EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW--Mark Miller and Mike Harding

[Phlibbit]

UPDATE 2/21/11: The interview has been edited and trimmed as well as received several new questions/answers.

UPDATE 9/20/10: The interview has been updated with revised text and additional pictures.

UPDATE 8/31/10: The transcription of the interview is now finished and posted on the site! It can be read here.

UPDATE 8/28/10: This is Steven (Redstar). I just finished the interview today and will be spending the next several days working to transcribe it!

Okay guys,

Hot off the trail of our Mojo Nixon interview, we already have another one lined up--and it will be our very first dual interview, with Mark Miller and Michael Harding.

Mark Miller was a principle in the film that played both the "Fried Tweeter Vendor," as well as a "Lizard Man" in the police cages.

Michael Harding was one of the Goombas!

Post any questions that you think would add to the interview. The interview will likely be conducted at the end of next week, so try to get your questions in on or before Friday, 8/27.

[1upmushroom]

Your just on a roll right now are ya? Keep this up and we'll have the entire cast and crew!

Though, this might be a very interesting read. Lord knows the Mojo Dixon was!

[moviemaker29]

Looking forward to these interviews!

Although I'm sure you'll be asking about this, I would really like to hear about the maneuverability of the Goomba costumes and if they were difficult to work in.

I'm also curious about how many Goomba heads/costumes did they end up making for the film?

[Redstar]

I'm also curious about how many Goomba heads/costumes did they end up making for the film?

One of our upcoming interviews is with Guy Himber, a mechanical puppeteer that worked with MEL (Makeup & Effects Lab) to create the Goombas. This might be a question better saved for him.

[moviemaker29]

I'm also curious about how many Goomba heads/costumes did they end up making for the film?

One of our upcoming interviews is with Guy Himber, a mechanical puppeteer that worked with MEL (Makeup & Effects Lab) to create the Goombas. This might be a question better saved for him.

Very true.

[Redstar]

Here's some of the questions I'm going to ask to give you all an idea of what you can suggest:

Mark:

Were the fried lizards you were serving up real or just props?

What was the craziest or most interesting costume design for an extra you saw onset?

Mike:

Did you play the same Goomba every time?

Did being a Goomba set you apart into a different group from the other extras?

[billbot85]

this is really exciting! Questions I have:

Mark: What was the overall mood of the extras during filming? Did they enjoy being in the movie? Did they have a different attitude towards the experience than the main cast had?


Mike: How heavy/hot/uncomfortable were the goomba costumes? Were they really hard to move around in or were they really fun to wear and interact with people on set? Also, if someone were to try to make a replica costume (head, coat, and all) and wear it, what advice would you give on how to build it?

The last question might be a little too far-fetched. But i figured id throw it out there

[Redstar]

Mike: How heavy/hot/uncomfortable were the goomba costumes? Were they really hard to move around in or were they really fun to wear and interact with people on set? Also, if someone were to try to make a replica costume (head, coat, and all) and wear it, what advice would you give on how to build it?

Again, part of your question can be better asked of Guy Himber when the time comes, but I can definitely still ask the first part.

[moviemaker29]

A few more questions for Mark:

How long did it take for his make-up to be applied?

Based on some of the wide shots in the film, there were a lot of extras on set on some occasions. Does he have any idea about how many extras there were and were most of them just local? Did they end up having a casting call for extras in Wilmington?

Did he have any opportunities to interact with some of the key cast members in between takes and if so, does he have any interesting stories about that?

How long was he on-set for during production?

I suppose some of these could be asked to Mike as well. Hope these are sort of what you're looking for.

[Redstar]

I just finished the interview a couple of hours ago and have been spending the entire time since transcribing it. The entire interview was a nearly an hour-and-a-half so it is will take awhile to get through it all but I plan to have it completed and up by tomorrow night at the earliest as long as Mark can get me photos to go with it.

Just to let you all know, this was a great interview. I did have some problems with Skype but I managed to record almost everything with very few audio issues. Everything of note will be transcribed and understandable... For a sneak-peek I'll give you all an idea of what we talked about: Both go into great detail about their experiences and actually had a lot of contact and fun with the main cast. They also talk about Rocky and Annabel and the dangers involved in shooting as well as mention of previously unknown deleted footage! And, yes, all of the questions you guys offered were answered by Mark and Mike, though mostly without even being asked. (They seemed to know what was important)

Feel free to talk until I get this thing up. It's just as amazing as the Mojo Nixon interview was and three times as informative!

