Super Mario Bros. The Movie: The End of an Era?

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Something of a rough version of an article I'm looking at posting sometime. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.

-------------------------------------------------------------

After watching and getting back into the Mario movie recently, a thought occurred to me: it seems like the film marked the end of an era for the heroic plumber. Not only that, but it may very well be responsible for the Mario we see in games and media today.

Think about it: during the "Mario Mania" era-- that is, from around the time the NES was picking up steam through sometime in the Super NES era-- Mario was easily identified as an Italian plumber from Brooklyn. And whenever Mario would appear in media-- usually anything beyond Nintendo's own games, from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (and its successors) to Valiant's Super Mario Bros. comic books, and from Hotel Mario for the CDi to the strangeness of the Ice Capades, choose your own adventure books, and more-- there were frequently some common traits one would see in the Bros.:

- Gruff "Brooklyn" voices and New York backgrounds.

- A love of Italian food.

- Plumbing. By and large, whether they were fighting busted pipes or Bowser, their occupation as plumbers was often prominently utilized.

If one saw Mario during this period, there was a good chance that these attributes would be played up as who the characters were. And perhaps the movie managed to use this to their maximum. Mario and Luigi weren't just plumbers: plumbers are who they were. And there was no denying their New York roots, particularly in how they talked (save for maybe if someone was actually from Brooklyn, and could spot the difference). And of course, the Bros. took their girls to an Italian restaurant, while even Koopa himself showed a penchant for pizza (spicy, and hold the mammal).

And then the movie... well, bombed. I don't think any of us are so delusional as to say the movie was any sort of resounding success. The film's very notoriety has notoriety, and is widely regarded as why Nintendo has yet to set foot near Hollywood since. But more than that, it seems Nintendo felt a need to perform damage control on their mascot brand.

Following the movie, there was very little in the way of appearances for Mario. It was as though Nintendo was hiding their shame. But more than that, it seems Nintendo was keen on distancing themselves from the movie as much as possible. Save for perhaps some edutainment software or other PC goods and things which were probably signed before the movie was released, Mario had little presence in the mainstream, and few game appearances.

In 1995, Mario began to resurface. And he was not the same Mario people had come to know.

That year, Mario's FUNdamentals would introduce the world to the new voice of Mario: Charles Martinet. And while he initially considered a voice not too unlike what we had come to know from Mario, a gruff New York-styled sound. But then he considered the appeal of the character to kids, and went in the completely opposite direction with a voice which had an almost Mickey Mouse-like friendliness to it, and instead of sounding like he was from Brooklyn, he carried a much more Italian stereotype.

As we all know, Nintendo went right for it. In fact, according to Martinet, his was the only tape that the agents had sent to the company to consider.

Taking away the "Italian" in Mario would seem a little more difficult, given the character's name. But with the new voice, it seems they decided there was less need to focus on his culinary choices.

That same year, Yoshi's Island would be released for the Super NES. And while Mario did very little speaking in it (but lots of crying), Nintendo established something else that had previously been unheard of: Mario wasn't from Brooklyn at all! Instead, he was apparently a denizen of the very kingdom he would save again and again, born and raised.

As for plumbing, the simple fact is that aspect seemed to come almost solely from the setting of the original Mario Bros. Beyond knocking out creatures who emerged from the pipes, Mario has rarely, if ever, so much as lifted a wrench or a plunger in a video game. Instead, he's typically placed in any number of occupations, as creator Shigeru Miyamoto had intended for him to fill any number of roles as needed. Aside from the continued prominence of pipes throughout the Super Mario Bros. games, he has had equally valid claims to performing as a carpenter, a doctor, a chef, an archaeologist, a demolitions expert, and more.

Despite this, however, Nintendo seems okay with throwing the occasional bone to those who remember Mario's proposed occupation. One example is in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga for the Game Boy Advance, where the two are called upon to fix the pipes in the Beanbean castle basement. But rather than strap on some tool belts, the Bros. tackle it in a way which seems more befitting of the game: they stomp plugs into holes in the pipes.

When all is said and done, it would appear that the Super Mario Bros. movie was essentially the swan song for the Mario of the 80's, delivering one final, ultimate appearance of the Mario Bros. as people knew them (although still a bit differently) before Nintendo would hit the reset button on the franchise, and change who the brothers Mario were for years to come.

And, depending on how one looks at it, the movie can be celebrated as the grand finale of the "Mario Mania" era of the character, or cursed for possibly bringing it to an early demise. Either way, it seems that the movie is where Nintendo drew the line in the sand for the character.

