The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

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The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show logo
General information
Format Children's television series
Creator(s) Shigeru Miyamoto (characters)
Andy Heyward (concept)
Director(s) Dan Riba
Writer(s) Brad Wilson
Brooks Wachtel
Bruce Shelly
Cassandra Schafhausen
David Bennett Carren
David Ehrman
David Schwartz
David Tischman
Eleanor Burian-Mohr
George Atkins
J. Larry Carroll
Jack Hanrahan
Jack Olesker
John Vornholt
Kevin O'Donnell
Larry Alexander
Mark McCorkle
Martha Moran
Michael A. Medlock
Perry Martin
Peter Norris
Phil Harnage
Reed Shelly
Robert Schooley
Rowby Goren
Sean Roche
Steve Robertson
Ted Pedersen
Tony Marino
Starring Lou Albano
Danny Wells
Voice actor(s) Lou Albano
Danny Wells
Harvey Atkin
Jeannie Elias
John Stocker
Opening theme The Mario Rap
Closing theme Do the Mario
Composer(s) Shuki Levy
Haim Saban
Country of origin United States of America
Original language English
Seasons 1
Episodes 117 (65 live-action, 52 animated)
Production
Executive producer(s) Steve Binder
Andy Heyward
Producer(s) John Grusd
Troy Miller
Editor(s) Karen Rosenbloom
Donald P. Zappala
Production company DiC Entertainment
Saban Entertainment
Distributor(s) Viacom Enterprises
Saban Entertainment (international)
Paramount Home Entertainment
NCircle Entertainment (current video releases)
WildBrain[1] (current distributor)
FilmRise[2]
Runtime 20 minutes
Broadcast
Channel(s) First-run syndication
First aired September 4, 1989 (English)
September 3, 1990 (French)
Last aired December 1, 1989 (English)
December 20, 1990 (French)
Status Ended
Chronology
Successor The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (1990)
Related programs Club Mario
King Koopa's Kool Kartoons

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, also simply known as Super Mario[3] and Super Mario Brothers,[4] is the first cartoon of DIC Entertainment's Super Mario trilogy, aired between September and December of 1989; it was the only one to be produced directly for syndication. The show featured live-action segments in which Mario and Luigi (played by Lou Albano and Danny Wells respectively), living in their basement workshop in Brooklyn, were often visited by various celebrity guest stars. It also featured cartoons based on the first and second Super Mario Bros. games, where the Mario brothers teamed up with Princess Toadstool and Toad against King Koopa and his forces to save the many lands of the world. The Super Mario Bros. cartoons were shown on Mondays through Thursdays only; on Fridays, the show would air cartoons based on the animated Legend of Zelda series. In 1990, the show was retooled and aired under the name Club Mario, combining the animated segments with new live-action segments depicting the antics of two Super Mario-loving slackers named Tommy Treehugger and Co-MC.

Overview[edit]

Each episode began with a live-action segment starring Mario (portrayed by World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment Hall of Famer, the late "Captain" Lou Albano) and Luigi (the late Danny Wells) living in Brooklyn, where they would often be visited by a celebrity guest star either playing themselves or another character at Mario Brothers Plumbing, a basement workshop which doubled as their home.

The live-action segment would be followed by a cartoon-based on the Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2 video games, where Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool (Peach), and Toad would battle against King Koopa (Bowser) throughout the many lands of the world, often in a book, movie or historical parody. Mouser, Tryclyde, Fryguy and a single, unnamed Koopa Troopa often worked closely with King Koopa, serving as his henchmen. Getting into the spirit of these parodies, King Koopa usually took on a varying alter ego. He had a different outfit for each one, and would take on a different alias to along with it. For example, in a riverboat-themed episode, King Koopa was "Captain Koopa", while in one of the western-themed episodes, he went by "Billy the Koopa". In many episodes, King Koopa's minions would often dress up in outfits as well, to go along with Koopa's themed costumes. In some episodes, King Koopa would go without an alter ego nor wear a costume except for "Jungle Fever" and "Mario of the Apes". The only episode where King Koopa does not appear is "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em".

