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OCR04868 - *YES* Donkey Kong Country 2 & 1 "Kremland's Stupid Happy Boat Ride (Komplete Ride Through Mix)"


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Posted

Kredits:

Main Arrangement/Lyrics: General Grunt
Vocals: Newmajoe, Michelle Dreyband, DylanWilliamVA, angrypolarbear
Trumpet: David Lallande
Violins: Shea's Violin
Viola: Nemo Fairlight
Accordion: Ian Martyn
Percussion: DeLuxDolemite
Guitar, Additional Instrument programming, engraving and mixing: Pixels & Paradiddles

Lyrics:

Kremling Announcer:

Welcome to “it’s a little isle: stupid happy boat ride”
Please keep your krew together as you walk past the zinger hive.

Klaptraps under age 7 must be accompanied by an adult

please do not carry any food or kutlasses when entering It’s a Little Isle.

And Please Keep your Arms and Tails inside the boat at all times. Thank you.

Song:

It’s a little Isle
That’s Full of crocodiles
On a Pirate ship
We sail the ocean blue
It’s a little Isle
That’s Full of crocodiles
It’s just we do
We’re crocodiles
But come and stay awhile!
Oh it’s a
Little Isle of Crocodiles
Here’s a volcano and a mine
Its an Isle of crocodiles
we’re in a swamp
oh me, oh my!

It’s a little Isle
That’s Full of Crocodiles
Here’s a carnival
The one you’re in right now.

Here’s a library
With a coaster inside it
We really don’t know why
I guess it was to
Make books a bit less boring

And now you’re
In a dungeon
That smells like bad onions
Which is the only thing
That we found that rhymed
It’s a dungeon
Filled with radiation
Its almost the end of this stupid ride

It’s a little Isle
That’s Full of crocodiles
This wasn’t fun for us
And It’s not fun for you
It’s a little Isle
That’s Full of crocodiles
It’s just we do
We’re crocodiles
But come and stay awhile!

Oh it’s a
Little Isle of Crocodiles
This ride is over, get off the boat
Exit near The Krazy Kremland gift shop
And buy a stupid T-shirt
Or a fridge magnet!

Kremling Announcer:

“Please keep your ugly children seated until this boat comes to a complete stop, and you’re told to disembark.”
Enjoy the rest of your day at Krazy Kremland.

En Espanyol

"Las cucarachas entran, pero no pueden salir."

Kremlinglish:

“ONK!”

Artist Notes:

Hello OCR! Grunt here with another insane arrangement. This track has a history of twists and turns. My inspiration was basically: What if Krazy Kremland in DKC2 had a kiddie ride similar to "its a small world" in Disney? This would be the song that endlessly plays throughout the ride. Of course that was years ago. Fast forward to 2025 and Universal Studios is actually making a Donkey Kong park. C'mon Nintendo THIS should really be a ride there!!! Anywell...Originally this track was around a minute and a half, with no lyrics and was mainly played on a calliope organ. That version is on the VGMCon Vol. 1 charity album which you can find on most music streaming platforms. THIS version was revised recently for the Dwelling of Duels David Wise Month. This new version is MUCH more elaborate. When I was revamping it I went with the notion that, while the Small World ride in Disney takes the ride goer around the countries of the world, THIS ride takes the ride goer to the various Crocodile Isle locations in the order in which you play them in DKC2:

Gangplank Galleon
Crocodile Cauldron
Krem Quay
Krazy Kremland
Gloomy Gulch
K. Rool's Keep

I reflect this in both the lyrics/music. I used Welcome to Crocodile Isle as the main melody and made the entire arrangement into a major key (except the Gloomy Gluch/K Rool's Keep part) to give it that happy disney ride feel. I also incorporated the gangplank galleon (the piratey intro part only) and K. Rool returns in there for the other lyrical segments. I managed to sneak in a SMALL portion of Krook's March in there too, so see if you can spot that. This is probably the most time I've spent on an arrangement since I've been working on this on/off for at least 2 years. Anyway, its another "out there" arrangement from yours truly. Hopefully you enjoy listening to it as much as I had fun arranging it.

And I should say everyone who helped with this deserves as much credit as well. Without the tremendous contributions from live instruments, to amazing vocals right down to mixing, this wouldn't NEARLY have come out as great as it did.

