Gopher Bash

Super Mario World episode
"Gopher Bash"
Production number	225-106A
Episode	9
Airdate	November 9, 1991 July 28, 2012 November 23, 2024
Writer(s)	Brooks Watchtel
Featured song	"Cheatsy's Life"
Captain N episode	"Mr. and Mrs. Mother Brain"
Episode chronology ← Previous "Party Line" Next → "Rock TV" List of episodes

“If those cave louts get anything growing, I'm counting on you to plantnap it!”

—King Koopa

"Gopher Bash" is the ninth episode of the Super Mario World animated series. This episode is notable for being the only episode where Gophers appear, as well as the only episode aside from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! where Mario's mom is mentioned.

Plot synopsis

In a large field, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Yoshi, and a group of Cave People are surveying the scenery. While looking around, Mario goes on to say that, though the field is great, he does not think the Cave People would really want to grow crops, as they can grab berries off the nearby trees. As Yoshi begins eating some berries, Princess Toadstool goes on to say that she thinks Luigi's idea to teach the Cave People to grow their own food is very good. After hearing Princess Toadstool say this, Luigi begins his food-growing lessons.

Luigi and Yoshi about to plow the field.

First, Luigi, with the help of Yoshi, tries to teach the Cave People how to plow. However, Yoshi, upon seeing a berry, runs slightly too fast, and the hungry dinosaur drags along Luigi. Once Yoshi eats the berry, and the field is plowed (looking like Yoshi's face), it is revealed that King Koopa and Cheatsy Koopa have been spying on everyone.

Upon seeing that Luigi's efforts to teach the Cave People to grow crops are working, Koopa begins to worry; if the Cave People can grow their own food, they will be harder to subjugate. Seeing his father worrying, Cheatsy comes up with an idea: steal all the food the Cave People grow. Without any food, the Cave People will starve and be forced to come to him for food. Thinking this idea is great, Koopa leaves Cheatsy in charge.

After the field is completely plowed, Luigi begins planting seeds and tells the Cave People to do the same. However, the Cave People do not understand too well and begin to plant any nearby objects, much to Luigi's dismay. After a while, the seeds are successfully planted, with the next step being to water the plants.

Cheatsy spying on Luigi and Yoshi.

Unfortunately, the Cave People take things out of hand and tip over a nearby well, which spills a wave of water over the field, washing Luigi and Yoshi away, much to Cheatsy's amusement. After the water washes away, Mario pulls his trapped brother out of the mud and asks how the farming is going. Luigi replies that it is going great and clomps away through the mud as Yoshi pulls himself from the dirt.

Surprisingly, the Cave People succeed in growing rows of crops, much to Luigi's delight. Later that night, Cheatsy and several Gophers sneak into the tunnels beneath the field and begin taking all the crops. While Cheatsy and the Gophers giggle at their deed, several other Gophers appear with a sack filled with Piranha Plants. The Gophers proceed to stick the Piranha Plants in the holes the crops used to be in.

Waking up the next morning, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi find all the crops gone. Reaching into a hole to see if anything is left, Mario is surprised as a Piranha Plant almost bites his arm. Yoshi manages to slurp up the Piranha Plant before it can do any damage, though. However, just as Yoshi eats the one Piranha Plant, several more appear out of the ground.

Running for their lives from the Piranha Plants, who are being puppeteered by Cheatsy and the Gophers from underground, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi become trapped in a ring of Piranha Plants. Luckily, Yoshi manages to eat all the surrounding Piranha Plants. Still trying to beat Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi, a Gopher grabs the roots of a nearby Piranha Plant and tries to maneuver it in for an attack; unfortunately for the Gopher, he is pulled up to the top of the tunnel when Yoshi tries to eat the Piranha Plant.

Cheatsy caught in the act.

Trying to get their comrade down, Cheatsy and the other Gophers are pulled to the surface when Yoshi pulls on the Piranha Plant's stock hard enough to tear it up, with Cheatsy and the Gophers still hanging on to it. Flung right in front of Mario, Cheatsy taunts the two, saying they will never see their crops again. Before either Mario or Luigi can grab him, Cheatsy leaps down a hole dug by his Gopher henchmen, with Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi falling in afterwards.

