Documents from a 1983 lawsuit reveal that Donkey Kong could have also been called Kong Dong, or one of several other names. The documents were actually digitized and posted online in 2020, but it wasn’t until recently that they gained some renewed attention, leading to some fascinating insights.
The lawsuit in question was filed by Universal against Nintendo at the time. Nowadays, the two companies are best friends when it comes to Nintendo theme parks, but at the time Universal didn’t think it was acceptable for a Donkey Kong game to be based on King Kong, to which it had the rights.
In addition to many less interesting things, the documents also contain alternate names for Donkey Kong, although it is unclear how much Nintendo really considered these names. They are: Funny Kong, Kong the Kong, Jack Kong, Bill Kong, Steel Kong, Giant Kong, Big Kong, Kong Down, Mr Kong, Custom Kong, Kong Chase, Kong Boy, Kong Man, Kong Fighter, Wild Kong, Rookie Kong, Kong Holiday and therefore also… Kong Dong.
Ultimately, Universal lost the case. According to the judge, Donkey Kong and King Kong were different enough from each other that Donkey Kong was at most a parody, in which case there could be no infringement.
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