List of references in animated television
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- This article is about references to the Super Mario games in animated shows. For animated shows based on the Super Mario games, see List of television series and films.
The following is an alphabetical list of Super Mario–related sightings and references in animated and anime television shows. For a list of references in live-action television, see List of references in live-action television.
6teen[edit]
Some episodes feature background music that sounds similar to "World 1 Map (Grass Land)" and "Bros. Battle" from Super Mario Bros. 3. Examples of such episodes include "The (Almost) Graduate" and "Major Unfaithfulness".
The 7D[edit]
In "The Jollywood Jam", the dwarves (except for Happy) end up in an 18-bit universe similar to Super Mario Bros.
Adventure Time[edit]
In "The Pajama War", one of the ingredients Princess Bubblegum uses for her edible fire recipe is a red flower which has a similar appearance to that of a Fire Flower.
In "Guardians of Sunshine", the level of the game that Finn and Jake are playing resembles the Castle stages from Super Mario Bros., even containing coins that resemble the ones from said game. the bomb item in the game Finn and Jake play is pronounced "Bom-buh", likely a reference to the way "Bob-omb" is pronounced, with an additional syllable and extra letters. At one point, Finn sings a tune that sounds similar to "Ground BGM" from Super Mario Bros.
Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog[edit]
The Albanian dub occasionally uses music from Super Mario World and Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island.[1]
Ajin: Demi-Human[edit]
In "But That Makes it Interesting, So Whatever", Okuyama makes an analogy that people do not play video games to save the princess at the end, but rather because trampling turtles is fun.
Aladdin[edit]
In "The Seven Faces of Genie", Genie is seen wearing a plumber outfit similar to what Mario and Luigi wear in Mario Bros.
The Amazing World of Gumball[edit]
Ocho is a recurring character that appears as an 8-bit alien, and is used for many references to Super Mario and other video game franchises. As an example, in "The Tape", Ocho hits a gigantic, yellow block similar to a ? Block to get cash for a vending machine. During gym class, he also uses a cheat which gives him a rainbow appearance and speeds him up, similar to Invincible Mario, as he knocks over various other characters.
The premise of the later episode "The Uncle" is that Ocho has an uncle called Mario who has a go-kart, is scared of ghosts and likes dinosaurs, stars and princesses; Gumball takes this to mean that his uncle is the same Mario from the video games; in his excitement, he goes around Elmore jumping over people's heads and entering pipes, with similar melodies such as one close to "Course Clear" playing, and even repeating Mario's catchphrases (e.g. "Yahoo!" and "Let's-a go!"). Later, Ocho's Uncle Mario actually appears playing golf with Ocho, wearing an outfit similar to the actual Mario and a vaguely similar saying to his catchphrase ("Hey, it's me, Mario" instead of "It's a-me, Mario!").
In "The Score", Ocho shows Gumball and Darwin what his life is like through a video game played at his house. At first, they struggle, until they realize that Ocho is playing the game to win and not to have fun. When Gumball and Darwin show him how to enjoy life, a montage shows them doing chores in parodies of WarioWare, Super Mario Kart, the Gnat Attack minigame from Mario Paint, and Dr. Mario.
Other references made on the show are listed as follows:
- In the early reel, Carrie's design heavily resembles a Boo.
- In "The Third", when Tobias is changing colors, Mario's walking sound effects from Donkey Kong can be heard.
- In "The Fury", the anime flashback has Nicole fighting an opponent who resembles Bowser in his Rookie mask from Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga in a tournament.
- In "The Compilation", Felicity is shown being interviewed on the news. She complains about the neighborhood's new imported speed bumps, which are actually Dash Panels from Mario Kart. Marvin drives onto one on his scooter, causing him to flash rainbow and speed forward, crashing into a pile of cars.
- In "The Shippening", when the Hamburger Cop looks inside the back of the Van Shopkeeper's van, a Bomber Bill can be seen in there.
- In "The Drama", when Gumball and Darwin jump off of Dolphin Man to get to the freeway, Darwin says "Sweet Christmas, you totally Yoshi’d that poor guy", directly referencing the ability to jump off Yoshi in Super Mario World, which is often done to gain a second jump while over a pit (usually causing Yoshi to fall in).
- In "The Name", Anais is forced by Gumball (now Zach) to live in a green shoe, referencing the Goomba's Shoe from Super Mario Bros 3.
Ocho hitting the block in "The Tape".
Ocho knocking over Carmen while invincible in "The Tape".
Marvin driving over a Dash Panel in "The Compilation".
Ocho's Uncle Mario in "The Uncle".
American Dad![edit]
A post[2] in the series' official Facebook page from roughly a month before the release of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U shows protagonist Stan holding a gigantic hammer standing in an environment nearly identical to the ones usually found in Super Mario games, most notably Super Mario 3D Land.
