Incredible video game soundtrack composer and the voice actor for Donkey Kong in the games, Grant Kirkhope, has said in a recent interview that he still hasn’t watched the Super Mario Bros. Movie. He says that the reason for that is that Nintendo famously decided not to credit him for the DK Rap which features in the movie. He found out from a representative that Nintendo would not be adding him in the credits despite the DK Rap being written and composed and performed by Mr. Kirkhope.
PUSH TO TALK: I remember seeing your reaction to the DK rap in The Super Mario Bros. Movie and the fact they didn’t credit you on it. Did that ever come to a happier conclusion?
GRANT KIRKHOPE: So I did contact them about it. When I did the Super Smash Bros. thing, I dealt with them directly. So I had this guy who was my main contact. So I said to him, could you do a bit of digging just under the radar to find out why didn’t they credit me?” And he says, ‘oh yeah, I think you’re going to get an official response.’
So I got a response back from, I guess, one of the legal people. And it said, basically, they came up with this three rule criteria, which was they decided that for any music owned by Nintendo that appeared in the movie, they wouldn’t credit the composer apart from Koji Kondo. Then they decided that anything with a vocal, they would credit the composer. So the Donkey Kong rap score’s there. But then they also decided if Nintendo also owned that, they wouldn’t credit the composer.
So it was sort of this arbitrary thing. And I said, you know… by the time the song credits roll in the movie, it’s right at the very end of the credits, and the theater’s entirely empty. There’s only me and my wife and my kids sat there going, look what I did. You know, for a second, a bit of text, what’s it matter?
It makes sense, though it must still feel weird for you. At the same time, that scene in the movie when the DK Rap plays is a big celebratory, joyful kind of moment, right?
I tell you what, I still haven’t watched the movie yet. I’ve seen that bit with the rap. But I was so pissed I haven’t watched it.
He clearly cries too much for someone who “used” to he ashamed of that song, also David Wise >>>>>>>>>>>> grant kirkhope.
Nintendo has to credit the creators properly.
Nintendo clearly prioritized the big names at the front of the credits over all the folks that made this franchise what it is over the years. Kirkhope is handling this in a classy way, but it’s just absurd that they wouldn’t credit this very specific musical homage.
Yeah no kidding.
“Classy”
You do not own your music you make for a company like nintendo nor deserve credit
yea, he blocked me on my alt twitter account over slight criticism of yooka laylee but thing is, i praised the game and said i liked it in the same sentence.
This happened a while ago but that dude is so lame to me now lol
That is so messed up.
I do think uncredited work is generally a bad thing, but I don’t think it really applies here. It was added to the movie because it was already so iconic. Most everyone who watched the movie was already a fan or, at least, aware of it. And if anyone new heard it and liked it, they googled it. They didn’t sit there and watch hundreds of names scroll on the screen to find out. Nobody does that anymore. If movie credits were something people cared about, they’d put them at the beginning of the movies again (yes, that’s what they used to do).
No, most people who are both Mario fans and spend a lot of time online know who Grant Kirkhope is. I’m positive that there are plenty of people who know about the DK rap who have never even heard of Kirk’s name before much the same as how my mother knows the Super Mario Bros. theme but has no idea who Koji Kondo is. Properly crediting any composer should be a top priority no matter how supposedly famous they are.
He’s literally said this:
“Aaaaarrrggghhhh…. Don’t mention the DK Rap… it wasn’t my fault honest! Blame George Andreas the game designer — it was all his idea. I still get made fun off at Big Huge Games about the DK Rap. What can I say, it was supposed to be a joke — you know, monkeys rapping about pineapples and bananas — and it wasn’t supposed to be a serious attempt at rap music. Oddly enough, Nintendo still used it on Super Smash Brothers and had it re-mixed by some Japanese DJ… weird! I think my tombstone will read, “here lies the body of Grant Kirkhope, he wrote the DK Rap, may God have mercy on his soul”. Heh!”
Don’t be embarrassed and say it’s weird for Nintendo to include in Smash Bros and then get offended when they used it in the Mario Movie and don’t give you a namedrop in the credits as the original artist.
I dont think Bananza credits any of the old Rare staff either.
Bananza makes me want Nintendo to make a Banjo game. Microsoft probably will stop making consoles and if possible should let Nintendo make it.
To be honest I would be happy they didn’t credit me for creating that terrible song lol.
Every creators deserves to be credited for their involvement or creations. I wish Nintendo wasn’t so cruel about not crediting others.
He has every right to get credit and paid if he can sue he should. Unlike Ken Penders the scumbag creep who said he’d sue Paramount over Sonic 2 and Knuckle but still no lawsuit liberal boomer mental case and put weird sex things in a Archie Sonic comic. He needs to be annihilated in court to finally shut him up and allow all those characters back in Sonic.
Need those comics reprinted the Sonic X comics, Sonic Universe, and Sonic Flynn now sucks but back at Archie it was really great. Scourge and Fiona’s relationship was great or Sonic and Sally or villains like Finitevus too it was great or Eclipse who was Shadow’s rival.
Don’t blame him.