Spider-Man Producer wants to make animated Mario movie!

[Phlibbit]

You could always merge the topics.

[Serum]

You could always merge the topics.

Ask and ye shall receive.

Arise, chicken.

[ultimateemail5000]

I do because of the over top gruffness. But I was thinking John Leguizamo could pull of Luigi's voice for sure.

[Serum]

I do because of the over top gruffness. But I was thinking John Leguizamo could pull of Luigi's voice for sure.

The gruffness defines Mario for me, he's an Italian American plumber from Brooklyn, New York-- if he's not gruff then he's not Mario.

[Phlibbit]

Has anyone checked out this Kotaku article about Nintendo's 1993 character guide? http://kotaku.com/yoshis-real-name-is-actually-t-yoshisaur-munchakoopas-1617110901

Check out the "Mario is" section. It's a great rundown of what Nintendo thought Mario should be as a character. Plus it confirms that he's born and raised in Brooklyn!

Not that all of it should be taken as canon, though. Like Yoshi's full name. Yeesh.

[ultimateemail5000]

As awesome as those are, I still wouldn't say Mario is from Brooklyn. But I think that's the thing with these characters. They really don't have any background and Nintendo has stated they want the players to use their imagination on the Brothers. It's like when they said that wasn't Link int he new Zelda U footage, but to turn around and say, it wasn't Link because you the player are Link. The best thing to do is use imagination on it.

I personally just believe they are from the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario Bros took place under Princess Peach's castle, while on the job she was kidnapped, which leads into SMB.

[Serum]

[1upmushroom]

Oh you're just mad because the SMB Movie said they're from brooklyn. If the movie said they were from the mushroom kingdom we all know you wouldn't care!

[Serum]

I don't even really like the Mario video-games that much, I like the movie, when I watch it, I don't see an adaptation, I see a sprawling world passed down from writer to writer, editor to editor, revisionist to revisionist until it achieved a state of near perfection and now all of a sudden we have a "leak" that Sony is producing a "new" Mario movie, but the problem is that people don't appreciate the 1993 film for being a movie, they always view it as an adaptation.

It's not an adaptation to me, it's just a fun, original story in pure 90s form. Hell, I've never even played Super Mario Bros. on the NES, for all I know it's exactly like the movie. In fact, when I was a kid, I always thought the games were poor adaptations of the movie!

Honestly, I wouldn't trust this leak. The source of this leak is either the result of a disgruntled employee's vindication or North Korea really got their act together and managed to do something so outlandishly idiotic by leaking this information considering they believe a Seth Rogen movie is an act of war. I honestly don't think all of this information is reliable to begin with, and even if it's true, how in the name of all that's holy is Sony (the creators of Nintendo's penultimate rival, the PlayStation) going to obtain the rights to even do this?

I digress, the 1993 movie is the only thing that is "Mario" to me.

And while I acknowledge the authority of the some of the longer and earlier drafts used during shooting, sometimes referred to as "the rainbow draft," I generally consider the 1991 draft to merely apocryphal, whereas much of the information in the '92 drafts can be considered more "canonical," yet some of it (the so-called "Die Hard-style" draft that everyone considers "humorless," despite a pun usage that would make Mister Freeze in Batman & Robin blush is completely apocryphal, much like how even the screenplay which I discovered, the now famous 1991 Jennewein/Parker draft I see as nothing more than an extension of official lore.

So you see, to me, the only canonicity in the Mario universe is contained entirely within the 1993 movie. All this new hypothetical Sony-produced movie to me would be would be a shoddy rip-off of a far superior film. 1993's Super Mario Bros. is my all-time favorite movie, and I fear that I might start feeling the way TMNT fans felt when they saw the 2014 version of TMNT (which I liked, never having been a huge TMNT fan), or how fans of the original The Day the Earth Stood Still felt when it was remade, or War of the Worlds, or whatever. Sadly, to me, there's only one piece of the Mario Brothers "franchise" in existence and that's the movie. Everything else, to me at least, are offshoots which pale in comparison.

[ultimateemail5000]

I likt to think of the 93 movie as a parellel alternate dimension like the movies plot line itself honestly. I'm not saying that in a bad way either. I don't even see this new movie as a reboot or a remake it's a new beginning. The original was an experiment since nobody knew how to make a movie about two emotionless plumbers. Who still to this day Mario doesnt really have a personality. Hell Luigi has more of one than Mario!