Wart, the main antagonist of the second game, was never in any of the episodes, yet most of his minions managed to appear as members of the Koopa Pack. Like most 1980s cartoons, King Koopa would prolong the series' run by escaping from his adversaries (which he did through the use of a Magical Potion), even though they could easily catch him. Also similar to most 80s cartoons, The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! had little continuity from episode to episode and ended with no obvious series finale.

The Mario Rap in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
The opening sequence of the show, where Mario and Luigi get pulled into a warp pipe that leads to the Mushroom Kingdom.

The basis of the storyline (introduced at the beginning of every animated episode) was that Mario and Luigi were working on a bathtub drain which unknowingly was a warp zone to the Mushroom Kingdom, and Mario and Luigi had literally gone down the drain and ended up in the Mushroom Kingdom, by sheer coincidence causing problems for King Koopa and rescuing Toad and Princess Toadstool. Now that they were rescued, the focus for the Mario Brothers was to return to Brooklyn, while stopping King Koopa's tyranny whenever they could. Lou Albano and Danny Wells also voiced Mario and Luigi for the animated segment. It was never revealed whether their live action sequences were a prequel to the animated series or they successfully returned to Brooklyn and resumed their duties in the plumbing business.

Following the cartoon was the third portion of the episode, which continued the story that the live-action segment set up in the beginning. Towards the end, the second part of the live-action segment was interrupted with scenes from that week's upcoming episode of The Legend of Zelda.

The Super Mario Bros. cartoon was shown on Mondays through Thursdays only. On Fridays, the show would air The Legend of Zelda cartoons based on the game of the same name. However, a Mario live-action segment would air with the Zelda episodes.

In another Super Mario related television series, King Koopa's Kool Kartoons, framed portraits of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! versions of Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool can be seen in various episodes.

Broadcast history[edit]

The show was originally meant to start September 11 and end December 7 instead of September 9 to November 30.[5]

When the series was distributed and broadcasted internationally outside the United States, all The Legend of Zelda previews were removed. Some of these prints can be found on DVDs released by Maximum Entertainment from 2004-2008 in the UK. Most of the episodes in these prints (including foreign variations of the series) have the Saban International logo whereas some episodes have both the DIC and Saban logos.[6]

After DiC's Super Mario cartoons ended, the show was aired in reruns on the Family Channel (currently known as Freeform). Like the international prints of the series, the Family Channel's reruns of the series removed The Legend of Zelda previews and the scenes that segued into them from the live-action segments, and unlike the international prints, these reruns slowed down the episodes to bring them back to their original length. They also changed the placement of the commercial breaks, placing them during scene dissolves in the animated segments. (For unknown reasons, the Family Channel version of "King Mario of Cramalot" and "Day of the Orphan" is the version used in subsequent DVD and digital releases.) Also, from that point onward, the song covers were removed, similar to season one of Captain N: The Game Master, and were replaced with instrumentals of seven songs from The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and one song from Super Mario World. This was done for licensing reasons as the lyrics of the song covers are copyrighted. In the DVD and digital releases of the former episode mentioned, the 1987 DIC logo was replaced with the 1990 DIC logo.

In the UK, this series was featured as part of Jungle Fun on TV-am in 1991.[7] Later, only the cartoon segments aired on GMTV in 1993.[8] However, the series also aired as part of Parkin's In on the former channel during holidays.[9].

In France, the series is aired via Pluto TV Kids Gaming on Pluto TV alongside Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog.

In the United States, the series is aired via its own linear channel on The Roku Channel.

Characters[edit]

Main protagonists[edit]

Main antagonists[edit]

Cast[edit]

Main cast[edit]

Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad
Toad, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool.
Koopa Pack
King Koopa and his Koopa Pack (Tryclyde, Koopa Troopa and Mouser).
Luigi introducing Patty to Mario in "Day of the Orphan" from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!.
A live-action segment.

Additional voices[edit]

Live-action guest stars[edit]

Episodes[edit]

Note: The episode listings on DVD releases, most digital/streaming services, and WildBrain's YouTube channels are in production order.

