A place for those who "Trust the Fungus"

Call me a tradionalist, but To me, the late 80s/early 90s Mario will always be the real deal.

No offense to Charles Martinet, i think hes a great talent, but his Mario just doesnt do it for me. Its as if Nintendo and Martinet intended to water down and depersonalize the character. Going from the reluctant,blue cholar brookylnite to a cheap, flat, high pitched Italian impersonation, the "boppity boopidy bop ba" gag from Family Guy had more substance.

Why did they change direction? In one interview, i heard Martinet did intend to water down the character because a gruff, brooklyn accent would be too rough and intimidating to children. Well, i was a child in the late 80s/ early 90s and had no problem with the way Mario was portrayed in the show/cartoons and film. Its exactly howd Id imagine a italian american plumber to speak and act, quite frankly that IS how an Italian Brooklynite would speak and act.

When i was a kid and first popped Mario 64 in, and heard " its a me, Mallio!" for the first time, even as a kid i was upset about this change, what did they do to Mario? They completely changed who he is was, how he spoke, and how he was portrayed. its a bit more than a voice, its the voice acting portrayal, its what gives the animated character his personality and charisma. I grew up with Mario being the no-nonsense, reluctant hero, and all that was portrayed well within the original cartoons and film even in the original games that personality shined through a bit, but it was only to be stripped down into a brainless, run of the mill, stereotype. Now i know, in order for a film or cartoon to work, there needs to be more substance in the character development in terms of story. But that doesnt change the fact the character did a complete 180 of how he was originally perceived. You wouldnt change Popeye or Daffy, so why would you change Mario?

Basically, what im trying to say is..

"Hoo hoo! Lets-a go! And we cana geta some pizza! " vs " Come and get it, lizard breath! "

Same goes for Luigi, originally portrayed as the naive-younger brother type, with a bit less fearlessness than his older brother, all at the same time being more open-minded and adaptable than Mario. See? There was a chemistry that was portayed in the original era. Its almost not even acknowledged now.

Ah well, my passion on the subject might be fueled by nostalgia, but what can ya do?

Dont get me wrong I love the new games, but its just ironic how the 8 and 16 bit era Mario has more depth than any new incarnation.

We've discussed this very subject a few times here on the forums, but it's always good to go over again.

My argument has always been that Nintendo has turned Mario into a more iconic, archetypal figure in the same vein as Disney's Mickey Mouse. In a sense this has helped make him a more timeless character, although there is certainly nostalgia for the more defined personality pre-Mario 64.

A good topic to look into would be The debate of Mario's voice. Feel free to post your own thoughts there!

Indeed. I love both versions for what they are. I mean, to me, Kevin Conroy is THE definitive Batman, but I still enjoy other renditions as well, from Adam West to Christian Bale.

I think Martinet works better for the Mario of today, as he's typically portrayed. Of course, he more closely fits how I imagined he'd sound before I first heard Captain Lou play the part-- that was a bit of an adjustment, and after him, Walker Boone, and Bob Hoskins, Martinet was an adjustment back. I didn't imagine the Italian accent pre-Super Show, though.

I don't think it's fair to call it "watered down," but it's a different interpretation of the character. The fact that Mario just does not speak much, save for the occasional sound byte, would probably play into it as well.

And it works. Martinet is Mario in games first and foremost (and little else, really), and all those little sound bytes of Mario having the time of his life tend to be infectious and probably more imitable than what we had beforehand-- at least among kids, who are the ones Nintendo would want to hook with stuff like that at an early age.