The ''Mario'' media franchise extends out of video games into non-game media. Mario and themes related to the franchise have appeared in television shows, anime, films, comics and manga, merchandise, and musical performance.

Television

Saturday Supercade ''Saturday Supercade'' is an American animated television series produced for Saturday mornings by Ruby-Spears Productions. It ran for two seasons on CBS. The show is an anthology series comprising four 11-minute segments based on different vi ...

'' is an

animated television series An animated series, or a cartoon series, is a set of Animation, animated films with a common title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same main heroes, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series ...

produced for

Saturday mornings "Saturday Mornings" is a song by American rapper Cordae, released on July 24, 2024 as the second single from his third studio album '' The Crossroads'' (2024). It features American rapper Lil Wayne and was produced by Smoko Ono and BoogzDaBeast. ...

Ruby-Spears Productions Ruby-Spears Productions (also known as Ruby-Spears Enterprises) was an American entertainment production company founded by veteran writers and ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' creators, Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, in 1977, before closing in 1996. Spec ...

. It ran for two seasons on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

, beginning in 1983. Each episode comprised several shorter segments featuring

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

characters from the

Golden Age of Arcade Games The golden age of arcade video games was the period of rapid growth, technological development, and cultural influence of arcade video games from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. The release of ''Space Invaders'' in 1978 led to a wave of shoo ...

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. It follows the adventures of Donkey Kong (character), Donkey Kong, a large, powerful gorilla, and other members of the List of Don ...

Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

and Pauline (from the ''

'' arcade game) were featured in the show. '' The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' is the first American TV series based on the ''Mario'' NES games. It was broadcast in syndication from September 4 to December 1, 1989. Based on ''

Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...

'' and ''

Super Mario Bros. 2 ''Super Mario Bros. 2'' is a 1988 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. After the smash hit ''Super Mario Bros.'' in 1985, Nintendo quickly released a minor adaptation of the original with adva ...

''. The show was produced by

DIC Entertainment DIC Entertainment Corporation (; also known as DIC Audiovisuel, DIC Enterprises, DIC Animation City, DIC Entertainment, L.P., and DIC Productions, sometimes stylized as DİC) was a French American film and television production company that ...

and was distributed for syndicated television by

Viacom Enterprises Viacom Productions (formerly Viacom Enterprises) was a television production arm of Viacom. Viacom Enterprises was also a movie producer, and a sports producer. The division was active from 1971 until 2004, when the company was folded into Par ...

(full rights have since reverted to DiC through

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto. It develops, publishes, and releases both video games and video game consoles. The history of Nintendo began when craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi ...

). ''

King Koopa's Kool Kartoons ''King Koopa's Kool Kartoons'' is a local, American live-action children's television show broadcast in Southern California during the Autumn of 1989. The show was produced by DIC Entertainment in association with Fox Television Studios for the ...

'' is a

live action Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define film, video games o ...

children's

television show A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

broadcast in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

during the holiday season of 1989/1990. The show starred King Koopa (also known as

Bowser , also known as King Bowser or King Koopa, is a Character (arts), fictional character and the Antagonist, main antagonist of Nintendo's ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise."The Top 100 Videogame Villains". IGN. Retrieved October 8, 2010. ...

), the main antagonist of the ''Mario'' series. The 30-minute program was originally broadcast during the after-school afternoon time-slots on

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

-based KTTV Fox 11. ''

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 ''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'' is an American animated television series. It premiered on September 8, 1990, on NBC. It is the second animated series to be based on Nintendo's ''Mario'' video game series and is loosely based on the vid ...

'' is the second TV series based on the ''Mario'' NES games. It aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

from September 8 to December 1, 1990. Based on the '' Super Mario Bros. 3'' video game, the cartoon shows Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad fighting against Bowser and his

Koopalings The ''Mario'' franchise is a media franchise created by Nintendo. Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of the franchise's games, but various games are developed by third-party companies such as Intelligent Systems and Nintendo Cu ...

, who went by different names on the show. It was part of a 1 hour block with

Captain N ''Captain N: The Game Master'' is an American animated television series that aired on NBC from 1989 to 1991 as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. Produced by DIC Animation City, it incorporated elements from video games of the time by ...

's second season, structured such that 2 episodes of Mario 3 would bookend the longer Captain N episode that made the "meat" of the sandwich. ''

The Super Mario Challenge The Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' media franchise extends out of video games into non-game media. Mario and themes related to the franchise have appeared in television shows, anime, films, comics and manga, merchandise, and musical performance. Te ...

'' is a game show which aired on

The Children's Channel The Children's Channel, also known as TCC, was a British-based pan-European children's television channel in Europe, Asia and Africa, which was owned by Flextech in London, England, UK. It began broadcasting on the original Eutelsat satellite ...

. It ran from 1990 to 1991 and aired at 4:30 p.m. every weekday. The presenter,

John Lenahan John Lenahan (born 1961 in Philadelphia, US) is an American illusionist and entertainer resident in the UK since 1984. A successful corporate entertainer, he came to greater fame as a result of a 1994 appearance on the BBC One show '' How Do Th ...

