"Super Mario World: Times Square" Fan Script

[AngeloThomas]

I'm working on a fan script called "Super Mario World: Times Square". It is heavily based on the videogames, but it does incorporate several elements from the 1993 movie. I've even written in a sequence from the 'Fantasy' draft from 1991.

SUPER MARIO WORLD: TIMES SQUARE
Written for the Screen by ANGELO THOMAS
Inspired by the 1993 motion-picture Super Mario Bros.
Based on the video-game franchise
Elements from the 1993 motion-picture are property of the Walt Disney Company. The video-game franchise is owned by Nintendo. All rights belong to their respective owners.

SCENE ONE

EXT. Mushroom Kingdom - Day (CG Animated)
We begin with a shot of the blue sky. The camera pans through hills and mountains and then we see it. Mushroom Kingdom. There is a tall castle structure in the distance, but mainly we see a surreal Dr. Seuss type environment. There are mushrooms near the camera, in the bottom corners of the screen. Everything is bright and colorful. The camera focuses on the red and white spotted mushroom closest to us in the bottom right corner. A neon-colored butterfly gently flies down and rests on it for a moment. We hear a young boy’s voice.

Voice
Shoo!

The mushroom begins to move, and the camera pans out to reveal that this is TOAD. He continues his attempt at scaring the butterfly off, waving his little arms in the air franticly as if he had a bee in his hair. The butterfly flies off-screen and we get a close-up at Toad. He picks up a dandelion and blows at the flower; the white specks blow toward the screen (creating a good 3-D effect). Toad and the Mushroom Kingdom fade from view, and all we see is the dust specks from the dandelion slowly moving down until they are off-screen.


CONTINUED:


The title- Super Mario World: Times Square appears along with the recognizable classic Nintendo theme music.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. Manhattan Expressway - Day (live-action)
Traffic is terrible. Typical rush hour on a Manhattan expressway. We hear a lot of loud horn noises, etc. Camera pans through traffic and stops at a sign that reads Roadwork Ahead, expect delay.

Camera pans around and behind sign, and we see a group of road workers doing some type of roadwork in the middle of the expressway. There are tractors and trucks in the background.

Close-up shot of a sewer drain in the ground. A construction worker’s hands come on screen and pull off the lid of the sewer drain. It’s complete and total darkness inside. The camera pans down into the drain. Though it’s total darkness, we can tell the camera is going down fast- we hear loud metal rattling in the pipes, air and water combination rush past us. We finally see a light in the distance. We get closer and closer within seconds.

We can finally tell that it’s a hole in the ground above; the other side of the Manhattan sewage system. When the camera panning comes to a stop, we see Toad’s head peering over the top of the hole.

EXT. Mushroom Kingdom - Day (CG Animated)
We now see a wide shot of the same colorful field in Mushroom Kingdom. Toad is looking into a green transporter that is recognizable to viewers from the video-game.

Toad
Hmm…

CONTINUED:


Camera pans over to the right and focuses on SPIKE and IGGY (in their traditional animated appearance), spying on Toad from behind a tree.

Close-up of Spike and Iggy hiding behind the tree.

Shot of Toad looking into the green transporter. A breeze rolls in from the right of him, and he falls into the green transporter. The traditional bit of music that is heard when going down the transporter in the video game is heard during the scene transition…

EXT. Manhattan Expressway (Construction site) - Day (live-action)
We’re back on the Manhattan expressway with a shot of the same construction area around the sewage drain. Just as a construction worker places the lid on the drain back on, we hear a loud rattling noise and water rushing from underground. The few construction workers, a bit confused, step a little further away from the drain. As the rattling and water get louder, we see one of the workers mouth “Oh, sh*t.” The lid goes up into the air with tons of water bursting out of the sewers. We hear another small piece of recognizable music from the video games, as Toad (still in his animated form) springs out of the open sewer. He does a classic-looking pose as he briefly stays in the air. As the water holding him up begins to lower, his face turns a bit frantic.

Close-up on construction worker’s face; looking in awe at the animated mushroom creature that just sprung out of the sewer.

The camera shows the same construction worker, from a bit wider of an angle; he pulls out his walkie-talkie and pulls it up to his mouth to speak.

Close-up of construction worker with walkie-talkie.

CONTINUED:
Construction worker (into walkie-talkie)
This is Hopper from I-76, I’m going to need a couple of plumbers here. Fast and cheap; get on it.

Man (voice on other side of walkie-talkie)
Got it.

FADE OUT

SCENE TWO

We hear a loud lightning strike and then we…

FADE IN:

EXT. Outside of Bowser’s Castle - Day (CG Animated)
Wide shot of Bowser’s Castle- there is a lake full of lava surrounding the castle. There are nothing but dark storm clouds in the sky. The sun is not even in sight. The castle looks like the video game, but has more of a metallic appearance. We can see some volcanoes and mountains in the distance.

DISSOLVE TO:

INT. Bowser’’s Castle (CG Animated)
The camera follows Iggy and Spike from behind as they walk down a hallway entirely lit by torches. The hallway has more of a medieval feel to it. They stop in front of two large double doors with Bowser’s face engraved into the metal doors. The doors swing open before them, and they walk into the room through the doorway.

