Author Topic: Shigeru's thoughts on the Mario movie... (Read 13943 times)

Mario Maniac · « **on:** January 10, 2008, 03:25:40 PM »

I read an article at next-gen.biz (TMK linked to the interview) that discussed how Miyamoto was involved with the production of the Super Mario Bros. movie.

What are your thoughts on the Disney Super Mario Bros. movie?
Well, when we first initiated talks about a Super Mario Bros, movie, I tried to emphasize the point that the Mario Bros. games are fun as videogames and if we were going to make a Mario Bros. movie, that movie should be entertaining as a movie, and not a translation of the videogame. I think that they tried very hard and in the end it was a very fun project that they put a lot of effort into. The one thing that I still have some regrets about is that the movie may have tried to get a little too close to what the Mario Bros. videogames were. And in that sense, it became a movie that was about a videogame, rather than being an entertaining movie in and of its self.

Did you collaborate a lot with Disney to create this movie?
I didn’t collaborate with them a whole lot. Obviously, I was involved in the initial pitch about them wanting to make a movie. After they had started production and had filmed some scenes, there was a step there where we were a little bit involved.

If Miyamoto thinks the movie follows the game very closely, he needs to watch it again. The SMB movie is NOTHING like the games. The movie made too many changes to the series. Things that the movie did differently from the games:

- Luigi is a whiny teenager
- Bowser/Koopa became a sort of humanoid dictator (not the fire-breathing dinosaur/turtle from the games)
- Yoshi is a baby tyrannosaurus rex
- Mario and Luigi's costumes are completely different (no shirt/overalls outfit)
- Princess Toadstool's name was changed to Daisy (presumably a reference to Super Mario Land)
- Toad is a punk humanoid (not a mushroom person from the games)
- Goombas are giant reptile creatures
- Big Bertha is a fat lady instead of a fish
- All of the residents of Koopas nation are humanoid dinos (instead of being Mushroom people like in the games)
- The entire concept of seperate evolutionary paths for dinos and mammals has nothing to do with the games.

Why Nintendo even allowed this movie to be made is beyond me.

Shyguy92 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 10, 2008, 03:44:56 PM »

I thought he was talking about a different one in that interview. I don't think the Super Mario Bros. Movie was/is being made by Disney. I could be wrong though.

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #2 on:** January 10, 2008, 03:53:51 PM »

Disney owns the production company, Buena Vista Distribution, the company which produced the Mario movie.

Shyguy92 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 10, 2008, 03:55:20 PM »

Oh. When I first read it I thought it was about the anime movie or something...

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #4 on:** January 10, 2008, 03:57:04 PM »

Anime movie?

Chupperson Weird · « **Reply #5 on:** January 10, 2008, 04:19:08 PM »

Yes, that is correct. The anime movie.

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #6 on:** January 10, 2008, 04:41:19 PM »

What Mario anime? When did that come out?

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #7 on:** January 10, 2008, 05:02:20 PM »

That was also talked about on the main site. Go look for it, Maniac.

(And I liked the real life Mario movie. Not GREAT, but if it's on and there's nothing else on, I'll give it a watch. I also never assumed Daisy was supposed to be Peach at all, given Mario's uninterest in her in the movie and Luigi's love for her.)

N64 Chick · « **Reply #8 on:** January 10, 2008, 05:11:19 PM »

Quote from: Mario Maniac on January 10, 2008, 04:41:19 PM

What Mario anime? When did that come out?

The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach was an animated movie that was released only in Japan sometime in the 80's. It is quite obscure and supposedly hard to track down even in Japan. I was lucky enough to download the entire thing from YouTube although it lacks subtitles. Still, I can tell you that it's truer to the games than the live action movie.

Chupperson Weird · « **Reply #9 on:** January 10, 2008, 07:20:18 PM »

1986, I believe.

DeadAwake · « **Reply #10 on:** January 10, 2008, 07:41:13 PM »

I remember Mario's g/f being way hotter than Daisy--which is utterly absurd.

Mega 2 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 10, 2008, 10:55:32 PM »

Quote from: Mario Maniac on January 10, 2008, 03:25:40 PM

Why Nintendo even allowed this movie to be made is beyond me.

Making a Mario movie was a no-brainer from a financial point of view. What I can't fathom is why they chose to make it live-action. Once you figure in actors' fees and special effects, the movie must have been more expensive than even high-end animated films of the time. And since it costs no more to animate a magical fantasy world than it does to animate real-life locations, the plot could have been closer to the Mario story the audience knew and loved. Plus the obvious target market was children. My best guess is that they were inspired to go live-action by the high profitability of recent live-action films like Batman Returns and Jurassic Park (neither of which were aimed solely at kids, but both of which made astronomical sums through action figures and other kid-oriented merchandise). Still, they were fools. Even a bad animated film would have had a higher profit margin than the film they made, simply because there would have been less overhead.