Getting up, Luigi and Mario begin to wonder where Cheatsy has gone. Yoshi proceeds to point to a nearby Warp Tube, saying Cheatsy went that way. Preparing to jump into the Warp Tube, Luigi is stopped by Mario, who says that the Cave People do not need the food Cheatsy stole, as they can just go back to picking berries. A saddened Luigi says he told the Cave People they no longer needed to pick berries because they had crops. The Cave People listened to Luigi and did not store any food for the winter, meaning they would starve if they did not get the crops back.

Cheering Luigi up, Mario and Yoshi say they will help him get the food back. Going through the Warp Tube, Luigi, Mario, and Yoshi are sent plummeting down a pit. Luckily, Mario manages to grab a nearby magic balloon. Becoming inflated, Mario grabs Luigi and Yoshi and descends to the ground safely.

Seeing Cheatsy and his Gopher minions nearby, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi hear the Koopaling's plan to sell all the food he stole from the Cave People back to them at an outrageous price. As Cheatsy begins to sing "Cheatsy's Life", a self-praising song, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi begin to sneak up on and grab Cheatsy's Gopher henchmen.

Yoshi, having eaten the entire sack of crops.

As Cheatsy sings, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi grab the Gophers one by one. When there are none left, they reveal themselves and revamp the song's ending. A surprised Cheatsy has no time to get out of the way as Luigi lets go of a rope, which drops Cheatsy's tied-up Gopher minions on top of him. Grabbing the sack filled with food, Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi take it over to a nearby Warp Tube and stuff it down before jumping in themselves. Failing to drag himself out from under his bound minions, Cheatsy can only say, "I hate those plumbers..."

Getting back to Dome City, Luigi announces to the Cave People that he got all their food back. Opening the sack of food, Luigi is horrified to find a bloated Yoshi rolling out of the bag, having eaten all the vegetables. Luigi, disappointed that all that work to get the food back was for nothing, tells Yoshi to start planting more food. Yoshi agrees, but when he tries to work in his overfed state, he belches unexpectedly, allowing Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool to share a good-natured laugh.

Gallery

• 

  Title card

Cast

• Walker Boone — Mario
• Tony Rosato — Luigi
• Andrew Sabiston — Yoshi
• Tracey Moore — Princess Toadstool
• Harvey Atkin — King Koopa
• James Rankin — Cheatsy Koopa

Quotes

• "Uh, the field's fine, but I don't think the Cave People are wild about being farmers. Especially when all they have to do when they're hungry is reach out and grab some grub." - Mario
• "Ooh! Yum, yum, yum! Good idea!" - Yoshi
• "Mario, if Luigi thinks that he can teach the Cave People farming, let him try." - Toadstool
• "All you got to do is make a straight line. Go, Yoshi! It's a cinch!" - Luigi
• "This is badder than bad, Dad. This is baddest!" - Cheatsy Koopa
• "Planting is simple. It's just putting things in the ground... assuming it gets to the ground." - Luigi
• "Rats! If they can't grow crops, I'll have nothing to steal." - Cheatsy Koopa
• "Oh no! Run for your life, Yoshi!" - Luigi
• "Grubba da dubba! I hate water!" - Yoshi
• "Mom always said, you were good at growing." - Mario
• "Yeah, that's why I'm the tall one, little big brother!" - Luigi
• "Mario, I've heard of weed killers, but killer weeds?" - Luigi
• "Don't just help him, stand there!" - Cheatsy Koopa
• "The only way you guys are gonna eat... is by shopping at the Koopamart! So long, suckers!" - Cheatsy Koopa
• "Aw, no cry, Luigi! We help!" - Yoshi
• "One for all..." - Mario
• "And all for dinner!" - Yoshi
• "I hate those plumbers." - Cheatsy Koopa
• "Well, since you ate the whole thing, now you can do the hoe thing!" - Luigi