In season 3, episode 16: "Spring Breakup", at Roger's spring break party, there is a brief scene involving a gorilla that resembles Donkey Kong, who is standing atop a mountain of beer kegs. The gorilla proceeds to toss a keg down to two frat boys in a similar manner to Donkey Kong throwing a barrel from the original Donkey Kong game.
In season 6, episode 8 "For Whom the Sleigh Bell Tolls", when Bob Todd is teaching Roger moonshining, Roger jumps over barrels of moonshine, similar to Donkey Kong.
In season 6, episode 11 "A Pinata Named Desire", Mario appears on Barry's shirt in a flashback, wearing a chef-like hat instead of his usual cap.
In season 6, episode 14 "School Lies", Mario, along with other video game characters such as Pac-Man and Sonic, appears on a poster on an arcade door. The arcade also has a machine that resembles Donkey Kong.
In season 13, episode 17 "Twinanigans", Roger puts on a fake mustache and asks if it is "too Super Mario".
In season 17, episode 5 "Into the Woods", in Stan’s Halloween flashback, one of the children is wearing a Mario costume.
In season 18, episode 17 "The Sinister Fate!!", Jeff not only notes that Hayley does not have a mustache like Wario, but later says she is angry just like him.
In season 19, episode 6 "The Violence of the Clams", Steve comes up with a few potential themes for Toshi's birthday party, one of which is themed around Super Mario Bros. and has a drawing of Toshi dressed like Wario. There are also pictures of ? Block-themed gift boxes and coin-themed cakes.
The keg-throwing gorilla that resembles Donkey Kong
Bob Todd throwing down Moonshine barrels
Barry's shirt
The arcade (left) and its innards
The child wearing the Mario costume
Amphibia[edit]
Season 1, Episode 16b: "Bizarre Bazaar"
The characters Anne and Sprig get into a giant cockroach race against a character named "Wrecker". During the race, Wrecker uses a blue-shelled beetle, which automatically hits Anne and Sprig after they take the lead. After they get hit, Sprig says "Wow, that didn't feel balanced", referring to how unbalanced the Spiny Shell is considered.
Season 3, Episode 1: "The New Normal"
One of the Fridge Magnets resembles Mario, but with a yellow hat and purple overalls (similar to Wario's classic outfit) and a capital "P" on both of them.
Season 3, Episode 7a: "Spider-Sprig"
A character that looks exactly like Mario gives Sprig a sushi pizza.
The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten[edit]
In the episode "The Angel in the Christmas", Amane and Mahiru play a Super Mario Bros.-like game on the Nintendo Switch, with the setting appearing to be a combination of the typical sky and island levels. The game also has sound effects that sound exactly like the ones heard in the games, like the coin sound effect. Soon after, Mahiru is seen playing a game resembling Mario Kart 8, with the theme of said game sounding similar to "Toad Circuit" from Mario Kart 7.
Angry Birds Slingshot Stories[edit]
In the episode, "Super Angry Bros.", Red appears from a wooden structure shaped like a Warp Pipe. He then stomps on a Minion Pig similarly to how Mario stomps on Goombas. He then finds a box that acts like a ? Block, with Bomb acting as a Fire Flower, where he lands on top of Red and spits fire at a stack of three Minion Pigs, similarly to how Fire Mario throws fireballs at his enemies. After jumping into two pits, Red and Bomb bash a plank that acts like a Coin Block. They then look at an onscreen timer and realize they have eighteen seconds left and encounter a large amount of Minion Pigs, with some of them being gold. Chuck then speeds in to help the two birds finish the course to knock down all the surrounding pigs and reach the Goal Pole with one second left. The course turns out to actually be an act created by Foreman Pig, who intended to lock the birds in a cage. When Foreman Pig shows the birds that they were supposed to be captured, Red, Chuck and Bomb nervously leave to start the course again.
Animaniacs (2020)[edit]
In the fifth episode's Pinky and the Brain segment, "No Brainer", Brain is in Tokyo, getting chased by the yakuza in a car at the beginning. Brain radios Pinky, who, much to his chagrin, is distracted by an "Italian Brothers Mustache" game on what looks like a Super Famicom. Pinky warns the character he is playing as (who resembles Brain in a Super Mario Kart–style game) to "Watch out for that banana peel!" which soon applies to the actual Brain as the yakuza throws a banana peel to cause Brain's car to spin out. Later, at the end of the episode, when Pinky drives their car off a bridge, he reassures Brain that "That Italian mustache brother will save us."