, was a lookalike of

, and dressed in his clothes. Two guest players had to do tasks, all of which involved playing the ''Mario'' video games ''

'', ''

'' and, after its release in 1991, '' Super Mario Bros. 3''. Rounds included challenges to see which player could complete a level in the fastest time and who could collect the most gold coins on a certain level. ''

Super Mario World ''Super Mario World'', known in Japan as '' is a 1990 platform game developed by Nintendo EAD and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The player controls Mario on his quest to save Princess Peach and Dino ...

'' is an

based on the SNES video game of the same name. It is the third and currently last

Saturday morning cartoon "Saturday-morning cartoon" is a colloquial term for the original animated series and live-action programming that was typically scheduled on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the United States on the "Big Three" television networks. The genre was a ...

based on the ''Mario'' series. The show was originally aired on Saturday mornings on

in the 1991–92 season. It was featured in a half-hour time slot with a shortened version of '' Captain N: The Game Master''. Episodes of ''Super Mario World'' were later shown as part of the syndication package ''Captain N & The Video Game Masters''. Afterwards, the series was split from ''Captain N'' altogether and shown in time-compressed reruns on ''Mario All-Stars''. ''

Mario Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Olympic and US National Champion figure skaters who had retired from formal competition. Started in 1940, the Ice Capad ...

'' is a television special featuring a Mario-themed

Ice Capades The Ice Capades were traveling entertainment shows featuring theatrical ice skating performances. Shows often featured former Winter Olympic Games, Olympic and United States Figure Skating Championships, US National Champion figure skating, figur ...

skating show, broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

on December 28, 1989. It starred

Christopher Hewett Christopher George Hewett (5 April 1921 – 3 August 2001) was an English actor and theatre director best known for his role as Lynn Aloysius Belvedere on the ABC sitcom ''Mr. Belvedere''. Career Hewett was born in Worthing, Sussex to Chr ...

as Bowser.

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

and

Alyssa Milano Alyssa Jayne Milano ( ; born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and activist. She has played Samantha Micelli in '' Who's the Boss?'' (1984–1992), Jennifer Mancini in '' Melrose Place'' (1997–1998), Phoebe Halliwell in '' Charmed'' ...

also appeared in the special.

Films

and the Super Mushroom appeared in the 2012 Disney animated film ''

Wreck-It Ralph ''Wreck-It Ralph'' is a 2012 American animated comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It was directed by Rich Moore and produced by Clark Spencer, from a screenplay by Phil Johnston (filmmaker), Phil Johnston and Jennifer Lee ( ...

'';

is mentioned by Felix but not seen in the film. Mario's original arcade game appearance in ''

'' makes a cameo in the 2015 science fiction action comedy film ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sma ...

''.

''Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' (1986)

''Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!'' is a 1986

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

film based on the ''

'' video game. Directed by Masami Hata and produced by Masakatsu Suzuki and Tsunemasa Hatano, the plot centers on

and

Luigi Luigi (; ) is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Part of Nintendo's ''Mario'' franchise, he is a kind-hearted, cowardly Italian plumber, and the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario. Like ...

, who go on a quest to save

Princess Peach is a character in Nintendo's Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' franchise. She was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and introduced in the 1985 original ''Super Mario Bros.'' game as Princess Toadstool. She is the Queen regnant, princess regnant and hea ...

from

. It is notable for being the first film based on a video game, predating the live-action ''Super Mario Bros.'' film by seven years.

''Super Mario Bros.'' (1993)

''Super Mario Bros.'' is a 1993 American

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

comedy Comedy is a genre of dramatic works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. Origins Comedy originated in ancient Greec ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

fantasy film Fantasy films are films that belong to the fantasy genre with fantastic themes, usually Magic (paranormal), magic, supernatural events, mythology, folklore, or exotic fantasy worlds. The Film genre, genre is considered a form of speculative fic ...

based on the Japanese video game series of the same name by

and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios through

Hollywood Pictures Hollywood Pictures Company was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Established in 1989, by Disney CEO Michael Eisner and studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Hollywood Pictures was ...

, thus becoming one of several rare occasions where Disney and Nintendo have collaborated. The film was directed by

Rocky Morton Rocky Morton (born 1955) is an English music video, television, and film director. He is the co-creator of the TV series '' Max Headroom'' and co-director of the 1993 Hollywood Pictures film ''Super Mario Bros is a 1985 Platformer, pla ...

and

Annabel Jankel Annabel Jankel (born 1 June 1955), also known as AJ Jankel, is a British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a music video director and the co-creator of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom and as co-director of the fil ...

, written by Parker Bennett, Terry Runté and

Ed Solomon Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989), ''Men in Black (1997 film), Men in Black'' (1997), and ''Now You See Me (film), Now You See Me'' ( ...

, and stars

Bob Hoskins Robert William Hoskins (26 October 1942 – 29 April 2014) was an English actor and film director. Known for his intense but sensitive portrayals of "tough guy" characters, he began his career on stage before making his screen breakthrough pl ...

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

Dennis Hopper Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. He was considered one of the key figures of New Hollywood. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice Internatio ...

Samantha Mathis Samantha Mathis (born May 12, 1970) is an American actress and trade union leader who served as the Vice President, Actors/Performers of SAG-AFTRA from 2015 to 2019. The daughter of actress Bibi Besch, Mathis made her film debut in '' Pump Up ...

Fisher Stevens Stephen Fisher (born November 27, 1963), known professionally as Fisher Stevens, is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben Jahveri in ''Short Circuit'' (1986) and ''Short Circu ...