[Phlibbit]

Ahhhh! The suspense is killing me!

[moviemaker29]

Fantastic interview, Steven! As you said, quite a bit of revealing information is covered and is very interesting to hear from their perspectives. I really hope they can help in getting in touch with some of the other cast & crew members, especially Francesca Roberts. That would be a great interview as well!

Thanks for putting this interview together!

[Phlibbit]

Here are my initial thoughts on the interview, blog style:

I wonder how long the "Lizard Man" scene was. Was it just a small cut thing or did he actually speak to them in the film? And like I showed you before, there's the little thing in the coloring book with Mario and Luigi in their cells, with two "Lizard Men" in the cell next to them. I don't think that's a coincidence--there must have been some sort of film precedent for it.

You know, I always find this interesting...whenever anyone involved with the film starts talking about the directors...they always mention Rocky first and can't seem to remember who Annabel was or they say "whoever the girl was" or "what's her name."

Having Harding very strongly say that there were only four "true" Goombas is interesting. MEL made 12 working Goombas, I believe. In the press kit I have, Scott Mactavish is listed as "Goomba" along with all the other guys Harding mentions. And it's also interesting that he doesn't really mention the guy that played Toad's Goomba.

It was also interesting to hear that they rotated which Goomba they were. You'd think they'd keep them the same so they would become individual characters, with the way they would move, etc.

Really cool to hear some BTS stuff about the ice tunnel scene.

Hearing the flying mattress thing was hilarious! And scary at the same time--it speaks quite a bit to the "they were in way over their heads" mantra we've been hearing a lot of.

"It was just stupid as hell." LOL

Around this point in the interview it's becoming apparent that these guys really knew a lot of the people in the production. Really interesting to hear what they're saying about Jeff Pillars. I looked him up on IMDB real quick and apparently he co-wrote Ernest in the Army! I loooove Ernest stuff. I wonder if he knows anything about the never-finished final Ernest film, Ernest the Pirate. Oughta ask him that, if for nothing more than just to find out for myself.

Really interesting to hear Miller call it a "friendly set." Keeps making me think the horror stories are just a tad exaggerated. Seems like all the bad stuff stemmed from the directors and the "they don't know what the hell they're doing" stuff.

It'd be great to get in contact with Fiona Shaw...she seems like a nice actress. Also--Dana Kaminsky has briefly mentioned this "Shakespeare Company" thing where they would put on shows in their off-time for fun.

We should contact Francesca Roberts too...

And WOW...we're finally getting some info on what the hell happened to the directors 3/4 of the way through production?

LOL and we have re-confirmation on the hot coffee story? These guys are hilarious...

Nice job asking about the large amounts of extras and their reaction to the film. Don't hear too much about that stuff.

Wow, a damn actual date for when Rocky and Annabel left the picture? And there was a party? Wow!

Mark bringing up himself that Mojo is "still no Tom Waits." LOL

Michelle Johnson would be great to interview eventually. Nice to hear them talk about her.

It's always interesting to find out that the actors had no idea who their game counterparts were. I don't know if we've met anyone that did first-hand...

And even more deleted stuff we didn't know about, with the allosaurus rats taking something from his cart? Wow!

And that makes me think...I think I've figured out yet another deleted scene. Remember in some of the early trailers and even some promo pics, where Koopa's
yelling at Iggy and Spike, telling them to get the rock, and Iggy and Spike are wearing different clothing than when we later see them? Well, I think they must be
wearing those initial clothes, capture a girl, either off or on screen, and Koopa scolds them for messing up and they try again. That's why when you first see Iggy
and Spike in the film, Spike has the jacket with the price tags still on them, covering up the red/white/blue track suit thing he was wearing in the earlier promo shots.

Nice explanation for why you like the film.

"There's thousands, of course." LOLOLOLOL

And just to comment on the site traffic stats...this is cool because today's the last day of August. First of all, those July stats were the best the site's ever had, until now.
For August 2010 the site has had nearly 13,000 unique visits and nearly 54,000 page views. Waaah!

"California’s a big state, Steven" HAHALOL

[Redstar]

Fantastic interview, Steven! As you said, quite a bit of revealing information is covered and is very interesting to hear from their perspectives. I really hope they can help in getting in touch with some of the other cast & crew members, especially Francesca Roberts. That would be a great interview as well!