Also it is hard to say what's happening over there at Sony PICTURES. A part of me believes it just because Sony owns rights to a Sonic movire and Arad is producing Pacman Ghostly Adventures, plus Sonys doing a movie on the Sega VS Nintendo war. So it's completely hard to say.

I really don't want Genndy Tartovfsky to do this either. As much as his Popeye short was good, I don't like his style of changes he put on the character. I dont know if it was his or Sonys decision to remove the pipe and tattos but I do not like that decision. Its like Sonic Boom. I dont even like Sonic i just said Sonic and Boom it says it all.

[Serum]

I likt to think of the 93 movie as a parellel alternate dimension like the movies plot line itself honestly. I'm not saying that in a bad way either. I don't even see this new movie as a reboot or a remake it's a new beginning. The original was an experiment since nobody knew how to make a movie about two emotionless plumbers. Who still to this day Mario doesnt really have a personality. Hell Luigi has more of one than Mario!

Also it is hard to say what's happening over there at Sony PICTURES. A part of me believes it just because Sony owns rights to a Sonic movire and Arad is producing Pacman Ghostly Adventures, plus Sonys doing a movie on the Sega VS Nintendo war. So it's completely hard to say.

I really don't want Genndy Tartovfsky to do this either. As much as his Popeye short was good, I don't like his style of changes he put on the character. I dont know if it was his or Sonys decision to remove the pipe and tattos but I do not like that decision. Its like Sonic Boom. I dont even like Sonic i just said Sonic and Boom it says it all.

You completely subverted everything I just said. What I'm saying is I don't acknowledge the Mario games as part of the Super Mario Bros. universe, because I only like the 1993 movie-- the only Mario games I've really enjoyed are Super Mario 64 and the first two Mario Party games on the N64. To me, the only Mario there is is Bob Hoskins and the only Luigi is John Leguizamo and so on and so on.

A new movie that's closer to the games without any connection to 1993's Super Mario Bros. means absolutely nothing to me.

[ultimateemail5000]

Mario moves from New York to Mushroom Kingdom with two suitcases and lived in YMCA with 2000 dollar check which they couldn't cash cause it was out of state bank. Anyway he was working at bus boy in hotel and Peach was sitting there drinking her coffee and Mario thought she was so beautiful, he said "hai" to her and that's how they first met. Funny part about their first date is, she paid for it.

I want Tommy Wiseau to direct this.

[Serum]

Mario moves from New York to Mushroom Kingdom with two suitcases and lived in YMCA with 2000 dollar check which they couldn't cash cause it was out of state bank. Anyway he was working at bus boy in hotel and Peach was sitting there drinking her coffee and Mario thought she was so beautiful, he said "hai" to her and that's how they first met. Funny part about their first date is, she paid for it.

I want Tommy Wiseau to direct this.

So, you want this, then...

[ultimateemail5000]

Hahaha yes. But I want that to be directed with a cast similar to the 93 movie. While the animated movie is a whole other story.

[DaKardii]

I'm really hyped for this. I'm already in the process of typing a script to suggest for Sony and Nintendo. It's largely based off the 1991 "fantasy script," but there are a few major differences. I have a separate section discussing my suggestions, so if you want to see the changes I'm making, go to that section. That being said, I personally believe that it will actually work better as a 2-D animated film, and here's why.

Right now, there are some Disney animators who are upset that Disney has essentially abandoned 2-D animation since the success of Frozen, and are weighing the pros and cons between trying to get Disney to revive 2-D animation, and breaking away and forming their own company. A few of those animators, led by James Lopez, have already begun work on an independent project titled "Hullabaloo," and a clip of the yet-to-be-completed film can be found here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENnKfis_eB4>.

Now, this isn't the first time that a substantial amount of Disney animators have been disappointed because of the direction the company was going in. In 1979, one animator who had such sentiments took about one-sixth of Disney's animators and established a rival company that during most of the 1980s was so strong that its animated films were making more money than Disney's animated films were. His name? Don Bluth. The films he made include (but are not limited to) "The Secret of NIMH," "An American Tail," "The Land Before Time," "All Dogs Go to Heaven," and "Anastasia." Bluth, who is now 77 and hasn't made any movies since 2000, has a golden opportunity ahead of him. If he can come out of retirement and convince Lopez and the other animators working on "Hullabaloo" to leave Disney for good (and perhaps take a few more animators with them), perhaps they can begin working on a 2-D animated Mario movie while at the same time working to finish "Hullabaloo."