Close-up of BOWSER in a chair that has spikes on the gold edges, looking like his shell in a throne-like room with metallic walls and floors. There is a cobweb in the bottom corner of the shot.

Bowser (deep voice)
Well, what is it?
CONTINUED:

Wide shot (from the side) of Bowser in his chair speaking to Iggy and Spike.

Spike
It’s the portal, sir. We’ve just witnessed someone crossing over… to the other dimension.

Close-up of Bowser. In disbelief, he blows out fire toward the camera.

Close-up of Iggy and Spike, with terrified looks on their faces. The light from the fire is reflected on them. We hear Bowser’s fist bang down on the armrest of his chair in frustration.

We now see a wide shot from the behind Iggy and Spike, above their shoulders. A row of flames is in front of Iggy and Spike, separating them from Bowser. Bowser is still visible behind the rising flames.

Bowser
FIND HIM!!

Close-up of Iggy and Spike, still looking terrified. The light from the fire is slowly dimming throughout the shot, hence the fire is calming.

Iggy and Spike
Y-y-y-y-yess, sir.

Spike (nervously)
We won’t let you down.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. Manhattan Expressway (construction site) - Day (live-action)
We see a wide shot of the construction site again. This time, Toad’s not there. Just some confused construction workers.
CONTINUED:
Three construction workers are standing around the open sewage drain, still in shock. We hear an old car engine and some screechy tires in the background. A white, old commercial van comes on screen just behind the construction workers.

Close-up on side of van; Faded red letters read Mario Brothers Plumbing. We hear a car door slam, and we zoom out to show a man (obviously MARIO, but we cannot see his face just yet) open the hood of the van. As he opens the hood, a lot of smoke and steam blow out, looking like something out of a cartoon.

We get a close view of Mario from the hood of the truck; but smoke is blocking our view of his face. As the smoke blows and clears the camera’s view, we see a classic-looking CG animated Mario, right in front of the camera, looking into the inside of the hood. He blinks, and we hear a very cartoonish blinking sound.

Mario
Hmm…

He closes the hood of the trunk, which blocks the camera’s view, leaving us looking at total darkness for a very brief moment.

We see a shot of the other side of the truck, and the passenger door opens. We see LUIGI, in CG, hop out of the van. He shuts the door behind him and walks around the front of the van where Mario is.

Camera shows Luigi and Mario turned away from the camera looking at a van parked on the street by the construction site.

Mario
We lost another job to Scapelli!


CONTINUED:

Camera shows side of the Scapelli van. In orange letters, it reads Wario and Waluigi Scappeli with the words We got the job done! underneath. Camera pans to the right of the poorly parked van, to the construction area. We see CG animated WARIO and WALUIGI examining the sewage drain area with the construction workers there. No one in the shot seems to notice that Wario and Waluigi are animated.

DISSOLVE TO:

EXT. Time Square - Sundown (live-action)
We see a close shot of Spike and Iggy doing kung fu poses looking right into the camera. There are people everywhere, but it seems like people here are too busy to notice them. Iggy sort of snaps out of it, and points toward the camera at something off-screen. He looks at Spike, and…

Spike
It’s him! It’s that kid!

Iggy
Let’s get him!

Spike and Iggy are about two feet tall, so compared to normal people, they’re not very big, so it’s harder for them to get through a busy crowd. We see people cross right in front of the camera, except we only see their legs pretty much.

We see a larger shot of Iggy and Spike trying to move through the crowd. We see a little girl, PAULINE, walking alongside her mom, we can see the girl’s full body, but only below the woman’s waist. The little girl tugs on her mother’s skirt, and points to Iggy and Spike.


CONTINUED:

Pauline
Mom, look- lizards! Can we keep them? Please?

We see a torso shot of Iggy and Spike. They’re eyes widen and Iggy pulls Spike in front of him, as shield. We see the girl’s hands reach down and grab Iggy and Spike by their heads in slow motion. As her hands grab them, we hear music similar to something out of a cheesy horror film.

Iggy and Spike (slow motion/deep)
NOOOOO!

Once the girl’s hands move off screen, we dramatically…

FADE OUT


SCENE THREE

We hear some nice, soothing music and we…

FADE IN:

INT. Toadstool Castle (CG Animated)
The music continues and we see a beautiful stained glass window depicting a beautiful pink castle in the center of a beautiful kingdom- The Toadstool Castle in the Mushroom Kingdom. The camera zooms out and we see PRINCESS PEACH faced away from the camera, looking towards the beautiful window. She turns toward us, and her blue eyes literally sparkle at us. Her expression quickly turns into a worried look. She looks around, and hurriedly exits the shot.

DISSOLVE TO:






EXT. Van (Driving/Moving) - Day (live-action)
We see (CG) Mario and Luigi as they drive down a real Manhattan street.

Close-up on Mario, driving.

Mario
So you bid this at our usual rate?