Animation and continuity errors

• When Luigi first says the crop names, the first crop is "cave carrots". Later, when the group is leaving Cheatsy's lair, the name changes to "cave cabbage". This error does not occur in the European Spanish re-dub.
• When Princess Toadstool tells Mario that Luigi should attempt farming, Mario is shown to be brighter than the other characters and background.
• In several scenes, the "L" on Luigi's cap turns white against a black background.
• The number of spikes on Yoshi's back continually switches between three and four.
• Throughout the episode, Cheatsy's hair is either yellow or light-green.
• In a couple of scenes, the rim on Cheatsy's shell is green like the rest of the shell.
• When Luigi gives Yoshi some seeds, his shirt is green instead of blue.
• When the Cave People pour water onto the field, the sound effects stop briefly.
• When Cheatsy watches Luigi and Yoshi getting washed away by the flood, his tail is the same color as the rim of his shell.
• When Mario walks up to Luigi after the flood, his feet pass through the hill he is on.
• When the camera pans down to Cheatsy and the Gophers underground, the rim of the former's shell is orange like the rest of his body instead of white.
• When Cheatsy tells the Gophers to pull the crops, his sclerae turn green.
• After a Gopher successfully pulls down a crop, its foot turns completely white for a frame.
• When Cheatsy and the Gophers laugh before the shot fades to morning, Cheatsy's left eye repeatedly closes.
• When the Pirahna Plant eats the garden plow before Yoshi eats the former, the pieces of the plow that fall to the ground disappear.
• When Yoshi tries to eat a Piranha Plant that a Gopher is holding onto, his tongue is green instead of pink.
• When Cheatsy commands the Gophers to help the Gopher holding onto the Piranha Plant, his mouth is briefly placed on his stomach.
• In the shot leading up to Yoshi pulling out Cheatsy and the Gophers, the shot is saturated.
• When Cheatsy collides with the ground and bounces offscreen, his head and shell rim are briefly orange.
• When the Gophers begin to flee back into the hole, Cheatsy is brighter compared to the rest of the shot.
• When Cheatsy waves his hand, his hand is lighter than his body.
• When Luigi says that it is his fault, his mouth remains open.
• Luigi exits from the Warp Pipe second when Yoshi was the second one to enter the pipe as seen in the previous shot.
• When Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi fall out the Warp Pipe, Luigi disappears into thin air.
• When Mario lands on a Magic Balloon, he has four fingers on each hand instead of five.
• When Cheatsy says the cave people have to buy their crops from him, one of the Gophers lack their shades when it turns to face Cheatsy.
  • In the same scene, the same Gopher's left hand, tail, and back are miscolored white.
• In a couple of scenes during the "Cheatsy's Life" song sequence, Cheatsy's mouth does not lip-sync correctly to the lyrics.
• When the Gopher rolls into the bag of crops, the audio becomes distorted for a moment.
• When Cheatsy crouches to the broken piggy bank, his right foot is missing for a frame and shortly after, his right arm briefly disappears.
• When Cheatsy picks up the Coin from the piggy bank, it is blue like the bank instead of yellow.
  • In the same scene, the coin appears from thin air.
• When Cheatsy stands up during the dance, the broken piggy bank disappears into thin air.
• When Cheatsy holds up the coin after standing up, the center of the coin is transparent.
• The last Gopher that is grabbed appears from thin air.
• When Yoshi backs up to be in the center of Mario and Luigi, he is smaller than Mario.
• When Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi sing the last bridge, the "L" on Luigi's cap is reversed.
• Normally, the bag is skin-colored, but when Mario and his friends are singing, it turns green.
• When Mario waves at Cheatsy, his shoes flickers between a lighter and darker color.
• When Cheatsy is shocked by Mario and his friends, the stripes on his eyelids are missing, while his eyes are miscolored.
• When the [Gophers are about to land on Cheatsy, one's arms are white instead of brown.
• When Cheatsy screams a second time, his head is the same color as his snout for a brief moment.
• When the Gophers land on Cheatsy, some of them have a completely brown body.
• When Cheatsy says, "I hate those plumbers," his snout is briefly layered behind his eyes while his shell disappears.
  • In the same scene, his mouth is slightly off-sync with his dialogue.
• When Luigi points to the hoe, his mouth stops moving before he is completely offscreen.
• The Albanian dub credits Lorenc Kaja for playing Oogtar despite him not appearing in the episode.

• 

  Luigi's miscolored shirt

• 

  Cheatsy's miscolored eyes

• 

  Cheatsy's incorrectly layered face

Profiles

• Super Mario World: Koopa's Stone Age Quests DVD:
  • English:
    Luigi teaches farming to the cave people, with mixed results. But when crops grow, King Koopa's Nintendo Gophers steal all the crops and put fire plants and pirhana plants^[sic] in their place.

• Super Mario VHS:
  • Korean:
    루이지가 농사짓는 법을 가르쳐 원시인이 잘 살게 하례고 하는데 취시와 두더쥐가 방해를놓는다.
    (Romanization: Ruijiga nongsajisneun beobeul gareuchyeo Wonshiini jal salge haryego haneunde Chwisi dudeojwiga banghaereulnohneunda.)
    (Translation: Luigi teaches the Cave People how to farm so that they can live well, but Cheatsy and the moles get in the way.)