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday (The Legend of Zelda)
September 4, 1989
Episode #1 - "The Bird! The Bird!"
Live-action segment #1 - "Neatness Counts"
September 5, 1989
Episode #2 - "King Mario of Cramalot"
Live-action segment #2 - "Day of the Orphan"
September 6, 1989
Episode #3 - "Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid"
Live-action segment #3 - "All Steamed Up"
September 7, 1989
Episode #4 - "Mario's Magic Carpet"
Live-action segment #4 - "Marianne & Luigeena"
September 8, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #1 - "The Ringer"
Live-action segment #5 - "Slime Busters"
September 11, 1989
Episode #5 - "Rolling Down the River"
Live-action segment #6 - "The Mario Monster Mash"
September 12, 1989
Episode #6 - "The Great Gladiator Gig"
Live-action segment #7 - "Bonkers From Yonkers"
September 13, 1989
Episode #7 - "Mario and the Beanstalk"
Live-action segment #8 - "Bats in the Basement"
September 14, 1989
Episode #8 - "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em"
Live-action segment #9 - "Will the Real Elvis Please Shut Up!"
September 15, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #2 - "Cold Spells"
Live-action segment #10 - "Magic's Magic"
September 18, 1989
Episode #9 - "The Great BMX Race"
Live-action segment #11 - "Mama Mia Mario"
September 19, 1989
Episode #10 - "Stars in Their Eyes"
Live-action segment #12 - "Alligator Dundee"
September 20, 1989
Episode #11 - "Jungle Fever"
Live-action segment #13 - "Dance"
September 21, 1989
Episode #12 - "Brooklyn Bound"
Live-action segment #14 - "Cher's Poochie"
September 22, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #3 - "The White Knight"
Live-action segment #15 - "Wild Thing"
September 25, 1989
Episode #13 - "Toad Warriors"
Live-action segment #16 - "E.C. The Extra Creepy"
September 26, 1989
Episode #14 - "The Fire of Hercufleas"
Live-action segment #17 - "The Marios Fight Back"
September 27, 1989
Episode #15 - "Count Koopula"
Live-action segment #18 - "Magician"
September 28, 1989
Episode #16 - "Pirates of Koopa"
Live-action segment #19 - "Do You Believe In Magic?"
September 29, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #4 - "Kiss'N Tell"
Live-action segment #20 - "Mommies Curse"
October 2, 1989
Episode #17 - "Two Plumbers and a Baby"
Live-action segment #21 - "Lost Dog"
October 3, 1989
Episode #18 - "The Adventures of Sherlock Mario"
Live-action segment #22 - "Plumbers of the Year"
October 4, 1989
Episode #19 - "Do You Princess Toadstool Take this Koopa...?"
Live-action segment #23 - "Mario Hillbillies"
October 5, 1989
Episode #20 - "The Pied Koopa"
Live-action segment #24 - "Super Plant"
October 6, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #5 - "Sing For The Unicorn"
Live-action segment #25 - "Fred Van Winkle"
October 9, 1989
Episode #21 - "Koopenstein"
Live-action segment #26 - "Baby Mario Love"
October 10, 1989
Episode #22 - "On Her Majesty's Sewer Service"
Live-action segment #27 - "9001: A Mario Odyssey"
October 11, 1989
Episode #23 - "Mario and Joliet"
Live-action segment #64 - "Captain Lou Is Missing"*
October 12, 1989
Episode #24 - "Too Hot to Handle"
Live-action segment #29 - "Time Out Luigi"
October 13, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #6 - "That Sinking Feeling"
Live-action segment #30 - "Tutti Frutti, oh Mario"
October 16, 1989
Episode #25 - "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men"
Live-action segment #31 - "Flower Power"
October 17, 1989
Episode #26 - "20,000 Koopas Under the Sea"
Live-action segment #32 - "Vampire Until Ready"
