When the 3-D computer-animated Donkey Kong Country series airs on cable's Fox Family Channel, gamers will recognize DK and his buddies, not to mention the familiar camera angles and backgrounds of the videogame world. But the jerky movements and redraw delays are gone, replaced by smooth human-like gestures and realistic textures – the result of a hybrid technique melding real-time and keyframe animation.
Created by French company Medialab, the series is already wildly popular in Canada. With riffs on pop icons ranging from James Bond to the Terminator and homages to cartoon granddaddies such as Bugs and Wile E. Coyote, the show entertains Donkey Kong nuts and naifs alike.
| ELECTRIC WORD
| Rebooting Donkey Kong
