Nintendo brought Mario to the big screen back in 1993 with Super Mario Bros. This film starred Bob Hoskins as the titular Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi. The film did not do too well. It became the go-to reference for a bad adaptation of video games to live-action films.
Fans hoped for a new adaptation for decades, but Nintendo was hesitant to pull the trigger. They finally teamed up with the animation studio Illumination Entertainment who brought us such films as Despicable Me, Minions, and the latest version of The Grinch. The company packed this new film full of Super Mario Easter Eggs and references. What did you end up missing?
When we meet Mario and Luigi, they are at their local pizzeria Punch Out Pizza. This is a reference to the Nintendo classic video game Punch-Out. Pictures of boxers from the video game like Glass Joe and Little Mac are on the walls. In the original video game, Mario was the boxing match referee. It doesn’t appear to be one of the jobs he enjoyed in the world of this movie.
Mario made his debut in the video game Donkey Kong. While we would learn a lot about Mario over the years, he initially didn’t have a name. The game developers just called him Jump Man. In the Punch-Out Pizzeria, there is an old-school arcade game called Jump Man that looks to be a version of the old Donkey Kong game.
We see a commercial for Mario and Luigi’s plumbing business on the TV inside Punch-Out Pizza. The commercial is done as a rap song. This is actually the theme song to the old Super Mario Bros. Super Show which aired in 1989. Former wrestling personality Captain Lou Albino starred as Mario for the live-action segments and voiced the character for the animated parts of the show. A really fun Super Mario Easter Egg for long-time fans.
We learn that Mario and Luigi recently quit their jobs at a construction company to open their own plumbing business. After their commercial airs, they run into their old boss Spike. He makes fun of them for leaving the Wrecking Crew and tells them they will never make it. This is based on an old Nintendo game called Wrecking Crew, where you can play as Mario and Luigi as they deal with their villainous boss Spike.
During the film, we see that Pauline has become Mayor. Pauline is actually the lady that Mario has to rescue in the original Donkey Kong game. Her character had disappeared after Donkey Kong, but in the latest Mario game Super Mario Odyssey, we learn that she has become Mayor of New Kong City. It looks like she kept advancing her career ever since being kidnapped by an angry gorilla.
When the film was first announced that there was going to be a Super Mario Bros. movie, fans were disheartened to learn that long-time voiceover artist Charles Martinet would not be doing Mario’s voice. He has been the voice of Mario ever since the character first began to speak in Super Mario 64.
Instead, Chris Pratt was given the honors, which caused quite an uproar online. The filmmakers wanted to pay homage to the original actor and hired him to voice Mario and Luigi’s father. This seems like a fitting tribute, although many would probably beg to differ.
When Mario and Luigi head over to try and stop the flooding in Brooklyn, they pass by a French restaurant called Chasse au Canard. The sign has a couple of familiar-looking ducks on it. If you can read French, you will see that this clever easter egg in The Super Mario Bros. Movie translates to ‘Duck Hunt.’ The dog would also appear as a painting in a client’s home earlier in the film.
After Mario arrives in the Mushroom Kingdom, Toad tells him that he should speak to the Princess to get help finding his brother. When he arrives at the castle, two Toad guards don’t want to let him in to see Princess Peach. They try to dissuade him from entering by telling him the Princess is in another castle. This is the message you receive in the original Super Mario Bros. video game when you beat a castle at the end of each level until the final battle with Bowser.
When Mario travels around the streets of the Mushroom Kingdom, he sees a couple of interesting stores. One is a Crazy Cap Store. This was introduced in Super Mario Odyssey as a way to gain different abilities throughout the game. Another store is an antique shop that sells old items from other Mario games. We see a Boomerang Flower that was introduced in Super Mario 3D Land, a music box from Super Mario Bros. 3, and a pixelated hammer that he would have used in the original Donkey Kong.
When Bowser is playing the piano and singing about his love for Princess Peach, we get a close-up of his fingers playing. There is a brand name on the piano of Ludwig von Koopa. He was one of Bowser’s sons that were introduced as mini-bosses in Super Mario Bros. 3.
At the end of the film, Bowser enters Brooklyn, and the Super Mario Bros. have to defeat him. During this scene, we see lots of cameos from other Nintendo characters. We see a polar bear wearing board shorts on a sign advertising some frozen treats. This polar bear showed up in the game Ice Climbers. There’s also an advertisement for a car wash with a character lifted by two balloons. This is from the game Balloon Fight.
Then there is a store sign that reads Disk-Kun. This was the mascot from the original Famicom Disk System. The Nintendo Famicom was the game system sold in Japan. Famicom stands for Family Computer. It was renamed the Nintendo Entertainment System in the US. Japan sold an add-on for the Famicom that used floppy disks to improve audio and gameplay.
To help users with this new system, they created the mascot of Diskun. It would give you tips on how to use the Disk System and would even show up in other games. Think of Diskun as a less annoying Clippy from early Microsoft products. Nice to see he still has a thriving business.
What Super Mario Bros. Easter Eggs did you spot? Let us know in the comments.