Despite being the face of video games for the past few decades, Mario has only made it to the screen a couple of times over the years. Among those few attempts, the one that stands out as a sleeper hit is still 1989's Super Mario Bros. Super Show.
Super Mario Bros. Super Show was one of many planned collaborations between Nintendo and DIC Enterprises, which also produced The Legend of Zelda cartoon. The two actually aired as a single programming block, with planned adaptations of several other classic video games including Metroid and Castlevania which tragically never saw release.
32 years after the series one and only season, the Super Show is an absolutely bizarre thing to behold. A time capsule of the exact moment in kids programming it represented, sharing its dated presentation with Sonic Underground and Mega Man. The format of the show featured brief asides with live-action versions of the Mario Bros. styled like a multi-cam sitcom, before cutting to the cartoon. These live-action bits are a bit absurd, often featuring celebrity cameos portraying themselves as the Bros. aid them with a plumbing disaster. Only about five minutes per episode is given over to the live-action bits, they bookend the more central cartoon.
Little narrative existed in the Mario universe prior to this series, in fact, little exists to this very day, but the show did develop a backstory for its events. Mario and Luigi are plumbers from Brooklyn who fall through a frustratingly grey pipe while on the job, landing them in the Mushroom Kingdom. Once there, they begin aiding Princess Toadstool and her bodyguard Toad to free her people from King Koopa. They typically accomplish this through slapstick comedy, power-ups from the games, occasional application of plumbing skills, and a frankly ridiculous number of references to Italian food.
The upcoming film's cast has received some strange looks, but this series made some pretty wild choices as well. Mario's first-ever on-screen performer was WWF icon "Capt" Lou Albano. Albano is a fantastic Mario, years before Charles Martinet defined the character's voice as we know it today. He brings an outstanding sense of fun to the character, and his gritty voice sells the show's iteration of the New York plumber turned hero of a magic land. Alongside Albano is Danny Wells as Luigi, who brings forth the taller brother's cowardice and earnest ambition. These actors could be criticized for their technique, but their performances have genuine heart that would be tough to match with the stunt-cast performers set to take their roles.
One genuinely great lesson of the Super Show is its soundtrack and ambient music. Aside from its theme song, a slightly embarrassing late 80's rap track, the series is scored overwhelmingly with remixed iterations of the classic games' music. The music is cleverly placed throughout to fit the scenes, creating an audio link to the games fans love. Illumination Studios have a habit of hiring famed pop musicians to craft their film soundtracks when they aren't just filling the score with existing top 40 hits. Hopefully, they can incorporate some of Mario's iconic music, or at least create a score inspired by the wonderful orchestral soundtracks of recent games.
Today, most gamers know the general personalities of the Mario Bros. cast, but those characteristics were not really present before the Super Show introduced them. Mario, the food-motivated bumbling hero. Luigi, the cowardly but good-natured sidekick. Princess Toadstool, the strong-willed leader, often sidelined but never silenced. King Koopa enjoys some of the best characterization, as a villain who really revels in his role. These character traits are set in stone at this point, but the upcoming film would do well to look to the characterization of the show that invented many of the traits fans know and love today.
With Illumination at the helm, the Mario movie is almost guaranteed to be a comedy film with some light action elements, like nearly everything they've produced. The Super Show's sense of humor is very hit and miss. Its occasionally very clever, riffing on the character's identifiable traits and the world's inherent absurdity. Unfortunately, it often relies way too heavily on non-sequitur nonsense and references to the Bros. love of Italian food. When it works, it brings a special type of fun to a whimsical universe, and hopefully, the film will find that core of solid comedy that can make a Mario movie enjoyable. The action, on the other hand, will not be inspired by the Super Show, which leaned extremely hard into the plumbing aspect of the character which goes largely ignored by modern iterations. Illumination will have to find a new way of making Mario's limited arsenal fun and engaging on-screen.
For a show as weird and outdated as the Super Mario Bros. Super Show, there's an awful lot it got right about how to adapt such an iconic brand. Hopefully, the upcoming film will make use of the special performances, iconic music, identifiable characters, and strong grasp of comedy exemplified by a cartoon that was ahead of its time.