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According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final film?

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:45 am
by Serum
Did one of us put this up on TV Tropes? This seems like pretty important information...

Nearly 30 minutes of footage was cut to get the movie down to a proper running time. Deleted scenes include:

An extended sequence of Koopa chasing Daisy's mother in New York, which featured him gazing admiringly at the buildings which would later inspire his warped construction projects in Dinohattan.

Mario and Luigi actually confronting the "Scapelli Bros.", Mike and Doug, in the River Front Cafe. They threaten the cafe's owner, Pascal, by using their bosses' name. Pascal takes Mario aside and offers him and Luigi a free lunch to make it up to them, which leads to:

An alternate scene of Mario and Luigi eating. Daisy enters the cafe and uses the payphone inside, slipping on a wet floor as she leaves. Luigi catches her and the movie continues that way.

Mario and Luigi getting ready for their dinner date, during which Luigi expresses embarrassment at being a plumber. Mario chastises him and tells him he has no "family pride."

An extended sequence in the de-evolution chamber, during which one of the devo technicians is de-evolved into slime. A puddle can still be seen on the floor in the final film.

Iggy and Spike get drunk at the Boom Boom Bar and rap, which is referenced later by Lena as them "preaching your overthrow."

Various assorted scenes, including additional sequences from the cut "family pride" subplot.


We seriously need to find this footage and make somebody re-edit it into the movie. I mean, thirty minutes of footage... that's a lot of running time. So basically nearly a fourth of the movie was cut out.

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 1:55 am
by Redstar
I'd say that's about right, though you do have to consider that most of that time would likely have been from alternate takes and additional shots that don't really add anything to the narrative.

I don't see anything listed that we don't already have in detail on the Deleted Scenes page. Most of that is fairly "common" knowledge, at least among those of us familiar with the early scripts and novelization.

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:21 am
by Serum
Redstar wrote:I'd say that's about right, though you do have to consider that most of that time would likely have been from alternate takes and additional shots that don't really add anything to the narrative.

I don't see anything listed that we don't already have in detail on the Deleted Scenes page. Most of that is fairly "common" knowledge, at least among those of us familiar with the early scripts and novelization.

I don't know, there was a bit in here that wasn't in the deleted scenes section, like the alternate scene of Daisy using the payphone, the entire character arch of Mario and Luigi and their "family pride" and the idea of Koopa admiring our architecture. Let's see, the movie, as it is, is about an hour and three quarters long, so adding an additional thirty minutes would bring the film's length to... two hours and fifteen minutes. Quite literally an epic scale for the first movie based on a video-game.

So basically, here's what an ideal director's cut would look like:

All of the above footage re-inserted into the film using alternate takes for certain scenes to strengthen the narrative (i.e.: the scene where Daisy slips and Luigi catches her), and the animated intro narrated by Dan Castella...Castellenta? Homer Simpson, the cartoon narrated by Homer would be cut out, just as Annabel Jankel intended.

We seriously need to get a DVD release of the director's cut...

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 12:41 pm
by Redstar
YouFilthyMammal wrote:I don't know, there was a bit in here that wasn't in the deleted scenes section, like the alternate scene of Daisy using the payphone, the entire character arch of Mario and Luigi and their "family pride" and the idea of Koopa admiring our architecture. Let's see, the movie, as it is, is about an hour and three quarters long, so adding an additional thirty minutes would bring the film's length to... two hours and fifteen minutes. Quite literally an epic scale for the first movie based on a video-game.

You're right about the alternate meeting with Daisy; we briefly mention it under the "Scapelli Goons" section, but at this time we really don't have enough evidence to list it on the page yet.

However, we do have a brief clip of an extended scene within the jail sequence that would have been the second scene within the "family pride" arc. (Have you ever seen it? It's great!) We know of at least three other such scenes, but unfortunately don't have enough evidence to list those as well. Perhaps someday!

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2011 3:27 pm
by Serum
I wonder what made them change the scene where they meet Daisy? There's so much to this movie. I wonder who has the missing footage?

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:17 am
by Redstar
YouFilthyMammal wrote:I wonder what made them change the scene where they meet Daisy? There's so much to this movie. I wonder who has the missing footage?

It's always been Phlibbit's opinion (and one that I share) that the meeting was changed simply to get them into Dinohattan sooner. It's the same thing Disney did with Atlantis: The Lost Empire. It's also likely that the meeting had to be rewritten to make more sense of the situation after the "Scapelli Goons" scene was cut.

Re: According to TV Tropes, 30 minutes cut from the final fi

Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2011 4:27 pm
by Serum
I clocked it, it still takes about twenty two minutes for them to enter the Mushroom Kingdom... that's a pretty long time. But it doesn't make up for the loss of narrative and the complete removal of entire character arcs. I seriously hope somebody can get through to Disney and have someone piece together an ultimate cut of this movie. I mean, editing is one thing, but the removal of entire, necessary scenes to character development is another. Looking back on it, it seems that getting the Marios into the Mushroom Kingdom sooner was a mistake that distanced the audience from the title characters...