This page explains in detail the interactions between the Donkey Kong series and the Mr. Pants series.
It's Mr. Pants![]
February 04, 2005
Donkey Kong
Mr. Pants
It's Mr. Pants was originally developed as a Donkey Kong game titled Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers, but its title and themes were changed before its release.
Prior to the style change, the game was shown at E3 2001 and it featured the same basic gameplay, only the puzzles were shown in isometric view rather than the regular over the top. The title screen was also in the same style of the final game, with Donkey Kong juggling some blocks in the same way Mr. Pants does in his version of the game. Also, the 'Crayon Snake' that circles around the board in Marathon Mode eating the game pieces was originally a Kremling from the Donkey Kong Country series.
License[]
Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers was being creaded by Rare under Nintendo's license, but after the company was bought by Microsoft they lost the rights to make a Donkey Kong game and changed it into a game in their own Mr. Pants series.