But here's where it gets even better, and here's the real game changer. For "An American Tail" and "The Land Before Time," Bluth collaborated with a very, very famous and successful director: Stephen Spielberg. If Bluth can convince Spielberg to collaborate him again, then there is a very real possibility that the new Mario movie will be a 2-D animated blockbuster produced by or even directed by Stephen Spielberg, that has the same quality of animation as Disney classics such as "Beauty and the Beast," "Aladdin," and "The Lion King." Now, of course, I don't expect the Mario characters to be redesigned to fit the Disney style of animation. Rather, I'd expect their designs to be faithful to what they look like in the games. Much like how the Disney and Looney Tunes characters in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" looked the same design-wise but had a higher quality of animation compared to the old cartoons they were in.

Given that the script I'm suggesting is based off the first "Super Mario Bros." game, I'd expect the characters to look old-school. Personally, if I were in charge, I would design them like this:

-Mario: Same as the Japanese box art for "Super Mario Bros." except he has black hair.
-Luigi: Same as the box art for "Super Mario Bros. 3" except he has black hair, has green eyes, and the color of his shirt and overalls are swapped.
-Peach: Same design that she had in the Nintendo 64 era (but she doesn't wear her crown and dress until the very end).
-Toad: Same as the DIC cartoons except he has the color scheme of the games.
-Bowser: Same as the DIC cartoons except he has white eyeballs, has red irises, and can actually breathe fire.
-Daisy: Same as the box art for "Super Mario Land."
-Yoshi: Same as the box art for "Super Mario World."
-Other enemies have the same design as what they looked like in the box art or instruction book art for the first game they appeared in.

And now, what you have probably been waiting for. Who would I suggest to be cast?

Mario: Most of you would question my sanity for this, but my first choice would actually be Leonardo DiCaprio. The reason why is because I never really pictured Mario as being a middle-aged, balding guy. For some reason, I've always pictured him as being older than Luigi but not MUCH older. If Luigi's supposed to be around 25 in the "fantasy script," I would picture Mario as being somewhere in his 30s. That being said, I can't picture a guy in his 30s being voiced by an older, gruff-sounding guy. Furthermore, when I read the "fantasy script," and saw all the times Mario loses his temper, I immediately thought to myself "this is a Leonardo DiCaprio role right here. He loses his temper HARD in nearly all of his movies, and rarely has a soft demeanor." On top of that, he can pull off a nice Brooklyn accent, as seen in "The Wolf of Wall Street."

Luigi: My first choice would be Ben Savage. For those of you who don't know who he is, he played Cory Matthews on "Boy Meets World." In that show, Cory is supposed to be a teenager (and later an adult) who has a carefree, easy-going personality (for the most part) but at the same time is willing to step up to the plate when the going gets tough. I see Luigi as being the same way, and that's why I think Ben Savage would be able to play the part very well. Playing this version of Luigi would practically be deja vu for him.

Peach: First off, I'd like to point out that in my version of the 1991 "fantasy" script, Peach and Daisy are separate characters. Peach is supposed to be Woltan's daughter, who helps Mario, Luigi, and Toad on their quest. During the adventure, she and Mario initially dislike each other, but they begin to bond after Luigi and Toad are shoved into the pit, and they eventually fall in love and kiss at the end of the movie. Unlike her incarnation in the games, this incarnation of Peach is supposed to be a tough, no-nonsense adventurer who is skilled in fighting and magical healing. She eventually confesses her true identity as the real princess (it turns out that Koopa thinking Daisy was the princess was the result of an elaborate trick set up by Woltan, which is explained in further detail in my separate section), and actually offers to marry Koopa if he lets the other heroes and Daisy go. Koopa reneges on this promise, of course, and after they escape, the heroes and Daisy rescue Peach and defeat Koopa. Now that that's over with, I'd like to say that my first choice to voice her would be Isla Fisher. I've seen some of her performances, and she is capable of changing her voice to sound similar to both Peach's voice actress in the games and her voice actress in "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show." Not to mention that she is capable of being cute, funny, sexy, and tough, all at the same time, and has worked with Leonardo DiCaprio before (they were in "The Great Gatsby" together). She would be a great Peach.

Toad: John Stocker, who voiced him in the DIC cartoons, IS Toad. No question about it.

Koopa: My first choice would be Christian Bale. Not only is he a major rival to Leonardo DiCaprio in real life (that would really add to their onscreen chemistry as hero vs. villain), but he is also capable of being very menacing and changing his voice to sound deep and dark. If Bale can use his Batman voice to play a hero, why not use it to play a villain?