October 18, 1989
Episode #27 - "Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold"
Live-action segment #33 - "Heart Throb"
October 19, 1989
Episode #28 - "Mario Meets Koop-zilla"
Live-action segment #34 - "Fortune Teller"
October 20, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #7 - "Doppelganger"
Live-action segment #35 - "The Magic Love"
October 23, 1989
Episode #29 - "Koopa Klaus"
Live-action segment #36 - "Little Marios"
October 24, 1989
Episode #30 - "Mario and the Red Baron Koopa"
Live-action segment #37 - "Gorilla My Dreams"
October 25, 1989
Episode #31 - "The Unzappables"
Live-action segment #38 - "George Washington Slept Here"
October 26, 1989
Episode #32 - "Bad Rap"
Live-action segment #39 - "Caught in a Draft"
October 27, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #8 - "Underworld Connections"
Live-action segment #40 - "Defective Gadgetry"
October 30, 1989
Episode #33 - "The Mark of Zero"
Live-action segment #41 - "Toupee"
October 31, 1989
Episode #34 - "The Ten Koopmandments"
Live-action segment #42 - "The Artist"
November 1, 1989
Episode #35 - "The Koopas are Coming! The Koopas are Coming!"
Live-action segment #43 - "Zenned Out Mario"
November 2, 1989
Episode #36 - "The Trojan Koopa"
Live-action segment #44 - "Texas Tea"
November 3, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #9 - "Stinging A Stinger"
Live-action segment #45 - "The Great Hereafter"
November 6, 1989
Episode #37 - "Quest for Pizza"
Live-action segment #46 - "The Painting"
November 7, 1989
Episode #38 - "The Great Gold Coin Rush"
Live-action segment #47 - "Game Show Host"
November 8, 1989
Episode #39 - "Elvin Lives"
Live-action segment #48 - "Home Radio"
November 9, 1989
Episode #40 - "Plummers Academy"
Live-action segment #49 - "Glasnuts"
November 10, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #10 - "Hitch In The Works"
Live-action segment #50 - "Treasure of the Sierra Brooklyn"
November 13, 1989
Episode #41 - "Karate Koopa"
Live-action segment #51 - "Adee Don't"
November 14, 1989
Episode #42 - "Mario of the Apes"
Live-action segment #52 - "Chippie Chipmunks"
November 15, 1989
Episode #43 - "Princess, I Shrunk the Mario Brothers"
Live-action segment #53 - "A Basement Divided"
November 16, 1989
Episode #44 - "Little Red Riding Princess"
Live-action segment #54 - "No Way to Treat a Queenie"
November 17, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #11 - "Fairies In The Spring"
Live-action segment #55 - "Pizza Crush"
November 20, 1989
Episode #45 - "The Provolone Ranger"
Live-action segment #56 - "Goodbye Mr. Fish"
November 21, 1989
Episode #46 - "Escape from Koopatraz"
Live-action segment #57 - "French"
November 22, 1989
Episode #47 - "Mario of the Deep"
Live-action segment #58 - "Two Bums From Brooklyn"
November 23, 1989
Episode #48 - "Flatbush Koopa"
Live-action segment #59 - "Opera"
November 24, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #12 - "The Missing Link"
Live-action segment #60 - "Tutti Frutti Mario"
November 27, 1989
Episode #49 - "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom"
Live-action segment #61 - "Cyrano de Mario"
November 28, 1989
Episode #50 - "Crocodile Mario"
Live-action segment #62 - "Rowdy Roddy's Rotten Pipes"
November 29, 1989
Episode #51 - "Star Koopa"
Live-action segment #63 - "Santa Claus is Coming to Flatbush"
November 30, 1989
Episode #52 - "Robo Koopa"
Live-action segment #64 - "Captain Lou Is Missing"
December 1, 1989
The Legend of Zelda episode #13 - "The Moblins Are Revolting"
Live-action segment #65 - "The Ghoul of my Dreams"