[1upmushroom]

Nice article. I never actually thought of the movie being the last time, we'd ever see the gruffy, brooklyn plumber Mario. Cool analis.

[Phlibbit]

Great article. I've always kind of seen the SMB movie as the close of the "Mario Mania" era. Like you said, all the games and media beyond that point revamped the character. Things like Yoshi's Island and having Martinet as the new voice took all of the "90s" out of the character in favor of more "timeless" traits. IMO these new traits make the character a lot less interesting even if it brings a broader appeal.

While I don't think the SMB film influenced Nintendo to change the character in the games in any way, I think it's good that the film came out when it did--or the filmmakers would have had an even bigger problem on their hands. Remember, if things went as planned, the "fantasy" version of the film would've been released sometime in 1992. Even with the sci-fi restructuring, the filmmakers were able to take all of the then-iconic elements of the character and make a final hurrah for that incarnation of the character.

Again, I think Nintendo would've restructured the character regardless of the movie's performance or release. It seemed like around the end of the SNES era and the start of the N64 era, Nintendo only retained a handful of their major franchises and refined them for the rest of the decade. They really seemed to focus on their big franchises like Mario and Zelda, and not even release a Metroid game during that era.

And although this point isn't part of your article, I really like looking at the SMB film as having the "best of the old and new" with its professional animatronics and groundbreaking CG work.

[Redstar]

It's a good subject, but the article itself does lack some focus. I'd like to hear more about how the movie played into what was "known" about Mario at the time as well as why Nintendo would have wanted to change Mario's attributes following it. There's definitely a lot more that could be said, especially in regards to the movie itself.

[incognitus]

Cool!
This explain us why Mario and Luigi doesn't have last names anymore, too.

But, do the fans miss the "classic Mario"?

[GetThosePlumbers]

Personally I kind of miss their Brooklyn roots. I think if they made a movie now they would still be from Brooklyn; that silly Italian dialect is cute in the games but it would be too much for a major movie

[LBD_Nytetrayn]

Haven't had a chance to work with this since posting, but hopefully I'll get to do so soon...

It's a good subject, but the article itself does lack some focus. I'd like to hear more about how the movie played into what was "known" about Mario at the time as well as why Nintendo would have wanted to change Mario's attributes following it. There's definitely a lot more that could be said, especially in regards to the movie itself.

I'll see if I can tweak it so it goes with that a little more, but I thought it was clear that Nintendo would want to change it to get away from the Mario which basically bombed at the box office-- to reinvent the character, as it were.

What else are you looking for that the movie played into, regarding their characterization? The plumbing, the pizza, the whole Brooklyn-centric thing... those are the three which stick out in my mind, from the cartoons to the comics to the movie itself.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

[Redstar]

What else are you looking for that the movie played into, regarding their characterization? The plumbing, the pizza, the whole Brooklyn-centric thing... those are the three which stick out in my mind, from the cartoons to the comics to the movie itself.

--LBD "Nytetrayn"

I don't quite recall what I had in mind at the time I made the comments of wanting to see more made, but I do still get the feeling that something is "missing" from the piece. I'm sure that problem will be resolved in the process of whatever expansions and revisions you had in mind already.

[YoshiWrangler]

An interesting theory, but I'm not sure I buy it. Remember, Mario being from Brooklyn, loving pasta ect. were only featured in non-game sources made in (or at least for) America. The games had never hinted at any of this, with the possible exception of the star spanggled shirt Mario wears in an early NES golf title. So when Mario 64 came around there was no reason to assume that in-game Mario was anything but pure Italian.....

Hold that thought. As I type this, it occurs to me that Mario's giant head popping up with his "It's-a me, Mario!" almost does seem like a re-introduction. Like he was saying, "Forget that -a other Mario! I'm-a Mario from now on!" I'm going to have to consider this unlikely but possible.

[Serum]

I'm in the minority as I, while having enjoyed Super Mario 64, Super Smash Bros., Mario Kart 64 and Mario Party 1 & 2 am completely disgusted with the current design (cutesy, Mickey Mouse-like) and voice (Charles Martinet, I'm sorry, but he's just not Mario.) and complete take on Mario that Nintendo has been riding for almost twenty years. If by some horrible miracle the head of Nintendo passed away and I was found to be the only living heir to the company, the first thing I'd do is throw out almost everything Nintendo's done in the last eighteen years and completely redesign the Mario canon, character designs, worlds, everything. But is the renaissance is over and sadly it makes high concept thinkers like me completely obsolete.