Thanks for putting this interview together!

Thanks, mm. I was surprised myself at how involved both Mark and Mike were in the movie and how much they could speak of. As I've said to Phlibb through PM, both were like main cast behind-the-scenes. It's a shame that was never apparent onscreen.

I wonder how long the "Lizard Man" scene was. Was it just a small cut thing or did he actually speak to them in the film? And like I showed you before, there's the little thing in the coloring book with Mario and Luigi in their cells, with two "Lizard Men" in the cell next to them. I don't think that's a coincidence--there must have been some sort of film precedent for it.

I think it had to be longer than a few seconds because it sounds like it'd be a little rushed to just have him flick a cigarette then move into the Toad-exposition-scene... Then again, that entire scene feels rushed itself so I imagine the Lizard Man scene could have been placed anywhere in there with some transitioning also removed.

You know, I always find this interesting...whenever anyone involved with the film starts talking about the directors...they always mention Rocky first and can't seem to remember who Annabel was or they say "whoever the girl was" or "what's her name."

Well, she may have been the sidekick just like Bullwinkle...

It'd be great to get in contact with Fiona Shaw...she seems like a nice actress. Also--Dana Kaminsky has briefly mentioned this "Shakespeare Company" thing where they would put on shows in their off-time for fun.

We should contact Francesca Roberts too...

As I said in PM I'm following some leads on both Fiona and Francesca and should hear back from them or a representative in the next few days... I wonder how both would react to such an interview?

Wow, a damn actual date for when Rocky and Annabel left the picture? And there was a party? Wow!

I was surprised at the actual date, but Mark was pretty sure about it so I didn't ask... I did almost giggle when asking about the party. Hilarious!

And even more deleted stuff we didn't know about, with the allosaurus rats taking something from his cart? Wow!

Deleted footage in this movie I find the most interesting features extras in makeup and props/puppets just like this... A lot of people complain that the movie veered so far away from the games with the "dinosaur world" theme and didn't even venture into it so much. Interviews like this just prove that they did explore that theme; it was all just cut out to focus more on Mario and Luigi.

"There's thousands, of course." LOLOLOLOL

Of course!

[billbot85]

rockin' interview! I enjoyed it very much, thanks for doing it and sharing Steven! Makes me wish we saw more of Mark as the "Lizahd Man" lol, especially flicking the cigarette at Mario and Luigi in the cages.

I kinda figured that they bonded with other cast members despite how bad the filming experience was. When I'm doing a college or community theatre production, there is almost always some kind of cast bonding, whether the show went well or not. Just the kind of comraderie you develop with each other in order to get through the experience. I loved the pictures of him and the extras! I can imagine the parties were awesome too (ding dong Rocky and Anabell are gone )

On imdb I noticed Mark was also in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (he was part of April's camera crew in the scene with Chief Sterns), just like Jeff Goodwin! It interests me because I often categorize that movie and SMB as the same kind of film: A large children's-based franchise that came to the big screen in a darker tone.

[moviemaker29]

Well, you know the first two TMNT films were both filmed in Wilmington, NC just like SMB so there are actually quite a few cast/crew members who were in a couple or even all three films. I imagine it had to have been very cool being a part of not just one, but multiple genre films based off of such hot properties at that time.

I am confident we'll be revisiting that idea in future interviews...

[Redstar]

rockin' interview! I enjoyed it very much, thanks for doing it and sharing Steven! Makes me wish we saw more of Mark as the "Lizahd Man" lol, especially flicking the cigarette at Mario and Luigi in the cages.

I wish we had seen more of him as well, especially now that we've personally spoken to him. It gives a much different impression of the movie when you know the actors involved.

On imdb I noticed Mark was also in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (he was part of April's camera crew in the scene with Chief Sterns), just like Jeff Goodwin! It interests me because I often categorize that movie and SMB as the same kind of film: A large children's-based franchise that came to the big screen in a darker tone.

This gives me an idea: perhaps we should have a page detailing all the other movies these people have worked on together both before and after SMB?

Well, you know the first two TMNT films were both filmed in Wilmington, NC just like SMB so there are actually quite a few cast/crew members who were in a couple or even all three films. I imagine it had to have been very cool being a part of not just one, but multiple genre films based off of such hot properties at that time.