* - This live-action segment was replaced with Fake Bro in later airings.

Songs[edit]

Main article: List of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! songs

The first forty-one episodes also included covers of popular songs at the time, though all of the songs were later edited out due to copyright issues (except for the first part of Jungle Love from Jungle Fever most likely because DIC forgot to edit it out).

Episode Song Musician
The Bird! The Bird! Surfin' Bird The Trashmen
King Mario of Cramalot Bad Michael Jackson
Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid Rawhide Frankie Laine
Mario's Magic Carpet Magic Carpet Ride Steppenwolf
Rolling Down the River Proud Mary Creedence Clearwater Revival
The Great Gladiator Gig Shaddap You Face Joe Dolce
Mario and the Beanstalk I Heard It Through the Grapevine Marvin Gaye
Love 'Em and Leave 'Em The Power of Love Huey Lewis and the News
The Great BMX Race Shut Down The Beach Boys
Stars in Their Eyes Chains The Cookies
Jungle Fever Jungle Love The Time
Brooklyn Bound Danger Zone Kenny Loggins
Toad Warriors Born to Be Wild Steppenwolf
The Fire of Hercufleas Great Balls of Fire Jerry Lee Lewis
Count Koopula Thriller Michael Jackson
Pirates of Koopa Limbo Rock Chubby Checker
Two Plumbers and a Baby Baby Sittin' Boogie Buzz Clifford
The Adventures of Sherlock Mario Peter Gunn Henry Mancini
Do You Princess Toadstool Take this Koopa...? White Wedding Billy Idol
The Pied Koopa Hit the Road Jack Ray Charles
Koopenstein Weird Science Oingo Boingo
On Her Majesty's Sewer Service Secret Agent Man Johnny Rivers
Mario and Joliet That's Amore Dean Martin
Too Hot to Handle Hot Hot Hot Arrow
Hooded Robin and His Mario Men Rockin' Robin Bobby Day
20,000 Koopas Under the Sea Splish Splash Bobby Darin
Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold Do You Believe in Magic The Lovin' Spoonful
Mario Meets Koop-zilla The Jolly Green Giant The Kingsmen
Koopa Klaus Jingle Bell Rock Bobby Helms
Mario and the Red Baron Koopa Danger Zone Kenny Loggins
The Unzappables Beat It Michael Jackson
Bad Rap I Got You (I Feel Good)
Make It Funky
James Brown
The Mark of Zero La Bamba Ritchie Valens
The Ten Koopmandments Walk Like an Egyptian The Bangles
The Koopas are Coming! The Koopas are Coming! He's a Rebel The Crystals
The Trojan Koopa I Hear You Knocking Smiley Lewis
Quest for Pizza Alley Oop The Hollywood Argyles
The Great Gold Coin Rush Money (That's What I Want) Barrett Strong
Elvin Lives Rock Around the Clock Bill Haley & His Comets
Plummers Academy Workin' for a Livin' Huey Lewis and the News
Karate Koopa Kung Fu Fighting Carl Douglas

Releases[edit]

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! iTunes Store artwork
The iTunes Store artwork for the series.

Physical home video[edit]

Main article: List of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! home media releases

From 1989 to 1991, Kid Klassics released NTSC VHS tapes of the show. These tapes contained two, one, or no live-action segments, and featured the cartoon segments with their original song covers intact. On these tapes, the Super Mario Bros. theme is not included before the cartoon segment.

Digital retail[edit]

The complete series is available to purchase on Google Play and the iTunes Store in the United Kingdom. In the US and Canada, only the first 26 episodes presented in production order are available.

Streaming[edit]

The show was made available to watch from Yahooligans! TV starting in March 2004, with a new episode usually uploaded every week. It was taken down along with all DIC Entertainment cartoons on December 24, 2005.

Starting from November 3, 2009, it can be watched at Jaroo.com, a video-streaming website owned by Cookie Jar Group. The website routinely cycled through all fifty-two of the show's episodes, hosting five at any given time. Each Tuesday, the next episode in line would be added, with the oldest being dropped. In 2012, WildBrain (formerly DHX Media) purchased Cookie Jar and Jaroo was taken down.

The complete series with the live-action segments can be watched via Amazon Prime Video, Fawesome (US only), FilmRise (US only), HappyKids (US only), The Roku Channel (US only), Tubi (US only), Vudu (US only), and WildBrain's Superheroes and Retro Cartoons YouTube channels. WildBrain also created a separate channel exclusively for all Super Mario cartoons, which includes this series. However, some regions only have the first 26 episodes presented in production order available on services such as Pluto TV in the UK and other European territories.

Audio releases[edit]

In Germany, there were 6 volume audio cassettes released by Karussell that contained the cartoon segments from the series.