Yeah, that movie utterly failed to meet my expectations when I was a kid, and I'm still not letting it go.

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #12 on:** January 11, 2008, 01:40:17 PM »

See now if you don't constantly try to connect it with the Mario games, I feel it isn't as bad a movie as so many people here are making it out to be.

MEGAß¥TE · « **Reply #13 on:** January 11, 2008, 01:56:19 PM »

Quote from: DeadAwake on January 10, 2008, 07:41:13 PM

I remember Mario's g/f being way hotter than Daisy--which is utterly absurd.

Maybe if you like sluts.

DeadAwake · « **Reply #14 on:** January 11, 2008, 03:54:45 PM »

Haha, I don't remember. Maybe the 8-year-old me was really into sluts.

Anyway, the fact that Mario even had a girlfriend put a great deal of distance between the movie and the games. Daisy not being the prettiest girl, when put on top of that, made me say, "Well, this is obviously fake."

Glorb · « **Reply #15 on:** January 12, 2008, 09:22:23 PM »

Yeah, I had a thing for sluts when I was but a wee lad, too.

AbercrombieBaseball · « **Reply #16 on:** January 13, 2008, 02:29:00 PM »

I actually saw the Mario movie on the Disney Channel once. I thought it was pretty funny. It had nothing to do with Mario games but it was good for some laughs.

They released it to the theater first, right? (It didn't seem like a theater-caliber movie to me, that's why I was asking...High School Musical (1 and 2) was a theater-caliber movie but not this Mario one, although like I said, it was funny).

MEGAß¥TE · « **Reply #17 on:** January 13, 2008, 02:32:23 PM »

Quote from: AbercrombieBaseball on January 13, 2008, 02:29:00 PM

It didn't seem like a theater-caliber movie to me, that's why I was asking...

Uh the movie featured some of the most advanced special effects of the time.

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #18 on:** January 13, 2008, 03:11:46 PM »

Quote from: AbercrombieBaseball on January 13, 2008, 02:29:00 PM

High School Musical (1 and 2) was a theater-caliber movie but not this Mario one

You have GOT to be kidding me.

Kojinka · « **Reply #19 on:** January 13, 2008, 04:21:14 PM »

Quote from: Vidgmchtr on January 11, 2008, 01:40:17 PM

See now if you don't constantly try to connect it with the Mario games, I feel it isn't as bad a movie as so many people here are making it out to be.

Listen to this man. I constantly tried connecting it with the games when I saw the movie on Disney channel, and I hated it. Watched it on YouTube a few months ago, did not try to connect it to the games, and I thought it wasn't all that bad.

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #20 on:** January 14, 2008, 02:16:07 AM »

I'm listening to Super Mario RPG music at vgmusic.com

Bring back SMRPG! Please Square Enix/Nintendo!

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #21 on:** January 14, 2008, 02:27:03 AM »

So what does THAT have to do with any of the Mario movies?

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #22 on:** January 14, 2008, 02:30:38 AM »

Nothing. I just love Mario music and Super Mario RPG!

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #23 on:** January 14, 2008, 02:37:58 AM »

Wow, you derailed YOUR OWN THREAD. Good job.

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #24 on:** January 14, 2008, 02:49:40 AM »

So is the Mario Anime a better tie in to the games than the live-action movie?

(see, back on topic)

The Chef · « **Reply #25 on:** January 14, 2008, 03:19:21 PM »

Well... yes, but it came out right after SMB1, so some of the stuff in it was made up (and possibly reused in the games themselves). I made a whole topic about it once, featuring uploaded clips and a promised in-depth look at the movie (which I never got to). Can anyone find that topic?

N64 Chick · « **Reply #26 on:** January 14, 2008, 04:54:05 PM »

It's right over here, The Chef (I'm not making the same mistake twice).

http://themushroomkingdom.net/board/index.php?topic=10112.0

Mega 2 · « **Reply #27 on:** January 14, 2008, 10:26:28 PM »

Quote from: Kojinka on January 13, 2008, 04:21:14 PM

Listen to this man. I constantly tried connecting it with the games when I saw the movie on Disney channel, and I hated it. Watched it on YouTube a few months ago, did not try to connect it to the games, and I thought it wasn't all that bad.

It's definitely better if you don't try to connect it to the Mario mythos, but I'd still argue against it being a good movie. It has too many different plot elements which fail to fit together as a cohesive story. I also didn't think Mario and Luigi were strong characters, even ignoring the legacy they were supposed to be living up to, and (and I know this is a controversial statement) I think Dennis Hopper's acting is wooden in every film he's been in, good and bad. Last but not least, I thought most of the attempts at humor fell flat, and some frankly made me cringe.