Yoshi: Andrew Sebastion, who voiced him in the "Super Mario World" cartoon, IS Yoshi. No question about it.

Daisy: Amy Adams would be my first choice as Daisy. Not only do people often confuse her with Isla Fisher in real life (like Koopa confuses Daisy with Peach in my script), she is capable of being sweet and innocent but at the same time tough and spunky. Oh, and she earns points for being in "Enchanted," which oddly enough ALSO involves a parallel dimension that can be accessed to through the New York sewer system.

Woltan: My first choice would be Christopher Plummer. He is tough and no-nonsense, but at the same time can be funny and charming. Much like how Plummer is in most of his roles. Plus, he has worked with Don Bluth before.

What do you think?

[SolitaryPoet]

I just don't see Nintendo giving to go-ahead on any of their major properties beyond Pokémon. Even if Sony is technically a Japanese company...you do realize that they make Playstation, right?

[JayOfSuburbia]

Mario moves from New York to Mushroom Kingdom with two suitcases and lived in YMCA with 2000 dollar check which they couldn't cash cause it was out of state bank. Anyway he was working at bus boy in hotel and Peach was sitting there drinking her coffee and Mario thought she was so beautiful, he said "hai" to her and that's how they first met. Funny part about their first date is, she paid for it.

I want Tommy Wiseau to direct this.

AND THEN! Mario has a massive emotional breakdown after learning that Peach is cheating on him with his brother/best friend Luigi.

"YOURE LYING I NEVER HIT YOU! YOU"RE TEARING ME APART PEACH!"

And all the hipsters sipped their tea's in neutral agreement.

[ultimateemail5000]

I just don't see Nintendo giving to go-ahead on any of their major properties beyond Pokémon. Even if Sony is technically a Japanese company...you do realize that they make Playstation, right?

That really has nothing to do with anything. It's Sony Entertainment not Sony Playstation division. I don't even think this will happen anymore. But sony is also making a Nintendo and Sega console wsrs movie.

[Serum]

Mario moves from New York to Mushroom Kingdom with two suitcases and lived in YMCA with 2000 dollar check which they couldn't cash cause it was out of state bank. Anyway he was working at bus boy in hotel and Peach was sitting there drinking her coffee and Mario thought she was so beautiful, he said "hai" to her and that's how they first met. Funny part about their first date is, she paid for it.

I want Tommy Wiseau to direct this.

AND THEN! Mario has a massive emotional breakdown after learning that Peach is cheating on him with his brother/best friend Luigi.

"YOURE LYING I NEVER HIT YOU! YOU"RE TEARING ME APART PEACH!"

And all the hipsters sipped their tea's in neutral agreement.

Bro, no.

[Redstar]

I'd prefer to see either Dreamworks or Pixar handle an animated adaptation, but Sony has had a fairly good output and could easily produce something worthwhile if they put their best on the project. Unfortunately, Arad is far from their best. Just look at what he did to the Spider-Man franchise.

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

I don't think Sony would handle the computer animation themselves; their Ratchet & Clank and, if I'm not mistaken, Sly Cooper films are both being animated by Rainmaker Entertainment, the former Mainframe.

Meanwhile, their Sonic pic is being handled by Marza Animation Planet, the same SEGA studio that does animation for their various games, including several Sonic titles.

[Redstar]

I don't think Sony would handle the computer animation themselves

Do you really think that Sony would hand off such a hot property to a third party studio? They'll definitely be doing this in-house.

[Serum]

I don't think Sony would handle the computer animation themselves

Do you really think that Sony would hand off such a hot property to a third party studio? They'll definitely be doing this in-house.

Sony also knows a thing or two about computers and animation. And video-games. And marketing, so, if any of this is true an animated film is in capable hands.

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

What computer animated films have they done?

Honest question, I really don't know. Going by the fact that I mentioned of them not doing their own Ratchet or Sly Cooper films firsthand, nor Sonic, it doesn't seem unlikely they'd team with someone for the task.

Heck, lots of production companies team with other studios to get things done.

[Serum]

What computer animated films have they done?

Honest question, I really don't know. Going by the fact that I mentioned of them not doing their own Ratchet or Sly Cooper films firsthand, nor Sonic, it doesn't seem unlikely they'd team with someone for the task.

