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

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. ...
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 ( ...
'';
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 ...
is mentioned by Felix but not seen in the film. Mario's original arcade game appearance in ''
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 ...
'' 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 ''
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 ...
'' video game. Directed by Masami Hata and produced by Masakatsu Suzuki and Tsunemasa Hatano, the plot centers on
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
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
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. ...
. 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
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 ...
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
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 ...
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 as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Foreman Spike; longtime ''Mario'' voice actor Charles Martinet features in a series of cameos. In January 2020, Nintendo's President Shuntaro Furukawa 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 for the brothers
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
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 ...
, Italian-American plumbers who are transported to an alternate world and become entangled in a battle between the Mushroom Kingdom, led by
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 ...
, and the Koopa Troopa, Koopas, led by
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. ...
. After the critical and commercial failure of the Live action, live-action film Super Mario Bros. (film), ''Super Mario Bros.'' (1993), Nintendo became reluctant to license its intellectual properties for film adaptations. ''Mario'' 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 ...
became interested in developing another film, and through Nintendo's work with Universal Parks & Resorts to create Super Nintendo World, he met with 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'', ...
. 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 List of highest-grossing openings for animated films, biggest worldwide opening weekend for an animated film and the List of highest-grossing films based on video games, highest-grossing film based on a video game. It also became the 2023 in film#Highest-grossing films, second highest-grossing film of 2023 and the List of highest-grossing animated films, 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 [he thinks] 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 OVAs produced by Studio Junio, licensed by
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 ...
, and released by Amada Printing on VHS tapes on August 3, 1989, exclusively in Japan. The plot of the episodes involve characters from the Mario (franchise), Mario franchise in the stories of three folktales: ''Momotarō'', ''Issun-bōshi'' and ''Snow White''. Its cast includes Miyako Endō (
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 ...
, Toad (Nintendo), Kinopio, Koopalings, Morton Koopa Jr., Koopalings, Wendy O. Koopa), Tōru Furuya (
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 ...
), Masaharu Satō (Bowser, Koopa, Koopalings, Larry Koopa, Koopalings, Iggy Koopa), Naoki Tatsuta (
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 ...
, Koopalings, Ludwig von Koopa, Koopaling, Roy Koopa, Koopalings, Lemmy Koopa), and Toshiko Sawada (narration). The openings for each video used a soundtrack cue from ''On Golden Pond (1981 film), On Golden Pond'', namely "New Hampshire Hornpipe". "p:Machinery" by Propaganda (band), Propaganda and "Snapshot", "Comes and Goes" and "Donna" by Art of Noise were also used. ''Super Mario's Fire Brigade'' is a 1989 short fire safety public safety announcement video animated by Toei Animation and J.C.Staff, directed by Tatsuyuki Nagai and starring Toru Furuya as Mario, Yoku Shioya as Luigi, Saori Sugimoto as Kaoru, Yumi Tōma as Tatsuya, Chieko Saitō as Kaoru's Mom, and Daisuke Gori as Kaoru's Dad. There was also another video produced about traffic safety, titled ''Super Mario Traffic Safety''. ''Super Mario World: Mario & Yoshi's Adventure Land'' is a 28-minute interactive video anime based on ''Super Mario World'' released for Bandai's Terebikko 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's egg. The cast includes Tōru Furuya as Mario, Yū Mizushima as Luigi, Yuriko Yamamoto as Peach, Chika Sakamoto as Yoshi and Takeshi Watabe as Bowser. ''Super Mario: ABC Song Video'' is a 15-minute educational video produced by Alpha Eihan and released by Shogakukan in 1992. The purpose of the video is to teach Japanese children English language, English, including learning to master the pronunciation of the alphabet and counting from 1 to 10. In addition, it contains three English songs, "The ABC Song, ABC Song", "Ten Little Indians", and "Good Morning" (each with a karaoke version). Mario's voice was provided by Gerri Sorrells, who was well-known for her role in NHK's educational programs. ''Mario Kirby Masterpiece Video'' is an 18-minute educational video released by HAL Laboratory in 1995 on VHS exclusively in Japan. The purpose of the video is to teach kanji to children by featuring two adventures starring Mario and Kirby (character), Kirby separately, with still pictures narrated over by Mayumi Tanaka and kanji transcriptions.


