Warning: The following contains spoilers forThe Super Mario Bros. Movie.When Mario first appeared in aDonkey Konggame in 1981, game developers probably didn’t realize they had a character that would become the center of one of the biggest gaming franchises. The release ofSuper Mario Bros.in 1985 began one of the most popular series of games of all time. Now, the secondThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, this time, an animated one instead of the 1993 live-action version, has packed in plenty of callbacks, Easter eggs, and references forMariosuperfans.
In the movie, Mario (voiced by Chris Pratt) and his brother Luigi (Charlie Day) are struggling plumbers who get transported to a whole new world when they try to solve a water leak problem for Brooklyn. Their adventure, which involves Luigi being held hostage by Bowser (Jack Black) and Mario teaming up with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor Joy) is one big love letter to the games.
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The Mario Sound Effects
Even those audience members only passingly familiar withMariowill know that the games over the years have involved the character hitting boxes and gathering items from them. That idea is used throughout the movie once Mario and Luigi leave Brooklyn behind, but even in Brooklyn musical cues and sound effects from the games are used. Luigi’s ringtone is even from the Game Cube platform.
When Mario and Luigi run through sewers, the music from one of the games plays, for example.Throughout the Mushroom Kingdomand Kong Jungle when Peach teaches Mario how to use the power-ups, and he then battles Donkey Kong, all the sound effects are from the original games. There’s the sound that accompanies a power-up (and yes, all the power-ups in the movie are straight from the games), the coins clinging, the victory notes when reaching a flagpole, the clacking together of koopa shells, and more.
A Specific Mario Power-Up
Thepower-ups featured in the Mushroom Kingdom, like growing and shrinking mushrooms, the fire flower, the ice flower, the cat suit, and the Tanooki suit, are all straight out of theSuper Mariogames. There is one power-up that’s nodded to in the movie, however, that doesn’t actually get used.
That would be Mario and Luigi’s capes in their plumbing commercial. The two wear yellow capes while laying across stools to sell the idea of them being “super’ plumbers. The idea of those yellow capes comes fromSuper Mario Worldin which a cape feather allows players to fly through levels.
Also in the commercial, the phone number for Mario and Luigi’s business is 917-555-0185, different from the commercial released for television. It ends in “85,” a nod to Mario’s official game making its debut in 1985. The rap used is also from the 1989 animated series.
Jumpman Arcade Game
Though there is aJumpanvideo game created for Atari in 1983, thisJumpmanis actually a reference toDonkey Kong. The arcade game in the pizza restaurant that Mario’s family appears to frequent is a nod to his start in video games. When the character first appeared in Donkey Kong’s game before getting his own game series, his name wasn’t Mario, but he was called Jumpman. Fans have since theorized, to streamline the lore of the franchise, that Jumpman is actually Mario and Luigi’s father. The rivalry between Donkey Kong and Jumpman that starts in the game as Mario has to rescue Pauline from Donkey Kong continues throughout the Mario franchise.
As a bonus nod to Mario’s game origins, the mayor of Brooklyn is named Pauline.
Wrecking Crew
The boss that Mario and Luigi leave behind to start their own business is named Spike, and his uniform indicates his business is the Wrecking Crew.VS Wrecking Crewwas the name of an arcade game released in 1984 that also featured Mario and Luigi. In the game, Mario actually can’t jump, contrasting his Jumpman character, and has to climb, go through doors, and avoid falling objects to complete the levels.Foreman Spikeis one of the enemies he has to battle in a later release. The game also gets a more overt nod when the duo runs through a construction site set up to look just like the gameplay, complete with a victory sound effect at the end of it, and the duo arriving at a “Burger Castle.”
Punch-Out Pizzeria And More Nintendo References
The pizza place that Mario’s family is attached to is the Punch-Out Pizzeria. It features boxing memorabilia all over the walls, which is fitting since the game the restaurant is inspired by is a boxing game.Punch-Out!!was developed by Nintendo in the 1980s and first released as an arcade game in 1984. It’s also not the only Nintendo game nod in Brooklyn.