Fiona Shaw Fiona Shaw (born Fiona Mary Wilson; 10 July 1958) is an Irish film and theatre actress. She did extensive work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, as well as in film and television. In 2020, she was listed at No. 29 o ...

and

Richard Edson Richard Edson (born January 1, 1954) is an American actor and musician. Personal life Edson was born in New Rochelle, New York to a Jewish family. He has one brother, Steven, who resides in the Boston area, and two sisters, Andrea, who resides ...

. The story revolves around the titular Mario brothers, as they find a parallel universe, ruled by the ruthless dictator King Koopa, who seeks to merge the two dimensions so that he can rule both worlds, leaving it up to Mario and Luigi to join forces with Princess Daisy, the daughter of the world's displaced King, to stop Koopa. ''Super Mario Bros.'' was shot in both

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

on a budget of $48 million. The film was released on May 28, 1993, in the United States and was unsuccessful both critically and commercially, receiving criticism for its storyline, characters, dialogue and unfaithfulness to the games. Bob Hoskins later stated in an interview in 2007 that the film was "the worst thing I ever did". However, the film was nominated for two

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films bel ...

s (one for Best Costume, the other for Best Make-up). Years later, however, commentators called it a

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

, and has spawned a fan-made website, a fan-made sequel comic, and even a

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

release in the United Kingdom.

''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' (2023)

''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' is a 2023 animated film adaptation of the franchise, produced by Illumination and

and distributed by

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

. It is co-produced by Nintendo fellow and series' creator

Shigeru Miyamoto is a Japanese video game designer, video game producer, producer and Creative director#Video games, game director at Nintendo, where he has served as one of its representative directors as an executive since 2002. Widely regarded as one o ...

and Illumination founder and CEO

Chris Meledandri Christopher Meledandri (; born May 15, 1959) is an American film producer and founder and CEO of Illumination. He previously served as president of 20th Century Fox Animation, and has worked as the producer for the film series of ''Ice Age'', ...

. The film stars the voices of

Chris Pratt Christopher Michael Pratt (born June 21, 1979) is an American actor. His films as a leading actor have grossed over $14.1billion worldwide, making him the fifth-highest-grossing film star of all time. Pratt was named by ''Time'' as one of t ...

as Mario,

Anya Taylor-Joy Anya-Josephine Marie Taylor-Joy (; born 16 April 1996) is an actress. Born in Miami and raised in Buenos Aires and London, she left school at the age of 16 to pursue an acting career. After a series of small television roles, her Breakthrough ...

as Peach,

Charlie Day Charles Peckham Day (born February 9, 1976) is an American actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing Charlie Kelly (It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Charlie Kelly on the FX Networks, FX dark comedy ''It's Always Sunny in Phila ...

as Luigi,

Jack Black Thomas Jacob "Jack" Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for roles in family and comedy films, in addition to his voice work in animated films. His awards include a Children's and Family Emmy ...

as Bowser,

Keegan-Michael Key Keegan-Michael Key (born March 22, 1971) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He and Jordan Peele co-created and co-starred in the sketch series '' Key & Peele'' (2012–2015) for which he received one Primetime Emmy Award from ...

as Toad,

Seth Rogen Seth Aaron Rogen (; born April 15, 1982) is a Canadian actor, comedian, and filmmaker. Known primarily for his comedic Leading actor, leading man roles in films, the accolades he has received include nominations for three Golden Globe Awards, ...

as Donkey Kong,

Fred Armisen Fereydun Robert Armisen (born December 4, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, musician, and writer. With his comedy partner Carrie Brownstein, he co-created and co-starred in the IFC sketch comedy series '' Portlandia''. He also co-created ...

as Cranky Kong,

Kevin Michael Richardson Kevin Michael Richardson (born October 25, 1964) is an American actor. Known for his distinctively deep voice, he has mostly voiced villainous characters in animation and video games. In film, Richardson voiced Goro in ''Mortal Kombat'' (1995) ...

as Kamek and

Sebastian Maniscalco Sebastian Maniscalco (; ; born July 8, 1973) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. Best known for his stand-up comedy, Maniscalco has released six comedy specials. He has also had supporting acting roles in the films '' Green Book'' (2018) ...

as Foreman Spike; longtime ''Mario'' voice actor

Charles Martinet Charles Andre Martinet (born September 17, 1955) is an American actor. He is best known for voicing Mario in the ''Super Mario'' franchise, portraying him from 1991 to 2023. He also voiced other characters in the series such as Luigi, Wario, W ...

features in a series of cameos. In January 2020, Nintendo's President

Shuntaro Furukawa is a Japanese businessman and executive who is the sixth and sitting president of the video game company Nintendo. He succeeded Tatsumi Kimishima for the position in June 2018. Early life Furukawa was born in Tokyo, Japan, on January 10, 1972 ...

stated that the film is "moving along smoothly" with the film aiming for release in 2023. Furukawa stated that Nintendo would own the rights to the film, and both Nintendo and Universal would fund the production of the film. Meledandri called the film a "priority" for the Illumination animation studio. The film features an

origin story In fiction, an origin story is an account or backstory revealing how a character or group of people become a protagonist or antagonist. In American comic books, it also refers to how characters gained their superpowers and/or the circumstances ...

for the brothers

and

, Italian-American plumbers who are transported to an alternate world and become entangled in a battle between the

Mushroom Kingdom is a video game series and media franchise created by Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo. Starring the titular plumber character Mario, the franchise began with video games but has extended to other forms of media, including ...

