Donkey Kong could have been named ‘Kong Dong,’ amongst a range of other…unique alternatives, according to Nintendo court documents from the 80s. I swear I’ve seen that name on [redacted product] packaging in [redacted store] before?
The 1983 court documents detailing alternative names for gaming’s favourite simian come from a lawsuit between Nintendo and Universal, who accused the company of infringing on the copyright of King Kong (which Universal held the rights to). While Universal ultimately lost the case, the documents surfaced online in 2020 after being digitised by gaming historian Norman Caruso, and began doing the rounds online again recently.
Apart from the unfortunately titled ‘Kong Dong’, Nintendo considered a whole heap of other alternative names for Donkey Kong before settling on the one we know today. The court documents list these alternatives, which include names like: Bill Kong, Steel Kong, Big Kong, Giant Kong, Kong the Kong, Funny Kong, Jack Kong, Mr Kong, Kong Down, Custom Kong, Kong Boy, Kong Man, Kong Chase, Wild Kong, Kong Fighter, Rookie Kong, and Kong Holiday.
Aside from considering naming Donkey Kong something I’d be more likely to expect someone to name their hog, the Nintendo vs Universal court documents also revealed more about the exact differences between the character and Universal’s King Kong. The judge for the case noted that Donkey Kong was “nonsexual” as a difference between himself and the Eighth Wonder of the World. I can see how naming him Kong Dong might have weakened that argument, just a touch.
“The farcical, childlike and nonsexual Donkey Kong creates a humorous impression by jumping up and down and strutting back and forth to tease Mario,” the judge said. “The Donkey Kong gorilla is thus quite different from King Kong, a ferocious gorilla in quest of a beautiful woman who goes on rampages, chases people, crushes them underfoot, or throws them to the ground, and fights with dinosaurs, giant snakes, airplanes and helicopters, all culminating in his tragic and bloody death.”
Meanwhile, the judge found that Nintendo’s gorilla had a wholly different vibe, with his “silly obstacles of pies, cement tubs, birthday cakes and umbrellas, its prim captive girl with her hair in pigtails, and its pleasant colours and humorous sounds, create a totally different concept and feel from the drama of King Kong.”
The end ruling was that “at best,” Donkey Kong was a parody of King Kong, which didn’t constitute copyright infringement on Nintendo’s behalf. The final ruling saw Judge Sweet state that King Kong was public domain, with Universal ordered to pay $1.8 million to Nintendo in legal costs for trying to extract licensing fees from the company. As noted by PC Gamer, the legal win was such a big one for Nintendo that they even named one of their most iconic characters after their lawyer for the case, John Joseph Kirby.
While Kong Dong never got to see the light of day (although I’d hazard a guess that Googling the term without safe search on might prove it did, in fact, see the light of day in some cursed way or another), we’ll always have the legal documents as receipts for what could have been. Ironically, there is now a Donkey Kong land you can visit at Universal theme parks, so clearly the case didn’t fracture the relationship between the two companies too badly.
In other gaming gorilla news, Donkey Kong Country Returns is set to launch next year. I wonder if Mr Kong or Jack Kong might make an appearance in an upcoming title?
Image: Nintendo / Kazuhiro Nogi (Getty Images) / Kotaku Australia
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