Production[edit]

“The bible was written by Bruce and Reed Shelly. Reading it, you could tell that they were still struggling to get a handle on the show. I mean, the core problem was obvious: There are no real characters or stories in a Nintendo game, so how do you turn one into a TV series? [...] There was little indication about the kinds of adventures our heroes would have, and a lot of unanswered questions about how we would incorporate elements of the game. I had no clue how to solve those problem and didn’t see how that show was going to work at all! But DIC had an order for 52 episodes and deadlines were looming. We had to make some decisions fast or fall behind schedule, which would be a disaster. So at the beginning there was a lot of urgency to solve those problems and get on with it.”
Perry Martin[10]

Strong from its multiple animated shows based on pre-existing properties, DIC Entertainment approached Nintendo with an offer to make a cartoon based on the Super Mario franchise. Nintendo initially declined, but later signed a deal after DIC put together a creative team they liked.[11] Nintendo required DIC to pay extensive royalties, an unusual arrangement for children's programming at the time.

An early poster for The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
An early poster featuring King Koopa resembling his Super Mario Bros. sprite design, while Mushroom Retainers resemble normal mushrooms
An early The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! poster from a magazine
A different early poster of concept artwork featuring a vastly different interpretation than the final product

A few pieces of conceptual artwork have surfaced from early design phases of the show. Some of them were somewhat more accurate to the games, notably in King Koopa's design, while others were far more loosely based on official designs. One such piece is a poster featuring a much different depiction of Mario and Luigi (the latter of which is using his in-game clothing colors for Super Mario Bros.) who are brandishing a plunger and a monkey wrench as weapons, a yellow-capped Toad, two large, grotesque Trouters, a flying green Birdo being ridden by a Snifit holding two Beezo spears, a large purple frog monster with a necklace (possibly Wart) with a Hammer Brother in tow, a flying yellow Pidgit, two Hoopsters with distinct heads (one of which has a worried expression), a green Tryclyde, a pelican-like Albatoss holding a muscular red Bob-Omb by the fuse, a giant red multi-eyed octopus with blue arms (possibly a complete reinterpretation of Bloober), two tube worm-like creatures with sharp teeth and long tongues (possibly Piranha Plants), and some goggle-wearing, long-tongued aliens atop spacecrafts with vaguely face-like fronts (possibly intended to be Lakitus). King Koopa appears in the background and mostly looks as he does in the finished product but with more exaggerated proportions, while Princess Toadstool, the Shyguy, the Snifit, and the Beezo are fairly accurate to their artwork. The poster also shows a helmet-wearing skull mounted to a "Go Back!" sign, a Sphinx, a sea serpent, and some prehistoric reptiles. This loose, heavily abstracted depiction of game elements closely resembles that of their later show Captain N: The Game Master.

According to Danny Wells, he and co-star Lou Albano recorded the show on a six days schedule, where they would first film the live-action segments and then drive to another studio in order to record voices for the animated segments.

In a 2018 interview, freelancer writer Perry Martin explained that the show's focus on parodies came from Andy Heyward, as the production team had struggled to make much material from the thin story present in the games.[10] Writers would first submit a one-page premise of the story to the show's editors Bruce and Reed Shelly, then spent two days on a four page outline and finally a week to create the final script.

There was initially an episode titled "Ali Koopa and His Forty Goombas" and a cover song in every episode including "Gimme Shelter", "Love Potion Number Nine", and "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".[12] Additionally, every episode without a cover song contains a unique piece of music suggesting that DIC replaced the last copyrighted songs with original ones.

In an interview about DIC's history in adapting video games to television, DIC executive Robby London stated that video games such as Super Mario Bros. were DIC's favorite type of media to adapt because "[...] the videogames themselves were colorful, imaginative, hip and more than a little bizarre – in the best sense" and that their sparse lores and simple character allowed more creativity than when adapting material from other media.[13] London also spoke positively of Nintendo's involvement in the show, stating "[...] Nintendo was reasonable, professional and good to deal with. Their America office seemed quite capable of speaking definitively on behalf of their Japanese owners, and I don’t remember any problematic disputes with Nintendo [...]" and contrasting it with DIC's more turbulent partnership with Sega for its three Sonic series.[13]

The series was a rating success and was widely syndicated.[11] Also, according to Wells, the guest stars actively asked to be part of the live-action segments due to the popularity of Super Mario Bros. with their children.[11] However, despite its success, Nintendo had little interest in continuing the show beyond the initial package, leading to its cancellation.