When Mario returns home and is disappointed with messing up a job, he playsKid Icarusin his room. That Nintendo game was first released in 1986. There are also posters of art from various Nintendo games around Mario’s room.
One of the restaurants in Brooklyn features a Chasse au Canard sign. Thattranslates toDuck Hunt, which is the game that was released alongsideMarioin which players could shoot ducks on their TV screens.
There is also a Balloon Fight Carwash.Balloon Fightis a video game published by Nintendo in 1984. A player survives the game by not allowing their balloons to pop and floating through the gameplay.
Disk-Kun Hardware is one of the stores on the Brooklyn street the audience sees Mario on near the end of the movie. Diskun was the mascot of the Famicon Disk System in Japan, a family computer system. Nintendo incorporated the mascot when they had games specific to the system, like theFamicon Grand Prix, a racing game.
Game & Watch appears on one of the vans that drive by in Brooklyn. Game & Watch was a game system released by Nintendo throughout the 1980s and early ‘90s.
While there’s a clear love forthe 1980s Nintendo gamesin the movie, there are some modern references as well. When Mario and Luigi try to fix one customer’s leaking pipes, the customer has a statue in their home that resembles a Pikmin. Pikmin are featured in the Nintendo puzzle game of the same name that released in 2001.
Sunshine Travel Agency also appears in a nod toSuper Mario Sunshine. That entire game kicks off when Mario and his friends are supposed to be traveling for a vacation before it’s interrupted by enemies.
The news crawl on Mario’s television when he and Luigi set out to save Brooklyn from a massive water leak has a news story about underground crabs. That could actually be a nod to a few different games released on Nintendo platforms.Fight CrabandAnother Crab’s Treasureboth feature different types of crabs in their gameplay. They could also be a nod to sidesteppers, crabs that originally appeared as one of the obstacles Mario had to overcome in theSuper Mario Bros.game.
Video game fans will notice something of a divide inThe Super Mario Bros. Movie. While Brooklyn features a lot of nods to other Nintendo properties, the Mushroom Kingdom is where fans will find more of the Mario-specific Easter eggs.
Nintendo’s Playing Card Legacy
Charles Martinet
Charles Martinet has been voicingvarious video game characters for years, but in theSuper Marioworld, he’s a legend. He’s voiced Mario, Luigi. Toad, and more. InThe Super Mario Bros. Moviehe returns to voice two characters. He plays Mario’s father as well as Giuseppe. Giuseppe, notably, is also designed to have the original Jumpman costume as his clothing.
Pipes As A Travel System
Mario fans will know that big green pipes could either be a way to travel to a new area of the game or could house piranha plants that would cost the player to lose a life. Both of those are present in the movie, but the first instance of a large drain pipe taking Mario and Luigi to a new place actually happens in Brooklyn.
When the duo tries to save their neighborhood from a flood, they find themselves in a secret section of the plumbing. The green pipe there eventually leads them to the Mushroom Kingdom, but before that, there’s a sign on the wall behind Luigi that reads “Level 1-2.” This is a nod to the first underground level in theSuper Mario Bros.game.
The Mushroom Kingdom’s Antique Store
The design of theMariocharacters and the worlds they inhabit is much closer to modern gaming systems than the original game. Fans will, however, see glimpses of older designs in the Mushroom Kingdom. There’s an antique shop that Mario passes on his way to see Princess Peach for the first time with a Toad that appears to be Captain Toad from the video games. The antique shop features some of the more classically designed items, and there’s even a character referencing blowing into a game cartridge.
“The Princess Is In Another Castle.”
OriginalSuper Mariofans will know that the gameplayinvolved Princess Peach(originally called Princess Toadstool in the English language release) being held captive and Mario having to rescue her. Each world saw Mario reach a castle, fight an enemy, and then find out that “the princess is in another castle.” That gag is played out in the movie when her castle guards try to direct Mario to go elsewhere, but he and Toad don’t believe them. Princess Peach fans will also note that every outfit she wears in the movie is from one of her video game appearances, from her classic pink dress to her motorcycle riding jumpsuit, and even her wedding dress.
