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.