Iconic voice behind Donkey Kong's "oh banana" says he only did it because he "got so sick of asking" others to do the voice acting, and he "never thought" Nintendo would still be using it 25 years later

News
By published

"I never thought they’d really use it"

Donkey Kong Bananza DK with Banana eyes
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Grant Kirkhope is known as the composer behind some of the most iconic tracks in games like GoldenEye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie, but there's another type of sound he created that might be burned into your memory: he's the guy who said "oh banana" in Donkey Kong 64. As it turns out, he only did it because he was tired of asking everyone else to do the voice acting.

"I asked people at Rare – does anybody want to voice a character? – and no one wanted to do it," as Kirkhope tells industry newsletter Push to Talk, "and I got so sick of asking, I said, I'll just do it myself, and bollocks to it."

Kirkhope ultimately recorded several other small voice samples for the game – "OK" is the one I remember best, outside of the banana line – and many of them would be used by Nintendo for future games.

At the time, "Nintendo owned half of Rare," Kirkhope explains. "So when they asked for the samples, of course I sent them. But I never thought they’d really use it."

It's unclear if Donkey Kong Bananza is still using Kirkhope's old recording – if it is, the sound is heavily modulated – but the spirit is certainly there. The same is true of the DK Rap, but it seems Nintendo isn't terribly concerned about making sure Kirkhope is still credited for his contributions to the series.

Dustin Bailey
Dustin Bailey
Staff Writer

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He's been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.