Dub edits

• In the French and Italian dubs, Cheatsy's comment on the "Koopamart" is changed to "our supermarket."
• In the Latin American Spanish dub:
  • In the original version, Luigi explains that planting merely consists of putting things in the ground, with the joke being that the Cave People misintepret Luigi's statement and start putting things in the ground that are not seeds, such as people and trees. In the dub, Luigi instead specifies that planting involves putting seeds in the ground, though the Cave People still put things in the ground that are not seeds.
  • In the original version, the crops that Luigi mentions are cave carrots, stone squash, and pebble peas, the first of which changes to cave cabbage towards the end of the episode. In the dub, the crops are carrots, squash, and lettuce, the first of which changes to cabbage towards the end of the episode.
  • In the original version, when discovering that Yoshi ate all of the crops, Luigi says, "Well, since you ate the whole thing, now you can do the hoe thing!", making a pun on the words "whole" and "hoe." In the Latin American Spanish dub, Luigi instead says, "Bueno, ya que te comiste todo, ahora lo harás todo!" ("Well, since you ate everything, now you'll do everything!"), repeating the word todo ("everything") twice in the sentence; a similar phrase is used in the European Spanish re-dub.
    • In the original European Spanish dub, Luigi says the line using a similar pun from the original version. In the dub, he says, "Y puesto que te has dado el atracón, te toca darle al azadón!" ("Since you gave yourself a feast, it's your turn to pick up the hoe!") making a pun on the words atracón ("feast") and azadón ("hoe").

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
Albanian	Goditje e papritur	Sudden strike
Arabic	إزرعوا الأرض Izrau al-ard	Cultivate the land
Chinese (Simplified)	进击的金花鼠 Jìnjī de Jīnhuāchóng (Mandarin)	Attack of the Chipmunks
French (Canadian)	Les agriculteurs	The farmers
French (European)	Leçon de jardinage	Gardening lesson
German	Die gestohlene Ernte	The stolen harvest
Italian	Colpo grosso per le talpe	"Big steal for the moles"; colpo also means "hit/blow", and as such can also mean "Big blow to the moles"
Korean	쿠파 두더지 Kupa Dudeoji	Koopa Moles	VHS
	농사짓기 Nongsa Jitgi	Farming	DVD
Polish	Pogromcy susłów	Conqueror moles
Portuguese	Os Esquilos	The Gophers
Romanian	Lovitura Gofărului	Gopher bash
Russian	Проделки сусликов Prodelki suslikov	Gopher tricks
Spanish (Latin American)	Topos Comelones	Eater Moles
Spanish (European)	El topazo	"Mole bash"; from topo ("mole") and -azo (noun-forming suffix denoting a hit or strike)	original dub
	El golpe de gofer	Gopher bash	re-dub

Notes

This section is about a work that used to be available to the public, but is now partially or entirely inaccessible.
Details: Only a transcript of the episode preview has been found.
However, the subject is thoroughly documented here. Only remove this notice if the complete work is recovered and made available publicly.

• In the original version, when escaping with the stolen crops, Cheatsy says, "The only way you guys are gonna eat is by shopping at the Koopamart!". In certain issues of Nintendo Comics System, it is shown that the Koopamart is an actual store. However, the reference in this episode is most likely coincidental.
• Mario and Yoshi's quote before they and Luigi enter the Warp Pipe leading to Cheatsy's lair is a reference to tous pour un, un pour tous ("all for one, one for all"), a motto traditionally associated with the titular heroes of the Alexandre Dumas novel The Three Musketeers.
• In the Korean dub, the title is not read when it appears, unlike in other episodes.
• This episode's premise is similar to Fire Sale; both episodes involve a Koopaling stealing something from Dome City to sell it back for a profit (In Kootie Pie's case, she sells fireballs by stealing Mama Fireplant) and the heroes must travel to the villain's lair to retrieve it. In addition, both episodes have a song designated for the villain.
• In the original NBC airings, Luigi narrates the preview for the episode by saying, "Who would've thought teaching the Cave People to plant a garden would be so difficult? But when King Koopa's Goofy Gophers go crop-busting, the Warp Pipe's really been clogged!"