Staff[edit]

Main article: List of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! staff

The Super Show was executive produced by Andy Heyward, directed by Dan Riba and produced by John Grusd, who also produced and directed the two subsequent Super Mario cartoons by DIC. Animation was provided by Sei Young Animation Co., Ltd.. The live-action sequences were co-produced with Saban Productions.

Differences from the games[edit]

  • Several characters have very different appearances from what became their standard character models in later years, mostly owing to being based on sprites and/or character artwork from Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario Bros. 2.
    • King Koopa's appearance was loosely based on his sprite from Super Mario Bros. His main skin color is green instead of orange-yellow; his ribbed stomach is deeper yellow than its game color; he has a crocodilian snout that matches the rest of his skin in coloration; he has two spike-bands instead of five (worn on his wrists only), which are dark green with gold spikes, instead of black with white spikes; his shell has a bright green lining and fewer spikes than in the games; his horn- and spike-rings are green like his skin; he has a crown instead of a mane, and no eyebrows; his tongue is reptilian instead of human-like; and his eyes are yellow instead of white and lack their red irises.
    • Princess Toadstool's model portrays her as a redhead instead of a blonde, resembling her sprites from the first two Super Mario Bros. games. She also lacks her gloves and crown jewels, and her brooch, earrings, and eye color are green rather than blue (though some episodes do depict her earrings and irises as blue later on within animation).
    • Mario and Luigi have overalls matching their cap colors, with blue shirts, and also have black hair instead of brown, along the lines of their early appearances in sprites and artwork.
    • Toad's appearance is based on his sprite from Super Mario Bros., with the waistcoat being red instead of blue. In the first three episodes, all instances of white and red in his appearance were inverted, but this was fixed from the fourth episode onwards, although his shoes were recolored purple instead of the red from the original sprite. However, Toad's original inverted color scheme was reused for his super form in the episode "The Fire of Hercufleas" and on VHS and DVD covers.
  • Bowser is depicted as a reptile rather than a turtle like in the games; he also does not have the ability to shoot fire and instead uses his magic wands or minions for long-range attacks.
  • In several episodes, Birdos were shown to be able to fly, a trait not seen in any Super Mario game.
  • Rather than becoming Fire Mario, unlike in the games, Mario (or Luigi) would become "Super Mario" or "Super Luigi" upon touching either a Fire Flower, Starman, or some other source of excessive power. As Super Mario, Mario could hurl fireballs, had super-strength, and on a few rare occasions, could even fly. Although Mario could lose his powers by taking a hit (similar to the 2D Super Mario side-scrollers), it was also possible for them to wear off after a while.
  • Mario's super form is based on his fire form sprites from Super Mario Bros.; Luigi's variant of this form replaces the red with his defining color, green. This resembles what would be their standard fire form color schemes from Super Mario World onwards, but with their shirt and overall colors swapped.
  • During Mario's transformation into a "Super Mario", Mario's color scheme from the Japanese cover of Mario Bros. is seen.
  • During Luigi's transformation into a "Super Luigi", he is shown in one frame with a green shirt and blue overalls, as it would later become his current color scheme in the franchise, starting with Super Mario Bros. 3.
  • Although Mario's eyes are the established blue, Luigi's are green instead. However, their game color is used on the cover of the Volume 1 DVD set.
  • Trouters were portrayed as being far more vicious than they were in Super Mario Bros. 2, and would pursue anybody who came near them. Their appearance more closely resembles that of Cheep-Cheeps, and they may be only a merger of the two enemies.

Differences from the other series[edit]

  • The voices of Mario and Luigi in this show most resemble their voices heard today, whereas their voices in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World shows (voiced by Walker Boone and Tony Rosato, respectively) were lower and raspier for Mario, and higher and softer for Luigi, instead of Mario having a higher voice and Luigi having a lower voice like Charles Martinet does for the two's voices, and he made neither of them any raspier than Mario and Luigi's voice actors in this show.
  • This is the only English DIC show where there is a live action section.
  • There is the Plumber's Log, whose number quote in every episode is a reference to the Captain's Log quote from Star Trek.

Quotes[edit]

Main article: List of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! quotes

References in later media[edit]

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!