Glorb · « **Reply #28 on:** January 14, 2008, 10:46:39 PM »

Quote from: N64 Chick on January 14, 2008, 04:54:05 PM

It's right over here, The Chef (I'm not making the same mistake twice).

http://themushroomkingdom.net/board/index.php?topic=10112.0

You're quite welcome.

Kimimaru · « **Reply #29 on:** January 15, 2008, 06:12:30 PM »

Haha, this movie. I saw it a long time ago, and some other people told me the dinosaur thing was Bowser. The funny part was I believed them. As far as I can remember, this movie had almost no connection to the games.

penguinwizard · « **Reply #30 on:** January 16, 2008, 12:54:51 AM »

Well, it said Shigeru was involved with the pitch, so I don't think he saw the movie during production. He's right that it should work as a movie and not be a literal translation of a game. However, it shouldn't be completely different either. I never expected... *brain spark* oh, I get it. Goombas are tall because they're like mafia goombas, Big Bertha is just some big woman. But seriously, if you're going to use a name, make that character look like their videogame selves. Goombas are squatty mushrooms with fangs. Big Bertha's a fish. Bowser's a turtle/dragon thing.

For some reason, I always thought the actor for Bowser was Anthony Hopkins, not Dennis Hopper. I think Anthony would have been a better choice.

Vidgmchtr · « **Reply #31 on:** January 16, 2008, 01:10:14 AM »

Thanks for actually reading the replies in this thread.

Miyamoto was not referring to the live action movie with Bob Hoskins and Dennis Hopper, he's referring to an animated film that wasn't released outside of Japan at that time.

DeadAwake · « **Reply #32 on:** January 16, 2008, 05:01:53 PM »

Uhh, I thought he was referring to the live-action movie. In the second question quoted in the original topic, Miyamoto concurs that Disney was the production company. By the third post, Mario Maniac mentions that Disney owns Buena Vista--whose name shows up at the end of the live-action movie... Right?

Then, we started talking about sluts.

Chupperson Weird · « **Reply #33 on:** January 16, 2008, 07:26:01 PM »

That is correct.
Vidgmchtr is wrong.

Wii-Player · « **Reply #34 on:** January 16, 2008, 07:34:12 PM »

Never saw it when it came out, but when I finally saw it, (around 2 years ago) I thought the movie was really bad. I like Mario very much, and his games too, but the movie, there was nothing about Mario. Nothing I tell you, NOTHING!

Mario Maniac · « **Reply #35 on:** February 03, 2008, 04:46:18 PM »

Quote from: penguinwizard on January 16, 2008, 12:54:51 AM

Well, it said Shigeru was involved with the pitch, so I don't think he saw the movie during production. He's right that it should work as a movie and not be a literal translation of a game. However, it shouldn't be completely different either. I never expected... *brain spark* oh, I get it. Goombas are tall because they're like mafia goombas, Big Bertha is just some big woman. But seriously, if you're going to use a name, make that character look like their videogame selves. Goombas are squatty mushrooms with fangs. Big Bertha's a fish. Bowser's a turtle/dragon thing.

For some reason, I always thought the actor for Bowser was Anthony Hopkins, not Dennis Hopper. I think Anthony would have been a better choice.

tinkerair · « **Reply #36 on:** February 18, 2008, 09:50:51 AM »

You know i watched this movie ( on youtube, i wasnt old enough to see it) and seriously i was thinking ''What was the director thinking!?!'' 1. Have you seen the characters? Luigi didn't even have a mustache! 2. Princess Peach should have been in the movie. I mean i grew up with my N64, so i grew up with Peach. 3. This is from my own point of view, but wouldn't anyone agree that almost the whole movie was centered around luigi? i like luigi and all but it kinda seemed like that.... Hope i made my point. : )

Bag of Magic Food · « **Reply #37 on:** February 21, 2008, 07:03:27 PM »

I still think they should have just dubbed the anime movie into English. Better yet, dub it with the actors from the Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Chupperson Weird · « **Reply #38 on:** February 21, 2008, 07:59:27 PM »

That doesn't sound like a good idea to me.

ShadowBrain · « **Reply #39 on:** February 21, 2008, 08:32:16 PM »

That just got me thinking: How'd the movie fare in Japan? Or did it come out there at all? *shudders*

schwagames · « **Reply #40 on:** March 05, 2008, 12:55:59 PM »

Quote from: Mario Maniac on January 10, 2008, 04:41:19 PM

What Mario anime? When did that come out?

actually, here's a link to the introduction : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzMKxdSI7lk