, led by

, and the Koopas, led by

. After the critical and commercial failure of the

live-action film Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a Live-action animation, live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define ...

''Super Mario Bros.'' (1993), Nintendo became reluctant to license its

intellectual properties Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property, and some countries recognize more than others. The best-known types are patents, co ...

for film adaptations. ''Mario'' creator

became interested in developing another film, and through Nintendo's work with

Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), formerly Universal Parks & Resorts, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme parks and resort propertie ...

to create

Super Nintendo World (stylized in all caps) is a themed area at Universal Studios Japan, Universal Studios Hollywood and Universal Epic Universe, with a future area under construction at Universal Studios Singapore. A result of a partnership between Nintendo and Un ...

, he met with Illumination founder and CEO

. By 2016, the two were discussing a ''Mario'' film and, in January 2018, Nintendo announced that it would collaborate with Illumination and Universal to produce it. Production was underway by 2020, and the cast was announced in September 2021. ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'' was released in the United States on April 5, 2023. The film received mixed reviews from critics, though audience reception was more positive. The film has grossed over $1.360 billion worldwide, setting multiple box-office records, including the biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the highest-grossing film based on a video game. It also became the second highest-grossing film of 2023 and the third-highest-grossing animated film.

''Super Mario World'' (2026)

On March 10, 2024, as part of Mario Day celebrations, Miyamoto and Meledandri officially announced "a new ''Super Mario Bros.'' movie", along with a release date of April 3, 2026 in the United States and more dates throughout April for other territories. Horvath, Jelenic and Fogel will return as co-directors and screenwriter respectively; Meledandri stated that Illumination's team was in the process of storyboarding and "developing set designs for new environments." In October 2024, Keegan-Michael Key teased that the sequel will be "broader in scope" and feature "new folks and old favorites and some folks that

e thinks E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plur ...

are really deep cuts". On May 13, 2025, the name of the sequel was revealed as ''Super Mario World'' in a press release released by NBCUniversal.

Anime

''Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.'' is a series of three 15-minute

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, television series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strat ...

OVAs , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and special episodes of a series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the ...

produced by Studio Junio, licensed by

, and released by Amada Printing on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tapes on August 3, 1989, exclusively in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The plot of the episodes involve characters from the Mario franchise in the stories of three folktales: ''

Momotarō is a Folk hero, popular hero of Japanese folklore. His name is often translated as ''Peach Boy'', but is directly translated as ''Peach + Tarō (given name), Tarō'', a common Japanese given name. ''Momotarō'' is also the title of various books, ...

'', ''

Issun-bōshi is the subject of a fairy tale from Japan. This story can be found in the old Japanese illustrated book '' Otogizōshi''. Similar central figures and themes are known elsewhere in the world, as in the tradition of Tom Thumb in English folklore. ...

'' and ''

Snow White "Snow White" is a German fairy tale, first written down in the early 19th century. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'', numbered as Tale 53. The original title was ''Sneewittch ...

''. Its cast includes

Miyako Endō is a Japanese voice actress. She works for Aoni Production. She graduated from Aoyama Gakuin University. Filmography Anime *Remy in '' Getter Robo Go'' *Miyoko's mother (3rd Voice) and Yūki Uehara (2nd Voice) in ''Kiteretsu Daihyakka'' *Female S ...

(

, Kinopio, Morton Koopa Jr., Wendy O. Koopa),

Tōru Furuya is a Japanese actor and narrator. As a child, he was a member of Gekidan Himawari, a children's acting troupe. He is currently employed by the talent management firm Aoni Production, since 1982. Furuya is most known for the anime roles of Amur ...

(

Masaharu Satō is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator currently working for Aoni Production. He was born in Ōta, Tokyo. Satō is best known for the roles of Buffaloman, Sunshine (''Kinnikuman''), Miyamoto Musashi ('' Yaiba''), Adah ('' Mushiking: King ...

(

Koopa are a fictional turtle-like race of characters from the ''Mario'' media franchise. They are commonly referred to as Koopas, a more broad classification of creatures that includes Bowser, his Koopalings, and Lakitu. Predecessors to Koopa Tro ...

Larry Koopa The ''Mario'' franchise is a media franchise created by Nintendo. Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of the franchise's games, but various games are developed by third-party companies such as Intelligent Systems and Nintendo Cub ...

Iggy Koopa The ''Mario'' franchise is a media franchise created by Nintendo. Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of the franchise's games, but various games are developed by third-party companies such as Intelligent Systems and Nintendo Cub ...

Naoki Tatsuta is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production. He is most known for the roles of Buta Gorilla ( Kiteretsu Daihyakka), Daima Jin ( High School! Kimengumi), Oolong (Dragon Ball), Dr. Escargon ( Kirby: Right Back at Ya!), Ashibe's F ...

(

Ludwig von Koopa The ''Mario'' franchise is a media franchise created by Nintendo. Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of the franchise's games, but various games are developed by third-party companies such as Intelligent Systems and Nintendo Cub ...

