Super Mario Bros. The Movie: The End of an Era?
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2011 8:56 pm
Something of a rough version of an article I'm looking at posting sometime. Just wanted to see what you guys thought.
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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.
-------------------------------------------------------------
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.