Super Mario Movie Director Reveals How the Mushroom Kingdom's Bricks Float

Since the original Super Mario Bros. released on NES, bricks have been found floating around the Mushroom Kingdom. It's the kind of thing that gamers don't tend to question, but the creators of The Super Mario Bros. Movie came up with an in-universe explanation that nearly made it into the film. Speaking with Variety, co-director Aaron Horvath revealed that the team's idea was that a special mineral mined by the Toads enables these bricks to float in mid-air! The team even came up with a name for the mineral, which would have been called "floatanium."

"Our idea was that there's a mineral that's natural to the Mushroom Kingdom, which we call 'floatanium,' because it sounded funny to us, Horvath told Variety. "The Toads mine it and transform it into these blocks and use them for construction purposes."

Horvath does not go into detail about why the idea didn't make it into the film. It's possible Nintendo may have nixed the idea; the company tends to be careful when adding new details to the Mario canon. Of course, it's also possible it just got cut for time! Whatever the case may be, The Super Mario Bros. Movie did contain floating bricks for Mario and friends to smash, with no explanation provided. Considering how many records the movie has broken over the last week, audiences don't seem to mind!

In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Mario is a newcomer to the Mushroom Kingdom, having been accidentally transported there alongside his brother Luigi. When Luigi is kidnapped by the forces of Bowser, Mario is forced to learn about how the Mushroom Kingdom works in order to help save his brother. One of the film's most notable sequences takes place in an obstacle course, where Princess Peach forces Mario to practice before setting out on their journey together. The sequence contains plenty of floating bricks as well as Question Blocks and other iconic elements from the video games.

Have you seen The Super Mario Bros. Movie yet? Do you wish this explanation made it into the film? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!