant's samples as well.
Not completely Donkey Kong related, but my grandmother actually met Soupy Sales (supercade Donkey Kong’s voice) when she was a little girl. Her parents had connections in show biz lol
What I really like about both Grant and Takashi's voices is that they bring out different facets of DK's personality. Grant's deep voice represents DK's relaxed but more simpleton mannerisms while Takashi just goes ham and represents DK's more playful, mischievous and animalistic side, they're both great in their own right
For the clip at 1:38, that's actually Levi Stubbs from an ep where Mother Brain, DK and Gameboy switch bodies, though Garry Chalk does voice him normally in that show.
That silly little "huagh huagh" noise DK used to make in the N64 games never fails to make me laugh... I like how every rendition of DK gives him a different personality. Or, indeed, aspects of his personality! Grant's DK is my favourite, but I love the cartoon too so Richard and Sterling are high on my list as well. Again, both media give the character a different vibe, but it fits regardless, I think. ...I've never seen Captain N, even though I own a cel of DK from it - but that voice coming from him sounded.... really weird, lol. I love DK a lot and am happy to see you cover him in this episode!
I was hoping you'd mention DKC as well. DK does technically have a voice in that game - when he's hurt, when he does his chest-pounding idle animation, when he's calling out from inside a DK Barrel, and possibly other times I can't remember.
Grant Kirkhope wrote the DK rap, voiced donkey Kong, made the soundtrack for Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and made 2 Dream SMP songs. I just keep learning more about this guy.
To me honestly his canon voice will always be Grant Kirkhope that's literally how a talkative DK should sound like,i mean c'mon how can you hear the "OKAAAY" and the "COOOOL" lines and say it's not the best one? Lol But regardless,as much as i prefer Grant,i've gotten used to Nagasako he does a great job at the role even though i much prefer a speaking DK.
It feels weird the sounds in DKC 1-3 were just skipped in this video. :O They're more than just robotic beeps, and maybe even used animal sounds before Mario Kart 64 did. It's kinda hard to tell what Rare did or used for that...
What an obscure story, can't believe I watched this video all the way to the end. :D To be honest, Donkey Kong's modern voice fits his character the best!
Grant probably gets my soft spot, but I can’t deny that Takashi does a fantastic Kong, correctly pointed out as very Scooby-like. The sampled Gorilla noises are very funny to me and do the job pretty well too, I think the only mainline voices that don’t work for me are the strange Bowser-sounding smash voice clips.
My grade school years were (basically) the 1980's, so naturally I watched Saturday Morning Supercade, a programming block of cartoons based on video games. I had no idea Soupy Sales was DK in that show.
I grew up playing the dk 64 game so that voice is always the one I think of. I still have the "ooooh banana" sound play in my head quite often when I find bananas in a game lol But Takashi's voice is, imo, close enough in spirit that it doesn't take away from the Grant's voice :)
You forgot to talk about the dkc series on super Nintendo, for example the sound dk make when he dies, as well as when you don't move for awhile and then he start banging his chest, or when his eyes pop out when you're on the edge about to fall down 😂😉🙈🙉🙊👏
OMG THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!! It's weird because yesterday I was wondering who voiced DK in MP1 and MP2 and was kinda hoping you made a video on it!
Was anyone else kind of scared of Donkey Kong's voice in the N64 and Game Cube games? Idk why, but it always terrified me as a kid when I heard those noises lol
Absolutely. His neutral voice has similar energy to Grant Kirkhope's DK, while his raw raging screams for characters like Joe Swanson gives some strong Nagasako vibes. The best of both worlds. Tho, The Rock would be the next best choice to me personally.
Yes, we did go to the zoo and observe the gorillas, but found that when they did move it was completely unsuitable for a fast-paced video game, so all of the animation had to be done by hand," he says. "We went through about 15 different versions of how DK could move. DK's movement in the final game is based loosely on how a horse moves, but I recall laughing at some of the other animal-themed attempts - including a rabbit and a frog." I read this once and misremembered and thought it was for the voice
The gorilla sounds at 11:40 sound like the kleer skeletons from Serious Sam. I am pretty sure that this was a Sound Ideas Library, very common and wide spread back then.
Grant Kirkhope DK all the way for me. Because that's just how I imagined a Donkey Kong would sound like if it ever talks or grunts. A total brute, a banana brain, and an absolute bro. But the main Japanese guy who voices DK today is starting to grow on me, albeit still a bit weird in the ears to hear sometimes.
wait a minute, you jump all the way from the 80s-90s cartoons to MarioKart64? what about the "hirkey-hickey" and "oof!" noises he made in DonkeyKongCountry? (or at least, thats MY name for when DK beats a boss or a bonus level, and starts posing for the 4th Wall while the fanfare plays-- 'hirkey hirkey hirk, hickey hickey hickey hick!'...or when hes trapped in a DK-Barrel, '[thump thump] hirk-hirk-hirk?')
Hey, Thomas. You know what would make a great video in the "why doesn't X sound like X used to" category? One on Samus Aran from the Metroid series. There may be only a few voice actresses from the series, in both Japanese and English, but they would make a great video, considering their history in voice acting.
I really LOVE all of your videos!! I've been watching most of them for the last few days- its so soothing to listen to you talking about my most beloved topic 💖
12:44 Mario Golf: Super Rush is my main game right now, and I have always been a little put off by Donkey Kong’s voice acting. Maybe I’m just used to hearing the ‘Grant’ voice of my childhood!
I wish they kept DK64's voice, he sounds very cool and makes DK sound more intimidating, I don't hate the current voice but I don't really care for it, he just sounds goofy now
DK Country cartoon was not only dubbed to french and japanese, also into Spanish, both latin Spanish and European Spanish. I know since I've watched it in European Spanish when I was a Kid, and was later re-run in Latin Spanish.
A weird but pretty decent DK DS game in which you have to use the L/R buttons to control DK's hands was my first experience with a DK game with voice acting, so Takashi's voice is DK's voice to me, but I can't deny how iconic Grant Kirkhope's take is!
I have to admit, I grew up on Takashi's voice for dk, and it's honestly fitting, giving dk lots of personality! Grant did a real good job too, since a lot of the voice tracks are very memorable and just as full of personality as well! Garry Chalk in the game master TV show though, what in the world-
I don’t mind the new voices, I just wish they left the OG monkey sounds from MK 64. Every now and then DK can just use that sound bite. Same goes for yoshi. I want to still hear him make SMW sounds along his current voice.
Diddy was originally voiced by Chris Sutherland, he also voiced Chunky Kong, Lanky Kong, and even King K Rool. After the Rare buyout, Diddy would then be played by Katsumi Suzuki. However in Smash bros they would use Chimpanzee sounds. Rare confirmed that they originally were going to use Donkey Kong Jr. for DK's partner but Nintendo would not allow it, so Rare made to create their own character( Diddy Kong).
0:14 *I guess Scooby-Doo was Donkey Kong at one point.* For those that are confused by the joke, there used to be a theory floating around stating that Scooby-Doo used to be a human but he costumed some kind of potion that turned him into a dog.
