Donkey Kong is a very popular character, and I sometimes forget that. Here is, chronologically-ish, a list of all the times Donkey Kong was referenced in The Simpsons, because that show is my current hyperfixation and I cannot be stopped. If I forgot any, please forgive me.
Special thanks to the site Frinkiac, which is a very comprehensive Simpsons screenshot/quote compendium. It has to be seen to be believed. Also special thanks to the Simpsons Wiki!
Episode: The Springfield Files
In this classic episode, Donkey Kong appears, casually having a smoke while someone comments he's not a draw anymore. This dates the episode as being made or written before 1994, which is a little daunting to think about. It's been around BDKC.... Before Donkey Kong Country. And measuring time in units of Donkey Kong is where I excel at, baby! Shows how long this cartoon's been around.
Though the episode debuted in 1996, episodes probably took way longer to make back then and they probably didn't anticipate Donkey Kong Country being made. Or it's irony. Still, the joke's funny.
Fun fact: according to TVtropes, the French dub messes up and insists Donkey Kong is not a drawing anymore. I mean, technically true, considering the Donkey Kong Country games were praised for their use of pre-rendered CGI. In TVtropes lingo we call that Accidentally Correct Terminology.... I think.
Episode: Marge Be Not Proud
Along with expies of Sonic and Mario, Donkey Kong is oddly on-model, based on the Country design (though lacking a tie) and convinces Bart to steal a video game. You wouldn't download a car... Donkey Kong disagrees, obviously. He is allegedly voiced by Hank Azaria here, who regularly voices Moe Szyslak and Chief Wiggum, among others.
Episode: Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass
Our friend Mario shows up in a tour bus full of Italians (of course) and wants his picture taken with Homer. Homer, however, is having none of it, and goes full Donkey Kong on Mario's butt. What else can I say? This made me crack up when I first saw it because the animation was done in such a funny manner.
Episode: Gorgeous Grandpa
Burnsy Kong. He assumes the pose while naming various villains. This shows just about who writes the show, considering DK hasn't been a true villain since the 80s and early 90s (barring the Mario vs Donkey Kong games.) I guess K. Rool is too obscure. Doesn't keep him from showing up in an episode of the show Inside Job, apparently... but, sadly, that is a show I do not really care about, so look it up yourself.
The Simpsons comics
The Simpsons had a long-running comic series, which, while ostensibly aimed at a slightly younger audience, is very fun and I feel captures the feel of the characters more than the show sometimes. One such comic, issue 161, had a Donkey Kong-inspired cover. It's adorable, featuring Homer as DK, Bart as Mario (I'm going to call him "Don't-have-a-jump, Man". Come on, it's funny) and an unenthused Lisa as Pauline. The barrels are replaced with nuclear waste barrels to refer to Homer's job at the Power Plant.
A different comic also has a panel where somebody dressed up as Donkey Kong appears, joined by a lookalike for Skips from the Cartoon Network show Regular Show, and King Kong carrying a little damsel of his own.
Issue 110 has various video game references, one of which being the classic Homer as Donkey Kong. (I think Marge as Lara Croft is being a bit too generous...)
Also, whatever this is. Issue 110 as well. Don Kong... admittedly, that's a pretty funny one.
(Also note Barney in the first panel. No reason, I just think he's cute and want everybody to look at him.)
Pins?
To paraphrase the old meme, "If I had a nickel for every time Donkey Kong and Homer Simpson were fused in enamel pin form, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened twice."
The second one also had Moe as Diddy Kong. I love both these characters very dearly, but I do not see a single connection between the two, apart from... resembling apes. And liking guns. (Really!)
Bart as Diddy would make more sense, considering his old man gets to be DK.
Obviously, these are not official - but they're fun to see. Bam! Gamer
also provided us with a Tiki Tong pin, and where else are you gonna get
merchandise of that guy? I'll talk about that in a different post, though. Obscure DK characters that somehow have merchandise. Stay tuned!
...Wait, he gets to appear in the Donkey Kong Country park of Universal Studios before K. Rool?
