Die trottelige Drachenmutter
The title of this article is official, but it comes from a German source.
If an acceptable English name is found, then the article should be moved to the new title.
"Die trottelige Drachenmutter" is the second story of Zur Fernseh-Serie Super Mario Bros. - Spiele und Geschichten. This story is a simplified retelling of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "The Bird! The Bird!," and as such serves as a continuation of "Im Pilzewunderland." This story is also notable for being told entirely from Toad's perspective; it also the only story where King Koopa does not appear.
Plot synopsisEdit
Toad and Princess Toadstool have once again been rescued by Mario and Luigi from King Koopa's clutches, and are now transversing through the deep snow in the Land of Ice. Suddenly, a Giant Birdo swoops down from the sky and kidnaps the former with her claws, taking him to her home, which is located on the summit of the highest mountain in the land, despite Toad's protests.
At her home, the Birdo drops Toad directly into a playpen located in the center of her home. She then takes care of him, and Toad realizes that there is clearly a mix-up: the Giant Birdo believed that he was her lost baby, and, as such, took him to her home on the mountain. He then wonders how he can make it clear to the Birdo that he is merely a Mushroom, and plans to escape from her.
However, the Giant Birdo dismisses Toad's complaints as merely moodiness and even insinuates that he does not deserve her care. She also feeds Toad using a feeding bottle full of dragon's milk, effectively muffling his attempts to convince her that he is not her baby, with Toad also finding this as unpleasant. The Birdo then proceeds to sing a goodnight song to him, making him more infuriated.
Believing that he was satisfied, the Birdo then grabs Toad with her claws and rocks him back and forth, causing him to become dizzy. She then kisses Toad repeatedly, much to his frustration. Despite his resistance, it only serves to encourage her, and soon he is as slippery as a lollypop. There was only one thing left for Toad to do: Convince the Giant Birdo that mushrooms are poisonous. However, before he can, a cuckoo clock gongs five times to signal the beginning of his "flying lessons."
Ignoring Toad's cries of fear, the Birdo then grabs Toad with her hind legs and flies him to a height of 10,000 meters. Toad promises to give her his entire mushroom stamp collection if he safely sets him down on the ground, though she replies that kites are there to fly (a pun on Flugdrachen, literally "flying dragon"). Upon reaching the desired height, the Giant Birdo drops Toad, resulting in him descending rapidly to the ground.
During his descent, Toad comes up with an idea and decides to let his cap inflate into a parachute, thus slowing his descent towards the ground, with him bragging by saying that he dares to have one says that he is not smart. However, he confesses that, due to his cries of joy, he inadvertently triggered an avalacnhe, which completely covered his friends completely in snow.
Toad lands on Mario's snow-covered body, with Princess Toadstool immediately greeting him with delight. Mario and Luigi, are also delighted, not only because of his return, but also because he could free them from the snow covering them that came from the avalanche. Toad explains that he just enjoyed his first flying, with Mario curious on what exactly happened. Just as he is about to tell his experience to him, he and his friends hear soft cries.
Carefully, Toad and his friend approached the strange sounds, which are coming from a block of ice, in which a baby Birdo is trapped inside. Toad remarks that this must be Cheepy, whom his mother confused with him. He explains this to his friends, and, with their combined forces, they manage to melt the ice.
Soon, Cheepy is freed and cries for his mother. The Giant Birdo does not take long to arrive, as she wants to find where Toad, her supposed dragon baby, had gone. When she sees him, she flutters up reproachfully, but then sees the "second Cheepy." Completely amazed she circles around him and his friends, marveled at the great resemblance and tries to take a closer look at them through her glasses. The true dragon child chuckles reassuredly, and his mother sees her mistake by the familiar sound.
As Cheepy is allowed to be kissed again, Toad no longer holds a grudge against her and introduces her to his friends. Toad adds that it was only because he did not want to separate from his friends that she refrained from adopting him, commenting how lucky he was that day.
GalleryEdit
The Giant Birdo kissing Toad
A cuckoo clock signaling the start of "Cheepy"'s flying lesson
Toad using his cap as a parachute
CharactersEdit
Differences from the episodeEdit
- The story is based on the German dub of the episode, and, as such, most applicable dub edits in the dub apply.
- The Giant Birdo and Cheepy's eyes are depicted as yellow instead of white.
- Mario and Luigi are depicted without the scarves and earmuffs they wore in "The Bird! The Bird!." Princess Toadstool's cape is also green instead of blue.
- The Giant Birdo's house appears drastically different in the book than in the episode, with some of the more notable differences being the color of the baby pen and the presence of a blue and green rug that was never present in the episode.
- Due to it being a simplified retelling of "The Bird! The Bird!" written from Toad's several scenes are omitted, mainly ones that do not feature him. As such, this results in several differences from the episode:
- The milk that the Birdo feeds him is specified to be dragon milk in the story, whereas it is left ambiguous in the episode.
- Toad mentions that he needs to convince the Giant Birdo that mushrooms are poisonous, a detail not present in the episode.
- The avalanche is mentioned to have been caused by him in the story, while it is instead triggered by a group of Albatoss dropping their Bob-ombs on the mountain in the episode.
- Cheepy is still trapped in the ice block when Toad lands on the ground surrounded by his friends, while he is already freed by Mario using a Fire Flower he had gotten from a snowed-in house in the episode.
- The story ends with the Giant Birdo finding her missing baby on the avalanche, with her initially confused by their resemblance before the true Cheepy chuckles reassuredly. Toad then introduces her to his friends, commenting on how lucky he was that he was not adopted by her. The episode continues on for slightly longer, with it ending with the Giant Birdo serving Toad and his friends large, talking worms, with them running away upon realizing this.
Names in other languagesEdit
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| German | Die trottelige Drachenmutter[1] | The scatterbrained Giant Birdo |
ReferencesEdit
- ^ Friedrich Dohrmann (January 1, 1991). Zur Fernseh-Serie Super Mario Bros. - Spiele und Geschichten. Hamburg, Germany: XENOS Verlagsgesellschaft (German). ISBN 978-3821210056. Page 24.