, Roy Koopa,

Lemmy Koopa The ''Mario'' franchise is a media franchise created by Nintendo. Nintendo is usually the developer and publisher of the franchise's games, but various games are developed by third-party companies such as Intelligent Systems and Nintendo Cub ...

), and

Toshiko Sawada is a Japanese voice actress from Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. Filmography Anime *'' Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros.'' (Narration) *'' Appleseed'' (Athena) *'' Berserk'' (Queen) *'' Cinderella Monogatari'' (Cinderella's stepmother) *''Go! Prin ...

(narration). The openings for each video used a soundtrack cue from '' On Golden Pond'', namely "New Hampshire Hornpipe". " p:Machinery" by

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...

and "Snapshot", "Comes and Goes" and "Donna" by

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also the Art of Noise) were a British avant-garde synth-rock group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and ...

were also used. ''Super Mario's Fire Brigade'' is a 1989 short

fire safety Fire safety is the set of practices intended to reduce destruction caused by fire. Fire safety measures include those that are intended to prevent wikt:ignition, the ignition of an uncontrolled fire and those that are used to limit the spread a ...

public safety announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. Oftentimes these messages feature unsettling imagery, ideas or behaviors that are des ...

video animated by

Toei Animation is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including '' Sally the Witch'', '' GeGeGe no Kitarō'', '' Mazinger Z'', '' Galaxy Express 999'', '' Cutie Honey'', '' Dr. Slu ...

and

J.C.Staff is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986 by Tomoyuki Miyata, who previously worked at Tatsunoko Production. The studio's first release was '' Yōtōden'' in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as '' Aria ...

, directed by

Tatsuyuki Nagai is a Japanese director and anime storyboard artist. He is known for being one third of the creative team Super Peace Busters. He made his directorial debut for the second season of '' Honey and Clover''. He then worked on the anime series, '' Ido ...

and starring Toru Furuya as Mario,

Yoku Shioya is a Japanese actor and voice actor debuting in '' Triton of the Sea'' (1972). He has done some voice directing in such anime as '' Basilisk: The Kouga Ninja Scrolls Ryota Miyagi in Slam Dunk and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.'' His real name is Tsub ...

as Luigi, Saori Sugimoto as Kaoru,

Yumi Tōma , known professionally as , is a Japanese voice actress, narrator, author and singer from Chiba. She has been part of the singing group Goddess Family Club. Tōma once worked for Aoni Production before she founded her own agency ALLURE&Y. Becau ...

as Tatsuya, Chieko Saitō as Kaoru's Mom, and

Daisuke Gori is a common masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Daisuke can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *大輔, "big, assist" *大介, "big, mediate" *大祐, "big, bless" *大助, "big, help" *大典, "big, law/rule/c ...

as Kaoru's Dad. There was also another video produced about

traffic safety Road traffic safety refers to the methods and measures, such as traffic calming, to prevent road users from being killed or seriously injured. Typical road users include pedestrians, cyclists, motorists, passengers of vehicles, and passenger ...

, titled ''Super Mario Traffic Safety''. ''Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land'' is a 28-minute

interactive video The term interactive video usually refers to a technique used to blend interaction and linear film or video. History In 1962, Steve Russell, a student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), created Spacewar!, the world's first inte ...

anime based on ''

'' released for

Bandai is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Taitō, Taitō, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Toys & Collectables America and Bandai UK, are respectively headquartered ...

Terebikko The is an interactive VHS console game system released in Japan by Bandai in 1988. Titles released included a wide variety of known franchises, such as ''Super Mario World'', ''Dragon Ball Z'', and many more. The system was also released in the ...

system in 1991. The Terebikko allowed viewers to interact with the anime using a telephone-shaped microphone to answer multiple choice questions, such as what will hatch from

Yoshi Yoshi is a fictional dinosaur who appears in video games published by Nintendo. Yoshi debuted in '' Super Mario World'' (1990) on the SNES as Mario and Luigi's sidekick. Throughout the mainline '' Super Mario'' series, Yoshi typically serves ...

's egg. The cast includes

as Mario,

Yū Mizushima is a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator. He is the Japanese voice-over for Sammo Hung, and is the Japanese voice of Wakko. In the 1980s, He proved to be a popular choice for many Japanese animation studios for the roles of male heart-t ...

as Luigi,

Yuriko Yamamoto is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator from Hino, Tokyo. She is represented by Aoni Production. Her debut role was the title character in '' Hello! Sandybell'' in 1981. She has voiced many major roles in 1980s such as Minerv ...

as Peach,

Chika Sakamoto is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Arts Vision. Filmography Television animation ;1980s *'' Captain Tsubasa'' (1983) – Sanae Nakazawa *'' Cat's Eye'' (1983) – Ai Kisugi *''Nine'' (1983) – Yukimi Yasuda *''Super Dimension ...

as Yoshi and

Takeshi Watabe was a Japanese actor and voice actor. He was born in Kōchi Prefecture. He usually played villains and performed the voices for many ''anime'' characters and ''tokusatsu'' villains. He is most famous for voicing Kaminari in ''Doraemon''. He took ...

as Bowser. ''Super Mario: ABC Song Video'' is a 15-minute

educational video An educational film is a film or movie whose primary purpose is to educate. Educational films have been used in classrooms as an alternative to other teaching methods. History Determining which films should count as the first educational fil ...

produced by Alpha Eihan and released by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

in 1992. The purpose of the video is to teach Japanese children

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

, including learning to master the pronunciation of the alphabet and counting from 1 to 10. In addition, it contains three English songs, " ABC Song", "

Ten Little Indians "Ten Little Indians" is an American children's Counting-out game, counting out rhyme. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 12976. In 1868, songwriter Septimus Winner adapted it as a song, then calledTen Little Injuns, for a minstrel show. Lyr ...