Close-up on Luigi.

Luigi
Uh, not exactly. A little under.

Mario (O.S.)
How much did you charge?

Luigi
Thirty bucks.

EXT. Church - Day (live-action)
Wide shot from behind Mario and Luigi going up the front steps of an old church in Manhattan.

Luigi (to Mario)
But the sister said it was just a little drip.

Close-up of Mario standing in front of the door, turned to face Luigi.

Mario
I’m not in the charity business here, Luigi.

He turns to the door and rings the doorbell. The ring is a ten second, boring, piece of classical music.

Shot of the door from inside the church. We see silhouettes of Mario and Luigi (through the curtains) standing outside the door.

CONTINUED:
We see an old nun slowly walk onscreen and open the door for animated Mario and Luigi. We only see the back of her.

Nun
You must be the plumbers. Come in.

She gestures with her hands for Mario and Luigi to follow, and she walks off-screen with Mario and Luigi following. When they have walked off-screen, we faintly hear the old nun talking to them as she shows them through the church. The door, still open, closes by itself.

INT. Church Basement (live-action)
Close-up of animated Mario as he shines his flashlight right into the camera. The old flashlight flickers and he moves it away from the camera.

Mario
These pipes gotta be a million years old.

Later…
We see Mario high up on a ladder looking for the source of the leak among the jungle of old pipes near the ceiling. Camera zooms out to show that Luigi is below, holding the unstable, wobbly ladder for him.

Mario
It would help if you hold the latter still, y’know.

Close-up of Mario inspecting the pipes. We hear a continuous water dripping.

Mario (to himself)
Found it. Right by the sewer line. A little patch job should get it done.

Mario (to Luigi)
Hand me the wrench, will ya?
CONTINUED:
Wide shot of Luigi holding up the ladder.

Mario (O.S.)
And don’t break anything this time.

The toolbox is just out of Luigi’s reach. He holds the ladder with one hand and stretches to reach the toolbox, almost doing the splits.

Luigi
Don’t worry Mario, I’ve got this all under--

Just as Luigi is speaking to Mario, Luigi loses grip of the ladder and it crashes down to the ground off-screen. After that, there’s a strange silence.

The camera pans to the area where the ladder, with Mario at the top of it, crashed to the ground. The ladder is split into two or three pieces, and Mario is not seen. Luigi walks on-screen with his flashlight, looking for Mario.

Luigi
Mario? (echoes)

We see a shot from under the hardwood floor in the basement. A hole in the ground was made when the ladder crashed down onto the ground. There are pieces of the ladder that are mostly blocking our view. Luigi moves the ladder pieces out of the way, and he looks into the hole in the ground.

Luigi
Mario?? (echoes)

We see a close-up shot of Luigi looking down into the hole. Luigi shines his flashlight down the hole, and he drops it. He tries to reach for it, but he completely falls into the hole.

CONTINUED:

Camera rushes down beneath the ground. We see Luigi and his flashlight falling down, down, down, down. We hear Luigi’s screams echoing behind the music. It’s pretty much pitch black down there, and if it wasn’t for the flashlight, we wouldn’t be able to see Luigi. Luigi and the flashlight continue to drop, but the camera stops. We see nothing but pure darkness for a moment, and then we hear aloud THUD!

SCENE FOUR

FADE IN:

EXT. Mushroom Kingdom - Day (CG Animated)
We see a wide shot of the same colorful field in the Mushroom Kingdom. Luigi peers out of the green transporter. He sticks his head out and blinks. He cautiously steps out onto the grass.


That's all for now! Leave your comments!

[Redstar]

I really enjoyed this. I could easily spot the '91 fantasy script and '93 sci-fi script inspirations, though none of it felt in the least bit forced. Everything was integrated well into your new concept, which seems to be developing well along its own path. It was all very well written, too, which is certainly a plus.

Perhaps the strongest concept is the idea for CG/animated characters alongside live-action characters and sets, a la "Roger Rabbit." I think that could totally work, though I'll always be a sucker for the original "guys in suits" method.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this script continues. Once I see more I can give you a more accurate opinion on the project as a whole. (Also, you might want to check out GoChauncyGo's own ongoing reimagining of the movie, which also incorporates elements from the earlier scripts and games. He's done the best job in that regard so far, so perhaps you could take cues from him)

[AngeloThomas]

Thanks for your comments! They are appreciated. Iggy and Spike play similar roles in my screenplay that they do in the '93 movie, but in mine they're CG animated and looking like the Iggy and Spike from the videogames.

[Serum]

This is all good, but it's more of an original story based on the video-game than it is based on the movie. However, keep writing-- I'd like to see where it goes.

[AngeloThomas]

Thanks guys! I completely forgot about this. I wrote that over the summer when I was out of school. Never really finished it. I've improved a lot as a writer, and learned a lot more about script writing. I think I might pick it back up at some point and finish it. I just need to remove some of the screen description and tweak a few things and then I can keep going with it.

[Redstar]

Love to see you continue this to some extent. I'm always curious to see how things develop and how your ability to tell the story improves.