Heck, lots of production companies team with other studios to get things done.

They're Sony, as in the PlayStation? They've been doing CGI cutscenes for decades. I'm sure they could do an animated movie.

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

What computer animated films have they done?

Honest question, I really don't know. Going by the fact that I mentioned of them not doing their own Ratchet or Sly Cooper films firsthand, nor Sonic, it doesn't seem unlikely they'd team with someone for the task.

Heck, lots of production companies team with other studios to get things done.

They're Sony, as in the PlayStation? They've been doing CGI cutscenes for decades. I'm sure they could do an animated movie.

Usually in conjunction with other studios, though. Studios such as Insomniac Games (Ratchet & Clank), Sucker Punch Productions, and Sanzaru Games (Sly Cooper, both)... who are assisting Rainmaker in making the animated adaptations of their films, rather than handling it by themselves.

Plus, there would be the matter of having those studios put their games on hold in order to make a full-length motion picture versus some cutscenes, which I'm going to guess is a fairly different process in some ways as well.

They arguably could do it, but I don't really see it happening. If they're not even doing their own things, why would they drop everything for the mascot of their competition?

[ultimateemail5000]

I think what everyone keeps forgetting here is that even though this is Sony, it's not the Playstation, has nothing to do with Playstation division of the company. This is the entertainment side of the company, not the video game business. I can kind of see this happening it makes sense. Last year Iwata stated they wanted to license their characters off to more media. Rumor spun with those e-mails, now a Netflix Zelda series may be in the works. It all seems like we might be getting some official new Nintendo entertainment outside of the video games.

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

That too. Enough so that I didn't even think to bring it up, but yeah.

[ultimateemail5000]

Didn't Sony used to own the rights to Super Show as well? I know Disney has it now but I could have sworn at one point they did.

[1upmushroom]

Didn't Sony used to own the rights to Super Show as well? I know Disney has it now but I could have sworn at one point they did.

I know Shout! Factory did at one point (they made the two volume DVDs), maybe you're referring to them?

[ultimateemail5000]

Yes I know Shout! did at one point since I own the DVD's. After doing some research it was Shout! Factory and Sony BMG Music Entertainment who released the series. I'm pretty sure too I think on Netflix it was, I saw the Sony logo at the end of a few SMBSS episodes. So once again goes to prove, it's ENTERTAINMENT not VIDEO GAMES.

[Serum]

My moderatorial instincts are telling me to move this thread to the "Fan Media" subsection under "Mario Video-Games," because none of all of... this, has anything to do with the 1993 movie. Will another moderator please advise?

[ultimateemail5000]

Though I am not a moderator anymore, it does make sense to me.

[Serum]

Ah, this works well.

Dear Mod-Gods,
Thanks.
~ Serum



Okay, much better... resume.

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Didn't Sony used to own the rights to Super Show as well? I know Disney has it now but I could have sworn at one point they did.

Just home video rights, I believe. Before they were a platform holder, no less, if memory serves. I think I have one or two of their tapes.

Of course, Sony also provided the sound chip for the Super NES, so working with Nintendo isn't unheard of for them... just less so since the debacle that led to the PlayStation, and I think all of the old guard who might have harbored personal feelings on the matter (such as Ken Kutaragi, who-- if I remember correctly-- was removed from his position after PlayStation 3 initially bombed in the market).

[ultimateemail5000]

So many places to post this, but it says at Nintendo's next quarter meeting, they will be going over their licensing of characters. Perhaps we will get more details of this Zelda series, and possibly Super Mario movie.

[SolitaryPoet]

So many places to post this, but it says at Nintendo's next quarter meeting, they will be going over their licensing of characters. Perhaps we will get more details of this Zelda series, and possibly Super Mario movie.

Thanks for the heads up. I love these meetings; sometimes they actually use these meetings to announce new games. That's how they announced the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire remakes.

[ultimateemail5000]

So many places to post this, but it says at Nintendo's next quarter meeting, they will be going over their licensing of characters. Perhaps we will get more details of this Zelda series, and possibly Super Mario movie.

Thanks for the heads up. I love these meetings; sometimes they actually use these meetings to announce new games. That's how they announced the Pokemon Ruby/Sapphire remakes.

Oh I know, I was hoping they'd announce a new Mario game. I'm pretty sure they did that with 3D Land in 2011.

I know I complained about too many Mario games coming out from 2010-2013 but it's been a year since we've had an actual real Mario game and I am finally starting to get withdraws.