Profiles[edit]

  • The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Tempest Special Edition:
    • "The zany Italian plumbers are back with an extra escapade free!"
    • "Mario and Luigi are two wacky Italian plumbers who get washed through a warp zone into a magical land populated entirely by Mushroom people. Here they join forces with the lovely Princess Toadstool and her assistant to fight the dastardly King Koopa and his Koopa Troopas"
  • The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume One:
    • "You're in for a treat, so hang on to your seat
      Get ready for adventure and remarkable feats
      You'll meet Koopas, the Troopas, the Princess and the others
      Hangin with the plumbers, you'll be hooked on the brothers!
      "
  • The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume Two/The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Mega Disc:
    • "Mario and Luigi are two wacky Italian plumbers who got washed through a warp zone while fixing a clogged drain. They find themselves in the colourful video world of the Mushroom Kingdom where they stumble from one adventure to another helping the perky Princess"
  • Robokoopa:
    • "Hey paisanos!
      It's the Super Mario Brothers Super Show!
      We're the Mario Brothers, and Plumbing's our game
      We're not like the others who get all the fame
      If your sink is in trouble, you can call us on the double
      We're faster than the others, you'll be hooked on the Brothers
      "
  • Netflix:
    • "Mixing live action and animation, this classic series brought the beloved Super Mario Bros. video game characters to television screens everywhere."
    • "Beloved Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi burst out of the video-game world and onto TV screens in this blend of animation and live-action."
  • Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, WildBrain's YouTube channels and Pluto TV:
    • "The Super Mario Brothers Super Show is a zany animated fantasy adventure comedy based on Nintendo's most popular videogame. Staring the world-famous Mario and Luigi, two plumbers from Brooklyn who suddenly find themselves washed through a Warp Zone."
  • The Roku Channel:
    • "After being sucked into a drain pipe, Mario and Luigi defend the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa."

Foreign/international variations[edit]

With the show being translated into 15 languages and 1 dialect (Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Swedish, and Taiwanese Mandarin) there are many differences between them.

  • Some international versions only dub the animated segments or completely cut out the live-action segments as well. The Latin American dub left the opening and ending songs unchanged in English (no subtitles either), but the live action segments are present and dubbed. A narrator would read the episode title's translation as it appeared, usually starting with "today we present: episode's name" (this was a common practice for cartoon dubs), however, in some instances the episode was given a title completely different from the original.
  • The French, Dutch, German, and Italian dubs are the only international versions to completely re-dub the Plumber Rap, whereas other foreign markets use the English version and dub only the animated Mario head introducing the show. Also, the German, Dutch, and Italian versions also re-dubs "Do the Mario" for the closing credits.
  • The original international versions in Spain and Italy use an entirely different extended theme song.
  • The Korean version uses a slightly modified lyrical version of the original Mario theme music and both the Korean and Danish versions replace the live-action skits with new ones starring domestic actors. The Korean and Danish skits feature original plots, sets, and costume designs, rather than simply remaking the Albano/Wells skits; among other changes, Mario and Luigi's mustaches are stereotypical handlebar mustaches (as opposed to Albano and Wells' natural facial hair), the set design is significantly more sterile, and the brothers' outfits in the Korean version more closely resemble those of their game counterparts.
  • The Italian and Portuguese versions cut the Friday live-action skits and the Zelda episodes. Later, these animated episodes would be broadcasted in their own series: Un regno incantato per Zelda (An enchanted kingdom for Zelda) in Italian and simply Zelda in Portuguese.[citation needed]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
German Die Super Mario Brothers Super Show
The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!
Hebrew האחים סופר מריו
He'Akhim Super Mario
Super Mario Bros.

Korean 슈퍼 마리오
Syupeo Malio
Super Mario

Polish Przygody Braci Mario
Adventures of the Mario Brothers
Portuguese (NOA) O Super Espetáculo dos Irmãos Mario
The Super Show of Super Mario Bros.
Spanish (NOA) El súper programa de Super Mario Bros.
The super program of Super Mario Bros.

Trivia[edit]

  • Although on Fridays The Legend of Zelda animated episodes were aired, the live-action episodes were still The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episodes.
  • At least two live-action segments - "Dance" and "Treasure of the Sierra Brooklyn" - identify Mario as being Mario and Luigi's surname.

External links[edit]

References[edit]