Thank you to everyone! Enjoy judges (I'd bribe you with Kremland Tickets but Crocodile Isle is currently sunk in the bottom of the ocean)

PS: I think this would be absolutely perfect for an April fools post (IF accepted of course) but no biggie if it can't.


Games & Sources

Games: Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2

Original Composer: David Wise

Arranged Tracks: Welcome To Crocodile Isle, K. Rool Returns, Gangplank Galleon, Krook's March

Posted (edited)

Vocal mixing isn't the best; the choir's well-performed, though it all tends to just bleed/mush into the music during the densest sections and the SFX also just gets swallowed up, which is all hurting the intended storytelling & comedy (e.g. the bubbling noises for the volcano at 1:15-1:20) . I get how the announcement bookends are meant to sound distant and coming from a megaphone, but they also can't be understood whatsoever, so it just F's up the presentation.

Would definitely love to hear a revision, and I'm sure some musicians Js could give tips on how to increase the clarity of the lyrics without sacrificing anything and I could see others argue it needs to be revised instead of approved, but I won't hold it back for just that. The arrangement's on point and it's a strong, silly concept. :-) The arrangement's an easy pass, while the production gets a "good enough diploma". If this is rejected for that reason, no shock to me. :-D

YES (borderline)

EDIT (7/31): Grunt had paradiddlesjosh & Chimpazilla help spruce up the mixing. Unreserved YES now!

Edited by Liontamer
changed vote from YES (borderline) to YES
Posted

oh, look, a goofball arrangement! i wonder whose idea this is...oh, right.

opens with a nice flourish and some crocodile isle in a major key to start off, with some announcer noise in the background. the cheesy choir and accordion right after are hilariously on-point in style. i wouldn't have minded a bit more clarity there there.

the switch to 3 at 1:29 complete with the same cricket sfx that we've all used for two decades was excellent. the bad onions line and what followed is unintelligible unfortunately. we goofball our way through a few more themes, have some more announcer nonsense, and some boat sfx that unsurprisingly sounds like flatulence to end it off.

this isn't perfect but it's absolutely good enough. it's goofy, which mirrors a lot of elements in the games, and it does a fun job of exploring different themes while aping a culturally relevant theme park ride. nice work.

 

 

YES

  • 1 month later...
Posted (edited)

Yes, the arrangement is very on point.  It's mostly "Welcome to Crocodile Isle" and "K. Rool Returns" put into a major key, with variations to match the locales in the game, complete with a dusting of dramatic Transfatylvanian secret spice.  I caught the very obvious "Gangplank Galleon" reference before the vocal quartet's appearance, the fun 6/8 theme park variation at 1:27, the sudden shift to the minor key Gulch / Keep (with that "Krook's March" cameo) sections at 1:41, and going back full circle back to a major key final verse not long after.  The source quota easily hits the mark, as does your usual quirky vision and personality.

All live instrumentalists have also provided clean and tight performances, and all vocal roles have mostly offered energy and clarity.  I say this because the first thing that comes to mind is the megaphone bookends, which, with all of the other mid-high instrumentation, makes it hard to cut through the mix without either 1) re-panning everything, 2) putting it slightly earlier in the mix to not clash with the violin's entrance, or 3) substituting the megaphone FX for something more low-end.  And all three of these options have a chance of compromising the vision.

Similarly, the decision to get the quartet to sing across three octaves meant similar mixing challenges, particularly with "which is the only thing / that we found that rhymed" sounding unclear - more of a problem with the sudden brisk pacing.  Is it a dealbreaker?  Despite the mixing difficulty, these vocals are otherwise polished in other places, so it has some warts, but it's not too bad to burst them.

Larry said it best with this one - phenomenal arrangement, passing grade on the tech side.  What's more important is that OCR can never have too much comedy, so please keep sending them.  And can I have those Kremland tickets anyway, even if it's still under the sea?

YES

Edited by Rexy
  • Liontamer changed the title to OCR04868 - *YES* Donkey Kong Country 2 & 1 "Kremland's Stupid Happy Boat Ride (Komplete Ride Through Mix)"
  • Rexy locked this topic
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