Mario Kart World Brings Over a Voice Actor from The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Mario Kart World is the big launch title for Nintendo Switch 2, and it marks the start of a new era. It’s clear the Mario franchise in particular is seeing some changes from past games, from character designs, to the actors who voice specific characters. As reported by Nintendo Everything, Donkey Kong’s voice actor has been recast, with Koji Takeda now voicing the role and replacing Takashi Nagasako. That name might not be familiar to casual fans, but Takeda provided the character’s voice in The Super Mario Bros. Movie in Japan, while Seth Rogen voiced him in other markets.

Donkey Kong has been going through a number of changes in the video games recently. In a recent interview with IGN, Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that he was closely involved in the redesign used for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. That design was apparently created first for games that Nintendo was developing internally, such as Mario Kart World and the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza. Knowing that the design was going to be updated in the next few years, DK’s new look was revealed first through the movie, rather than using a design that would soon be replaced.

Having Donkey Kong’s design and voice actor carried over from The Super Mario Bros. Movie shows an interesting bit of symmetry and foresight on Nintendo’s part. The company couldn’t have predicted that the movie would make more than a billion dollars at the global box office, thus becoming one of the highest-grossing animated movies ever made. However, now those that were introduced to the world of Mario through the film will see (and in some cases hear) a version of Donkey Kong that’s a little more familiar.

Donkey Kong is the most obvious case, but there are other examples of the movie’s existence influencing Nintendo’s more recent games. In 2023, the developers of Super Mario Bros. Wonder revealed that they put more effort into the overall animations of the characters as a direct result of The Super Mario Bros. Movie. In the game, Mario and friends ended up being significantly more expressive than they had appeared in previous 2D games, such as New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe.

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With a new Mario movie set to be released in 2026, it will be interesting to see how the Illumination films and Nintendo’s games continue to play off one another. Players don’t necessarily want to see everything from the big screen reflected in the games, but there’s clearly a lot more thought being put into how to make these experiences complement one another. The future of Mario is a big question heading into the Nintendo Switch 2 era, as we don’t know what to expect next in terms of another 2D or 3D game. Hopefully that will change in the coming weeks!

How do you feel about these changes to Donkey Kong? Do you think The Super Mario Bros. Movie has had a positive impact on Nintendo’s games? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!