I like that parallel, actually. Perhaps billbot and/or yourself can write a comparison piece on the two franchises and why one failed as a live-action adaptation and the other one succeeded?

[Phlibbit]

On imdb I noticed Mark was also in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (he was part of April's camera crew in the scene with Chief Sterns), just like Jeff Goodwin! It interests me because I often categorize that movie and SMB as the same kind of film: A large children's-based franchise that came to the big screen in a darker tone.

This gives me an idea: perhaps we should have a page detailing all the other movies these people have worked on together both before and after SMB?

Well, you know the first two TMNT films were both filmed in Wilmington, NC just like SMB so there are actually quite a few cast/crew members who were in a couple or even all three films. I imagine it had to have been very cool being a part of not just one, but multiple genre films based off of such hot properties at that time.

I like that parallel, actually. Perhaps you can write a comparison piece on the two franchises and why one failed as a live-action adaptation and the other one succeeded?

Both of these topics are viable ideas. Keep them in mind for potential opinion/editorial pieces for the website's new section--they're both viable and would be great articles.

Also, I think one reason TMNT succeeded initially is because of its source material. Yes, comic book/cartoon-based films were coming into their own at the time, but I think the TMNT guys had an easier transition to film. The main thing for them was to get the turtles to work in real life and be believable.

For SMB, they had to extrapolate an entire narrative from the games that would work on film, and try to create and flesh out all the game characters into film ones. And unfortunately, people didn't respond to it in the way they'd hoped. It was a huge gamble, and it failed financially, and this is probably one of the most fundamental reasons why. It's because of the disconnect created by the film in relation to its connection to the games. The primary audience (kids, Mario fans) weren't favored well through this interpretation--I mean, would you expect a 10-year-old who liked Super Mario Bros. 3 at the time to appreciate the SMB film and "get" everything they were trying to do with it?

[moviemaker29]

Also, I think one reason TMNT succeeded initially is because of its source material. Yes, comic book/cartoon-based films were coming into their own at the time, but I think the TMNT guys had an easier transition to film. The main thing for them was to get the turtles to work in real life and be believable.

For SMB, they had to extrapolate an entire narrative from the games that would work on film, and try to create and flesh out all the game characters into film ones. And unfortunately, people didn't respond to it in the way they'd hoped. It was a huge gamble, and it failed financially, and this is probably one of the most fundamental reasons why. It's because of the disconnect created by the film in relation to its connection to the games. The primary audience (kids, Mario fans) weren't favored well through this interpretation--I mean, would you expect a 10-year-old who liked Super Mario Bros. 3 at the time to appreciate the SMB film and "get" everything they were trying to do with it?

I think Phlibbit hit the nail on the head with his observation. As fantastical as TMNT really is, it is much more grounded in reality than SMB. At the very least, TMNT takes places in some real world settings. The world SMB revolves around would have just simply been much more difficult to translate to film, especially for the time the movie was made.

In fact, I would even go so far as to say that SMB was actually quite a bit ahead of its time. Not only was the film expensive to make, but the scale of the sets, production design, costumes, props, etc were all quite elaborate, something you really just don't see done much in films today. CGI has just become such a standard for compensating for large set pieces. I honestly think that it was quite brave and impressive that SMB has the scale it does have for a film from 1993. Today, a movie such as SMB would probably be created in the same mindset as Alice In Wonderland. Now, I'm not saying that's a bad thing, as I believe that if SMB was made today, they would probably create a film that did have those much more fantastical elements to it and on even larger scale.

But I have to say that I am personally very impressed and happy with the film we got. There is a lot of tangible artistry and craftsmanship in that film that unfortunately is missing with CGI in many films today (I'm not saying all...but many. Lord of the Rings had a nice balance).

And of course on the other note Phlibbit mentioned, SMB was just not marketable to kids. It's a much more adult film with a few slapstick laughs for kids thrown in. Not that I have a problem that...I thoroughly enjoy watching it as an adult much more than as a kid...haha

[Redstar]

This interview has received yet another update. As only our second interview since we began the overhaul of the site we've felt it necessary to constantly revisit it when we've found new information that could expand on my discussion with Mark and Mike. As such we've inserted 10 new questions/answers, which provide further insight into Mark's role as the Lizard Man and both his and Mike's thoughts on the film after the years. Hope you all enjoy!