", and "Good Morning" (each with a

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

version). Mario's voice was provided by Gerri Sorrells, who was well-known for her role in

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...

's educational programs. ''Mario Kirby Masterpiece Video'' is an 18-minute educational video released by

HAL Laboratory formerly shortened as HALKEN, is a Japanese video game developer based in Chiyoda, Tokyo. It was founded on February 21, 1980 by Mitsuhiro Ikeda. The company started out developing games for home computers of the era, but has since establishe ...

in 1995 on

exclusively in Japan. The purpose of the video is to teach

kanji are logographic Chinese characters, adapted from Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script, used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are ...

to children by featuring two adventures starring Mario and

Kirby Kirby may refer to: Buildings * Kirby Building, a skyscraper in Dallas, Texas, United States * Kirby Lofts, a building in Houston, Texas, United States * Kirby Hall, an Elizabethan country house near Corby, Northamptonshire, England * Kirby Ho ...

separately, with still pictures narrated over by

Mayumi Tanaka (born January 15, 1955) is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She voiced Monkey D. Luffy in '' One Piece''; Krillin, Yajirobe and Uranai Baba in '' Dragon Ball; Ryunosuke Fujinami in '' Urusei Yatsura; Koenma in '' Yu Yu Hakus ...

and kanji transcriptions.

Comics

''Super Mario-kun''

Super Mario-kun The Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' media franchise extends out of video games into non-game media. Mario and themes related to the franchise have appeared in television shows, anime, films, comics and manga, merchandise, and musical performance. Te ...

'' is a Japanese kodomo manga series written and illustrated by Yukio Sawada ( 沢田ユキオ ''Sawada Yukio'') and serialized in the monthly manga anthology ''

CoroCoro Comic is a Japanese children's manga magazine published by Shogakukan. It was established in 1977 and several of its properties, like ''Doraemon'' and the ''Pokémon'' series of games, have gone on to be cultural phenomena in Japan. The name comes fr ...

''. Individual chapters are collected into ''

tankōbon A is a standard publishing format for books in Japan, alongside other formats such as ''shinsho'' (17x11 cm paperback books) and ''bunkobon''. Used as a loanword in English, the term specifically refers to a printed collection of a manga that w ...

'' volumes by

, who released the first volume on July 27, 1991, and have released 56 volumes. The series has been licensed in Japan; France, published by ; and Spain, published by Planeta Comic. It follows

and his friends through the plot lines of many ''Mario'' video games, starting in ''

'' and reaching as far as ''

Super Mario Odyssey is a 2017 platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. An installment in the ''Super Mario'' series, it follows Mario and his new ally Cappy—a sentient hat—as they journey across various kingdoms to save Prince ...

''. Courses created by Sawada for ''

Super Mario Maker is a 2015 platform game and game creation system developed and published by Nintendo. An entry in the ''Super Mario'' series, the game allowed players to create, play, and share courses based on previous ''Super Mario'' titles including ''Sup ...

'' were released in November 2015, with a ''Super Mario-kun'' costume unlocked for players who clear them.

Viz Media Viz Media, LLC is an American entertainment company headquartered in San Francisco, California, focused on publishing manga, and distribution and licensing Japanese anime, films, and television series. The company was founded in 1986 as Viz, ...

released the first English-language publication of CoroCoro's manga series in December 2020 under the title ''Super Mario Manga Mania''.

Other ''Super Mario'' children's manga

There is another manga series which ran for five volumes with exactly the same title as Sawada's ''Super-Mario-kun'', although this series is instead written and drawn by Hiroshi Takase (嵩瀬ひろし), also published by Shogakukan but serialized in Pikkapika Comics. Because of the identical titles, Sawada's and Takase's series are easily confused. There is a third manga series, published by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

in ''

Comic Bombom was a monthly Japanese children's manga magazine published by Kodansha and aimed at elementary school boys. It was first published on October 15, 1981, and ceased publication in 2007. A web version of the magazine has been published on Pixiv Com ...

'', written and drawn by Kazuki Motoyama, from 1988 to 1998. The series is altogether called ''KC Mario'' by the public in Japan.
See also at

Kotaku Australia ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

. The titles of each volume vary according to the game each work is based on. The Motoyama manga have other characters and give Mario powers he does not have in the games. Luke Plunkett of ''

Kotaku ''Kotaku'' is a video game website and blog that was originally launched in 2004 as part of the Gawker Media network. Notable former contributors to the site include Luke Smith, Cecilia D'Anastasio, Tim Rogers, and Jason Schreier. History ...

'' described the work as "a wild ride".

Nintendo Comics System

The ''Nintendo Comics System'' was a series of

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

s published by

Valiant Comics Valiant Comics is an American comic books, comic book publisher, the first incarnation of which was founded in 1989 by former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter along with lawyer and businessman Steven Massarsky. In 1994, the company was ...

in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with

, featuring characters from their

s and the

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...

s based on them.

