The Evolution of Super Mario (Animated)
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Mario is a video game legend, but just how has this pixelated platformer evolved? Let’s go through Super Mario’s notable TV, Movie, and Video Game appearances to find out!
warning: spoilers ahead!The Arcade Game, Donkey Kong, initially planned to use Popeye as the protagonist, but when the licensing deal fell through, Nintendo altered the sprite into a short carpenter with a large nose, wearing blue to match his charming mustache, and donning a bright red hat and overalls. The Japanese box art depicts him as a creepy pale old man, while the American counterpart is lankier, with rosy skin, and white gloves. Also worth noting, this game’s instructions referred to this hero as: Jumpman!
A purple-y version of this box-art design is seen in cereal commercials, revealing his bald head. The DK video game commercials also contain the first live-action Mario, wearing ringmaster gear, and acting horrendously evil!
In his solo arcade game, he’s taller, his color scheme is inverted, and he has brown shoes and hair. Luigi is also featured and the brothers are now plumbers! The poster art depicts him in a cutesy Chibi style and Mario’s finally given his official name. That same year, a Game and Watch ad featured a tall and bald Mario.
The Saturday Supercade cartoon Mario has a full head of hair under his lumpy hat. But, this Mario mostly wants to recapture Donkey Kong for his circus.
For the original Super Mario game, Mario’s colors are swapped again and he has a muted yellow tone. Mushrooms that grow him to full size are also introduced, and when tall, his hat emblem can be spotted. This game also debuts other Mario power-ups! The box-art design solidifies his brown hair, blue eyes, and M on his emblem.
In his anime film, Mario is leaner, his pupils small, and his hat emblem is yellow. He, Luigi, and a blue dog stop Peach’s unwanted wedding. Then the mutt transforms into a handsome Prince and steals Mario’s girl. Plus, if you ever wanted to see Mario in a gunslinger outfit or skimpy ballerina gear, this film has you covered!
In his sequel game, Imajin – whoops, I mean Mario – switches his torso coloring, eliminates the yellow tint and hat emblem, adds an outline, and is always in a default running pose.
The Amada anime series features a giant space-peach that births a…mustachioed baby-Mario? When older, his threads match this era's box art, although, he accessorizes with a bandana and cape. He’s also packing serious heat!
The Super Show series boasts a live-action Mario, with bushy hair, red overalls, a light dress shirt, and a tool belt. He also loves to rap! His cartoon equivalent lacks the bushy hair and wears more typical garments. In the follow-up series, this design gets stubbier and stubbier. Also, in 1989, you could catch a broadcast of Mario on ice!
The Super Mario Brothers 3 video game, ditches the blue for a black color scheme and has less orange skin.
The Super Mario Challenge presents a slender live-action Mario, sporting white overalls, a red t-shirt, and a baseball cap. He also fashions an occasional blue outfit. This Mario pits children against one another in video game battles!
His next game, Super Mario World, contains a more detailed sprite, which returns the emblem, and adds white gloves.
In the live-action film, he mostly wears street clothes, but also suits up in fancy dinner wear, a yellow club suit, and finally a scuffed red and blue jumpsuit, with a utility-belt, and flat cap. He additionally fashions a rainbow belt and has special boots for extreme jumping. This film finds him, Luigi, and Daisy facing off against the humanoid King Koopa with plans to de-evolve humanity!
In Super Mario 64, he’s now a boxy 3-dimensional model, with pale skin, a very bulbous nose, and close-together eyes. He also occasionally loses his hat, showing a full head of hair, and is given his iconic voice by Charles Martinet!
Super Mario Sunshine refines his features, is less pale, and his eyes are further apart. He also wears a T-Shirt in the hot warm sun!
The next gaming generations further polish this design and add even more details to our lovable plumber.
In his 3D animated movie, he’s wider set, wears a dress shirt, his overalls have a middle pocket, and he has his chubbiest cheeks yet! The film also showcases some of his various power-up outfits. He teams up with Peach to rescue his brother, and – like most of his games – then takes on Bowser!
...and with hundreds of spin-off games, never-ending parodies, and even commercials for Mercedes Benz, Mario isn’t going anywhere in pop culture.
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