Comics


''Super Mario-kun''

'':ja:スーパーマリオくん_(沢田ユキオの漫画), Super Mario-kun'' is a Japanese Children's anime and manga, kodomo manga series written and illustrated by Yukio Sawada (:ja:沢田ユキオ, 沢田 ユキオ ''Sawada Yukio'') and serialized in the monthly manga anthology ''CoroCoro Comic''. Individual chapters are collected into ''tankōbon'' volumes by Shogakukan, 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
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 his friends through the plot lines of many Mario (franchise), ''Mario'' video games, starting in ''Super Mario World'' and reaching as far as ''Super Mario Odyssey''. Courses created by Sawada for ''Super Mario Maker'' were released in November 2015, with a ''Super Mario-kun'' costume unlocked for players who clear them. Viz Media 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 :ja:スーパーマリオくん (嵩瀬ひろしの漫画), 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 :ja:スーパーマリオ_(本山一城の漫画), third manga series, published by Kodansha in ''Comic Bombom'', 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.
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'' described the work as "a wild ride".


Nintendo Comics System

The ''Nintendo Comics System'' was a series of comic books published by Valiant Comics in 1990 and 1991. It was part of a licensing deal with
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 ...
, featuring characters from their
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 ...
s and the cartoons based on them.


Super Mario Adventures

''Super Mario Adventures'' is an anthology of comics that ran in ''Nintendo Power'' throughout 1992, featuring the characters from Nintendo's ''
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 ...
'' series and based loosely on ''Super Mario World''. The series was also serialized in ''CoroCoro Comic'' 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''. 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 was responsible for the story, which follows
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
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 ...
as they attempt to rescue
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 ...
(known as "Princess Toadstool" in the English comic) after she is abducted by
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. ...
with intent to marry her.


Gamebooks

Nintendo Gamebooks were gamebooks released in two series, ''Nintendo Adventure Books'' and ''You Decide on the Adventure'', and based on
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 ...
s created by
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 ...
.


Electromechanical games

Nintendo has licensed several electromechanical games for use in arcades and casinos, including two popular pinball machines by Gottlieb. ''Super Mario Bros.'', released on April 25, 1992, was the first Gottlieb machine that included a dot-matrix display tracking scores and various animations. The game shared a lot of its art assets with ''Super Mario World'' released for SNES two years prior, and featured Charles Martinet 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'' slot machine made by Maygay, as well as a series of ''Mario Fushigi'' medal games made by Capcom. 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? commercial), in candy form, on shampoo bottles, and as stuffed toy, plush toys. Multiple Mario-themed versions of popular board and card games have been released by USAopoly, including Monopoly (game), Monopoly
TacDex
and Connect 4. Nintendo has also released in 2017 a puzzle featuring Mario.


Events

National Mario Day is an annual holiday to commemorate the Nintendo video game character
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 ...
, on March 10. This date is chosen because looks like the name MARIO. Gamers can commemorate the occasion by playing games from Mario (franchise), the series, or with Mario-themed events, and coordinating on social media with the hashtag #NationalMarioDay. In 2014 the ''Christian Science Monitor'' 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 appears in the video. In March 2013, Nintendo began the Year of Luigi. This included a year of Luigi-themed games like ''Dr. Luigi'', ''Mario & Luigi Dream Team'' and ''New Super Luigi U''. A ''Luigi's Mansion'' statue was released on Club Nintendo. On March 19, 2014, the Year of Luigi ended. In September 2020, Nintendo started the Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary event, which lasted from September 3, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This event began with a Nintendo Direct 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 and Universal Studios Hollywood, is under construction for Universal Epic Universe, and in development for Universal Studios Singapore. The iterations of this area and its attractions are themed to the Mario (franchise), Super ''Mario'' franchise, as well as the Yoshi, ''Yoshi's Island'' spin-off series, and the ''Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Country'' series''.''


Music

The ''Super Mario'' series of video games has a large amount of music, much of it composed by Koji Kondo. 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, Play! A Video Game Symphony, and others. The Video Games Live concert featured the theme performed by Koji Kondo.


See also

* List of unofficial Mario media


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mario Works based on Mario, Non-video game media Mass media by franchise, Mario Nintendo-related lists, Mario, Non-video game media featuring