Super Mario Adventures

''Super Mario Adventures'' is an

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs, or related fiction/non-fiction excerpts by different authors. There are also thematic and g ...

of comics that ran in ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninte ...

'' throughout 1992, featuring the characters from Nintendo's ''

'' series and based loosely on ''

''. The series was also serialized in ''

'' in 1993. Charlie Nozawa, the artist who created the comics, is also known by the pen name Tamakichi Sakura.たまに読むならこんなゲーム漫画～桜玉吉のスーマリ編～
". ''

Mandarake is a Japanese retail corporation that operates a chain of used good stores. Founded as a used bookstore specializing in manga in 1980, Mandarake incorporated in 1987 and currently operates 11 retail locations and one fulfillment center. The c ...

''. Retrieved on November 19, 2008. - "小学館「SUPER MARIO ADVENTURES マリオの大冒険」漫画・チャーリー野沢（桜玉吉）"

Kentaro Takekuma is a Japanese manga author. He is one of the authors of ''Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga''. He is also the story writer of ''Super Mario Adventures''.Mario Mario (; ) is a Character (arts), character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario (franchise), Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Ja ...

and

as they attempt to rescue

(known as "Princess Toadstool" in the English comic) after she is abducted by

with intent to marry her.

Gamebooks

Nintendo Gamebooks were

gamebook A gamebook is a work of printed fiction that allows the reader to participate in the story by making choices. The narrative branches along various paths, typically through the use of numbered paragraphs or pages. Each narrative typically does not ...

s released in two series, ''Nintendo Adventure Books'' and ''You Decide on the Adventure'', and based on

s created by

Electromechanical games

Nintendo has licensed several

electromechanical Electromechanics combine processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focus on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems interact with each ...

games for use in arcades and casinos, including two popular

pinball Pinball games are a family of games in which a ball is propelled into a specially designed table where it bounces off various obstacles, scoring points either en route or when it comes to rest. Historically the board was studded with nails call ...

machines by

Gottlieb Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. It is best known for creating a vast line of pinball machines and arcade games (including ''Q*bert'') throughout much of the 20th century. ...

. ''Super Mario Bros.'', released on April 25, 1992, was the first Gottlieb machine that included a

dot-matrix display A dot-matrix display is a low-cost electronic digital display device that displays information on machines such as clocks, watches, calculators, and many other devices requiring a simple alphanumeric (and/or graphic) display device of limited res ...

tracking scores and various animations. The game shared a lot of its art assets with ''

'' released for SNES two years prior, and featured

in his first voice-over role as Mario, for which he was never paid nor credited. 4,200 units were manufactured. ''Super Mario Bros. Mushroom World'' released a few months later in June 1992, this time based on '' Super Mario Bros. 3'' for NES. Only 519 units were produced, making it significantly rarer and more sought-after by modern collectors. Other electromechanical games licensed by Nintendo include a ''

Mario Kart 64 is a 1996 kart racing game for the Nintendo 64 (N64). Developed and published by Nintendo, it is the second installment in the ''Mario Kart'' series after 1992's '' Super Mario Kart''. The game retains the gameplay of its predecessor: the play ...

slot machine A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen disp ...

made by Maygay, as well as a series of ''Mario Fushigi''

medal game are a type of arcade game commonly found in amusement arcades and casinos, especially in Japan. In order to play a medal game, a customer must first exchange their cash into medals (metal coins, much like an arcade token). The rate of medals ...

s made by

Capcom is a Japanese video game company. It has created a number of critically acclaimed and List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster ...

. The ''Mario Fushigi'' series began in 2003 with ''Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land'', then ''Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party'' in 2004, ''Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2'' in 2005, and ''Mario Party Fushigi no Korokoro Catcher.''

Merchandise

Mario has appeared on lunch boxes, T-shirts, magazines, commercials (notably, in a

Got Milk? Got Milk? (often stylized as got milk?) is an American advertising campaign on television and YouTube encouraging the consumption of milk and dairy products. Created by the advertising agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners for the California Mi ...

commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, and as

plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy with an outer fabric sewn from a textile and stuffed with flexible material. They are known by many names, such as plush toys, plushies, lovies and stuffies; in Britain and Australia, they may also be called soft toys ...

. Multiple Mario-themed versions of popular board and card games have been released by USAopoly, including

Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...

TacDex
and

Connect 4 Connect may refer to: Music Albums * ''Connect'' (Sick Puppies album), 2013 * ''Connect'' (Charles Tolliver album), 2020 *''Connect'', album by Mark Farina *'' Tha Connect'', a 2009 album by Willy Northpole *''Connect'', a 2009 album by Dave Sc ...

. Nintendo has also released in 2017 a

puzzle A puzzle is a game, problem, or toy that tests a person's ingenuity or knowledge. In a puzzle, the solver is expected to put pieces together ( or take them apart) in a logical way, in order to find the solution of the puzzle. There are differe ...

featuring Mario.

Events

National Mario Day Mario (; ) is a character created by the Japanese game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the star of the ''Mario'' franchise, a recurring character in the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise, and the mascot of the Japanese video game company Nintendo. ...

is an annual holiday to commemorate the Nintendo video game character

, on March 10. This date is chosen because looks like the name MARIO.

