What is that video game everyone must have played at least once? The clear answer is Super Mario Bros, Mario Kart, Mario Party or Mario Strikers. These legendary games have been the method of entertainment for generations. Mario is one of the most if not the most famous video game characters in the world. Mario’s first game released in 1985 and Nintendo is still developing more Mario Bros. video games and video games where the character features, like Super Smash Bros. Mario has been a huge hit since the beginning and still is. Nowadays, Mario Bros. games are still entertaining, but the character also returns to theaters with the upcoming movie The Super Mario Bros. Movie. The film is produced by Illumination, associated with Nintendo, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is expected to premiere on April 7th, 2023. The computer-animated film will be directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic.
Before this movie, there were two other films, the first one released in 1986, a Japanese anime film titled Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! And the second one was a live-action movie Super Mario Bros. premiered in 1993, which was a complete failure. After this last movie, Nintendo opposed licensing its products for the creation of movie content. Though in 2018, Nintendo officially announced they would collaborate with Illumination and Universal Pictures. The production of the film started in 2020 and on October 6th, 2022, its first official trailer was released, which was shown via a Nintendo Direct presentation.
What we first saw in the trailer, is the eternal villain of the franchise, Bowser, alongside his Koopa army who are invading the penguin kingdom in order to get the star for Bowser to become more powerful. Meanwhile, Mario arrives at the Mushroom kingdom where he meets one iconic character, Toad. In the end, the trailer also shows Luigi running for his life after he is being chased by Dry Bones. Other characters like Peach or Donkey Kong, do not appear.
When it comes to giving life to the characters with a voice, Chris Pratt lends his voice to Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy is Peach, Charlie Day’s voice is Luigi’s, Bowser is voiced by Jack Black, Keegan Michael-Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen is Cranky Kong, Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Khary Payton as the penguin king.
There have been some controversies regarding Pratt’s voice. Tara Strong, who is known for her voice work in animation including famous TV shows like The Fairly OddParents where she lent a voice to Timmy Turner, criticized the actor for the voice it was giving to Mario and also she alleged that Mario should have been Charles Martinet instead. Martinet has interpreted Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario video game series since 1992. The actor was touched by the messages the public sent, since some fans prefered Martinet as Mario. Yet, according to the official announcement, Martinet will appear in the movie in a cameo role.
Mario Bros. is and always will be such an iconic character in the video game industry and now in theaters. The furore is so huge that Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan, inaugurated a Mario Bros. theme park. The Super Nintendo World provides the best Mario Bros. experience where visitors feel inside the worlds of Super Mario Bros. with different attractions and merchandise that will make it an unforgettable experience.
Andrea Rich
