The Super Mario Bros. Movie's New Family Characters Were Designed by Nintendo
In The Super Mario Bros. Movie, viewers are introduced to Mario and Luigi's family. While the plumbers have had each other's backs since 1983, we've never gotten a chance to see their parents or other family members in the Nintendo games. However, it seems there was a plan for Mario and Luigi's parents to appear at some point, as unused character sketches of the two were provided to the film's directors. In a new interview with Polygon, co-director Aaron Horvath revealed that the film's take on Mario's father was fairly close to the Nintendo design.
"They did send us character sketches that that they had done years ago that they had never used; Mario's dad is almost like a one-to-one design adaptation of [Nintendo's] original Mario's dad design that they provided us. That was really great to be able to get that in the movie," Horvath told Polygon.
In the film, Mario's father plays a critical role, as he doesn't initially approve of his sons leaving construction to become plumbers. Fittingly enough, the character is played in the film by Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario in the games since the '90s. Mario's mom is a bit more approving, however. Like Mario's dad, the design for his mother was based on one provided by Nintendo. However, Horvath went on to tell Polygon that the team took more creative liberties with her final design.
"We made a few more changes on her, but she's very close to their original design. And Mario's grandpa in our movie looks a little more like Mario, but like he used to be a boxer or something," said Horvath. "We strayed a little bit from their designs in some of the other family members, but Mom and Dad were very close. Very close."
In addition to Mario and Luigi's parents, several other members of their family were designed especially for the movie. While The Super Mario Bros. Super Show would occasionally feature one-off characters like cousins, it seems that many of the family members that showed up in the movie were created solely for the movie. This includes Mario and Luigi's Uncle Tony, who is voiced by veteran Spider-Man actor Rino Romano.
Were you happy to learn more about Mario and Luigi's family life in the movie? Would you like to see their parents appear in a game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!
