The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023 Film)

About

The Super Mario Bros. Movie refers to an upcoming animated film adaptation of Nintendo's Mario video game franchise set to release on April 7th, 2023 (not to be confused with the 1993 Super Mario Bros. Movie). The film's cast was announced during a Nintendo Direct broadcast in late September 2021, with Chris Pratt and Charlie Day voicing Mario and Luigi, respectively. In early October 2022, the first trailer for the movie was released via another Direct, sparking memes and reactions online.

History

On November 14th, 2017, the Wall Street Journal^[1] reported that video game publisher Nintendo and film production company Illumination were nearing a deal to produce an animated Super Mario Bros. film. In late January 2018, the production was officially confirmed by Nintendo, with Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination CEO Christopher Meledandri co-producing the film.^[2]

On September 23rd, 2021, during a Nintendo Direct online presentation, Nintendo game director Shigeru Miyamoto unveiled^[3] the cast of the film (video shown below).

The announced cast is:

• Chris Pratt as Mario
• Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach
• Charlie Day as Luigi
• Jack Black as Bowser
• Keegan-Michael Key as Toad
• Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong
• Charles Martinet (cameo)

Official Teaser Trailer

In October 2022, it was announced that a teaser trailer for the film would be shown during a Nintendo Direct on October 6th.^[7] A teaser poster was also shared for the movie by the @supermariomovie Twitter^[8] account, garnering over 122,000 likes and 20,000 retweets in under three hours (shown below).

On October 6th, 2022, Nintendo debuted the first trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie (shown below).

Online, the internet seemed excited for the first half of the trailer, which showed Jack Black's Bowser taking over a kingdom of Penguins, but were less excited for the second half, which introduced Mario. Many felt Pratt's take on the character was extremely close to his normal speaking voice, and even more optimistic fans felt that it would take some getting used to (sample of reactions shown below).

Second Trailer, Promotional Posters

On November 29th, 2022, the second trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie premiered during a Nintendo Direct stream on YouTube.^[9] The video gained over 2.3 million views in a day. The second trailer offered viewers their first look at the film's renditions of Donkey Kong, Princess Peach, Yoshis and the voice of Luigi. The trailer also shows Mario and other characters driving karts on Rainbow Road, a reference to Mario Kart. After the trailer, it is explained that Donkey Kong's render is based on the original character form the Donkey Kong arcade game.

Following the trailer's premiere, the @supermariomovie Twitter^{[10][11][12][13]} account posted six new promotional posters for the movie, each based on one of the main characters from the film, each post gaining over 50,000 likes in a day (shown below, left to right).

The trailer inspired widespread reactions online. On November 29th, Twitter^[16] user @DynamoSuperX celebrated how the trailer portrayed Princess Peach as powerful and able to defend her people rather than being helpless, garnering over 54,000 likes in a day. The trailer also inspired more criticism towards Chris Pratt's Mario voice, with Twitter^[17] user @TomStheVoice writing, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie might be the first instance where instead of one character/actor carrying the film, it will be literally EVERYONE ELSE carrying Chris Pratt," garnering over 18,000 likes in a day.

In Memes

Chris Pratt as Mario

The casting of Chris Pratt as Mario became a subject of viral discussions on social media, with many users expressing their dissatisfaction with the choice of Pratt. For example, on September 23rd, 2021, YouTuber Chadtronic tweeted^[4] that Charles Martinet, the voice actor who had been voicing Mario for over 25 years in Mario video games, was robbed of his role. The tweet received over 9,300 retweets and 58,000 likes (shown below, left). Also on the same day, Twitter^[5] user @LucinaDraws posted a tweet arguing that actor Danny DeVito should have been cast as Mario, with the tweet gaining over 2,100 retweets and 15,800 likes (shown below, center).

Cast Announcement Card Parodies

The cast announcement cards shown by Nintendo during the presentation, particularly the card announcing Chris Pratt as Mario (shown below, top left), were parodied. For example, on September 23rd, 2021, Twitter^[6] user @Halzyn posted a card announcing streamer Jerma985 as Mario, with the post gaining over 3,500 retweets and 23,600 likes (shown below, top right).

Charlie Kelly Luigi Redraws

Following the announcement of Charlie Day as Luigi, multiple artists posted redraws of the character Charlie Kelly from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, portrayed by Day, as Luigi. Most notably, this included multiple redraws of the Pepe Silvia meme.

Mario's Flat Butt

Mario's Flat Butt refers to a viral debate spawned by a movie poster for the Super Mario Bros. Film showing Mario standing with his back turned towards the camera, his buttocks noticeably smaller than in Super Mario Odyssey and many other Super Mario video games. The size of Mario's buttocks getting toned down became a subject of discussions and memes on social media in early October 2022 leading up to the movie's first trailer release.

Bowser's 'Now Who's Gonna Stop Me!'

Bowser's "Now Who's Gonna Stop Me!" refers to a moment in the October 2022 teaser trailer for the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Moive in which Bowser, voiced by Jack Black, shouts "Now, who's gonna stop me!" after infiltrating the penguins' ice castle and before stealing their Super Star. The clip was captioned and re-edited on Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok by creators who replaced Bowser's scream with other, meme sound effects, like The One Piece Is Real, or added a secondary clip to its end, proposing an opponent to Bowser who could stop him.

King Penguin's 'Do You Yield?'

King Penguin's "Do You Yield?" is a catchphrase spoken by King Penguin (voiced by Khary Payton) to Bowser (Jack Black) from the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser trailer. In October 2022, image macros using the scene started to spread online, especially on Reddit. One of the most common image macros has two panels, one with the penguin asking, "Do you yield?" followed by Bowser saying, "I do not," and is typically used with jokes about not giving up. The phrase was also attached to fan art and redraws of King Penguin.

Donkey Kong Render / Punching Scene

Following the release of the film's second trailer in November 2022, which featured the first look at Donkey Kong, people began making memes out of the cartoony render and a scene where Mario goes to fight DK and gets punched repeatedly. On November 29th, 2022, Twitter^[14] user @AKoolKoopa posted side-by-side photos of Donkey Kong from the Donkey Kong Country TV series and the render, writing, "They may have taken Mario's ass but they did Donkey Kong justice," garnering over 61,000 likes in a day (shown below).

On November 30th, Twitter^[15] user @Shoyoumomo_ posted an edit of the punching scene that garnered over 20,000 likes in under a day (shown below).

Search Interest

External References