Gamer A gamer is someone who plays interactive games, either video games, tabletop role-playing games, skill-based card games, or any combination thereof, and who often plays for extended periods of time. Originally a hobby, gaming has evolved in ...

s can commemorate the occasion by playing games from the series, or with Mario-themed events, and coordinating on

social media Social media are interactive technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation, information exchange, sharing and news aggregator, aggregation of Content (media), content (such as ideas, interests, and other forms of expression) amongs ...

with the

hashtag A hashtag is a metadata tag operator that is prefaced by the hash symbol, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services–especially Twitter and Tumblr–as a form of user-generated tagging that enable ...

#NationalMarioDay. In 2014 the ''

Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles both in electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper b ...

'' advised parents that Mario Day was an opportunity to bond with their children, and listed Mario Day-themed events parents could take their children to, to encourage that bonding. In 2016, Nintendo created a video about the event, where Mario caused chaos in their American offices; and "brought some joy to the monotonous workday in the ways only Mario could." Chad Concelmo of

Destructoid ''Destructoid'' is a website that was founded as a video game-focused blog in March 2006 by Yanier Gonzalez, a Cuban-American cartoonist and author. Enthusiast Gaming acquired the website in 2017 and sold it to Gamurs Group in 2022. Histor ...

appears in the video. In March 2013, Nintendo began the

Year of Luigi The Year of Luigi was the 30th-anniversary celebration of the fictional character Luigi. He was created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto for the 1983 arcade game '' Mario Bros.'' and has appeared frequently as a minor or supporti ...

. This included a year of Luigi-themed games like '' Dr. Luigi'', '' Mario & Luigi Dream Team'' and ''

New Super Luigi U (stylized as ''New Super Luigi Bros. U'') is a 2013 platform game developed by Nintendo for the Wii U. It is an expansion pack for ''New Super Mario Bros. U'' (2012), part of the ''Super Mario'' series. The plot and game mechanics remain ident ...

''. A ''

Luigi's Mansion is a 2001 action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo. The game was a launch title for the GameCube and was the first game in the ''Mario'' franchise to be released for the console; it was released in Japan on September 14, ...

'' statue was released on

Club Nintendo Club Nintendo was a customer loyalty program and magazine that was provided by Nintendo. The loyalty program was free to join and provided rewards in exchange for consumer feedback and loyalty to purchasing official Nintendo products. Members o ...

. On March 19, 2014, the Year of Luigi ended. In September 2020, Nintendo started the

Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary The ''Super Mario Bros.'' 35th Anniversary was a celebration of the '' Super Mario'' video game series created by Shigeru Miyamoto. The series began with the release of '' Super Mario Bros.'' on September 13, 1985, and has since spanned over ...

event, which lasted from September 3, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This event began with a

Nintendo Direct Nintendo Direct is a series of online presentations or live shows produced by Nintendo, where information regarding the company's upcoming content or franchises is presented, such as information about games and consoles. The presentations began ...

which announced many games, as well as covering already released Mario themed merchandise, clothing and in game events.

Theme parks

Super Nintendo World is a themed area within

Universal Studios Japan is a theme park located in Osaka, Japan. Opened on March 31, 2001, it is one of six Universal Destinations & Experiences, Universal Studios theme parks worldwide and was the first to open outside the United States. The park is owned and operat ...

and

Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and Amusement park, theme park located in Universal City, California, near Hollywood, Los Angeles. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. Its official marketin ...

, is under construction for

Universal Epic Universe Universal Epic Universe is a theme park located in Orlando, Florida, United States. It opened on May 22, 2025, as the third theme park and fourth park overall to open at Universal Orlando. The park was part of a larger development and feature ...

, and in development for

Universal Studios Singapore Universal Studios Singapore (abbreviation: USS) is a theme park located within the Resorts World Sentosa integrated resort at Sentosa in Singapore. It features 24 rides, shows, and attractions in seven themed zones. It is one of the five U ...

. The iterations of this area and its attractions are themed to the Super ''Mario'' franchise, as well as the ''Yoshi's Island'' spin-off series, and the ''

Donkey Kong Country ''Donkey Kong Country'', known in Japan as is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare (company), Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a Reboot (fiction), reboot of Nintendo's ''Donkey Kong'' ...

'' series''.''

Music

The ''Super Mario'' series of video games has a large amount of music, much of it composed by

Koji Kondo is a Japanese composer and senior executive at the video game company Nintendo. He is best known for his contributions for the '' Super Mario'' and ''The Legend of Zelda'' series, with his ''Super Mario Bros.'' theme being the first piece of mu ...

. The " Super Mario Bros. theme" is particularly well-known. The ''Super Mario Bros.'' theme has been featured in many concerts, including "PLAY! Chicago", the

Columbus Symphony Orchestra The Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Columbus, Ohio. The oldest performing arts organization in the city, its home is the Ohio Theatre. The orchestra's current executive director is Denise Rehg. R ...

, Play! A Video Game Symphony, and others. The

Video Games Live Video Games Live (VGL) is a concert series created by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall. The concerts consist of segments of video game music performed by a live orchestra with video footage and synchronized lighting and effects, as well as several ...

concert featured the theme performed by Koji Kondo.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Non-video game media

Mario, Non-video game media featuring