The Super Mario Bros. Movie: Why Mario and Luigi Change Their Accents

By Marc Deschamps

In Nintendo's video games, Mario doesn't do much in the way of speaking. When the hero does speak, it's usually in a high-pitched voice that sticks to simple expressions, such as "woo-hoo" or "Let's a go!" This has worked well in the video games for decades now, but The Super Mario Bros. Movie moves away from Mario's classic accent, opting for something a bit closer to the Brooklyn accent seen in previous adaptations such as The Super Mario Bros. Super Show. However, the movie does feature Mario using his classic accent during one key scene! Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!

When Mario and Luigi are first introduced in the movie, it's through a commercial for their plumbing business. The commercial is set to the theme song for The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, and sees Mario and Luigi using accents that sound identical to the ones from the games. When we see that the brothers were watching the commercial in the Punch-Out pizzeria, their voices change to what we've seen in the trailers for the movie. Mario asks if the accents they use in the commercial were too much, and a character named Giuseppe (voiced by Mario's video game voice actor Charles Martinet) offers his approval in a similar voice.

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Unfortunately, the commercial isn't as well-received by many of the other people in Mario and Luigi's lives. Their former boss Spike immediately ridicules the brothers in the restaurant, and Luigi is quick to mention that their mom likes it. Their mother seems to be the only family member that approves of both the commercial and their chosen line of work. When the brothers get home, several members of their family give them a hard time about the commercial, and about choosing to leave construction to go into plumbing. Of course, that line of work inevitably leads them to the Mushroom Kingdom, where they become embroiled in Bowser's plans of conquest!

Have you had a chance to see The Super Mario Bros. Movie yet? Are you happy that the movie changed Mario's accent from the one in the video games? Let us know in the comments or share directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk all things gaming!

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