Shigeru Miyamoto finally explains why Nintendo redesigned Donkey Kong
The Mario creator says Nintendo decided to redesign DK to make the character ‘more expressive’
Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto has explained why Nintendo decided to redesign his iconic Donkey Kong character, stating that the aim was to make him more expressive.
The first hints that Nintendo was looking to retool Donkey Kong came with the Super Mario Bros. Movie back in 2023. A more striking redesign was then spotted in the debut footage of Mario Kart World earlier this year, and since then, Nintendo has replaced a plethora of marketing items with the new DK look.
Nintendo then officially announced Switch 2 title Donkey Kong Bananza in April, along with the official reveal of Donkey Kong’s new design, which appears to be a cross between the version seen in the Super Mario Bros Movie, and that seen in pre-Donkey Kong Country artwork.
Now, speaking to IGN, Miyamoto has discussed the redesigned Donkey Kong for the first time.
“When it comes to character creation and working with characters, I still take an active role in that,” he explained. “And looking back to the first generation Donkey Kong Country, we worked with Rare to create Donkey Kong Country.
“When we were talking about trying to create new versions, evolving Donkey Kong, we created the game called Jungle Beat. We worked together with the team that made 3D Mario. With the technology that was available at the time, we were able to make Donkey Kong more expressive.”
He added: “And going back to the design that Rare came up with, we reevaluated; what can we do with the design to make it more expressive? And then when it comes to the movie, we decided to move forward with this new generation Donkey Kong design.”
Kevin Bayliss, the former Rare artist who was responsible for redesigning Donkey Kong in the 90s, gave his approval when the new design was revealed in April.
“I don’t understand why there’s any debate to be had,” Bayliss wrote. “It’s still DK, only better looking. People need to embrace change more! All good things get better with age (I would say that though, since I’ve been doing this for almost 40 years now). Everyone give a big warm welcome for the new DK!”