In the episode "WARnerGAMES", the video game Wakko plays, Brawl 'n' Bash Siblings, is a parody of the Super Smash Bros. series. The game features characters that are also parodies from the games. "Maria" and "Luisa" are parodies of "Mario" and "Luigi", their jumping sounds are similar to those from Super Mario Bros. games. Also, Jackass Monkey is a parody of Donkey Kong.
Arthur[edit]
In the "A Word from Us Kids" segment for the episode "Arthur's Dummy Disaster", a certain child has a dummy which he calls "Mario". He describes the dummy, which appears as a crudely-drawn Mario, as being very athletic.
In the TV special "Arthur's Perfect Christmas", one of Muffy's lines in a song describes that presents mean nothing if her friend Francine is not by her side. As she sings this, Francine appears in a Mario outfit at the end of a level, and is hit by a bunch of rolling barrels.
Back to the Future[edit]
Season 2, Episode 6: "Bravelord and the Demon Monstrux"
The sound effects for the video game BraveLord and Monstrux were taken from Super Mario Bros.
Beavis and Butt-Head[edit]
In the episode "Virtual Stupidity", upon hearing about a mall employee selling virtual reality headsets, Beavis states, "I've always wanted to go inside a video game and eat some coins and kick Luigi in the nads." In the same scene, a picture of a Bob-omb–like character can be seen among other pictures on the sign reading "over 500 games" at the headset booth.[3]
Big City Greens[edit]
In the episode "DependaBill", Doug's repairman resembles Mario.
In "Spaghetti Theory", Gloria has to jump on top of people to reach the apartment; she then has to dodge barrels a man is throwing off a building, a reference to Donkey Kong.
Big Hero 6: The Series[edit]
In the season 1 episode "Big Hero 7", Warp Pipe sound effects can be heard in the background when the characters visit the "Mole Hole". Additionally, the "Krush Fred" arcade machine uses the Donkey Kong font.
Big Mouth[edit]
In "The ASSes", when Jay lashes out on Nick's parents during a game of Fortnite, Elliot calls him Wario and suggests that he should go back to Mario.
Bluey[edit]
In "Markets", a painting in the background of a scene depicts the entrance to the Mushroom Kingdom from the first cutscene of Hotel Mario.[4]
Bob's Burgers[edit]
Season 5, Episode 9: "Speakeasyrider"
During a billboard shot of a go-cart competition, one of the teams in the A-League is named "Super Mary Go Kart".
Season 5, Episode 11: "Can't Buy Me Math"
When Darryl & Rosa get back together over the arcade game they're playing, Jocelyn says they're like Mario & Luigi.
Bordertown[edit]
Season 1, Episode 12: "American Doll"
During the launching ceremony for a trip into space, a gentleman greatly resembling Wario claims he will rule the city of Mexifornia, now that Mario Lopez is boarding the shuttle.
Brandy & Mr. Whiskers[edit]
In the episode "Lame Boy", Mr. Whiskers plays a parody of Donkey Kong called Monkey Maniacs 3 on a Game Boy-like handheld.
Brickleberry[edit]
In "Saved by the Balls", Steve makes up a fake name of "Mario Brothers" and tells his story to a Russian mafia, which is the plot to the original Super Mario Bros. game. He says that Denzel's name is "Ted Tris", a pun on "Tetris".
In "Global Warning", Malloy can be seen playing a game called "Slaughter House 5", which features graphics resembling the original Super Mario Bros.
Breadwinners[edit]
The poster for Breadwinners bears a striking resemblance to the artwork for Super Mario World.
Thug Loaf
Buhdeuce was trying to save SwaySway from the vicious biker ducks after revealing there were no bread in the rocket van. Buhdeuce tries to get through by jumping, which makes a sound effect similar to the one from Super Mario Bros.
Brocrastination
When SwaySway and Buhdeuce are blasted out of their house, Green Shells can be seen in the background.
Lil' Loafie
SwaySway and Buhdeuce "Level Up" into Plumber Ducks, looking similar to Mario and Luigi, to retrieve Lil' Loafie, who was held captive in T-Midi's house.
Bad to the Duck Bone
Buhdeuce rides in a Junior Clown Car colored in his likeness.
Shrunken Ducks
The mushroom caps protruding from the Grow Bread bear a great resemblance to Super Mushrooms. The title card for this episode also uses a font resembling the Super Mario logo.
My Fair Frog
One of the objects SwaySway pulls out of his pocket is a purple Potted Piranha Plant.
Switcheroo
Near the end of the episode where Buhdeuce says “Let’s eat that bread!”, the sound effect when entering a pipe can be heard briefly.
Bubble Guppies[edit]
- In the episode "The Restaurant", Deema's mustache was based on Mario from Super Mario Bros.
- In the episode "Boy Meets Squirrel", the scene where Gil, Goby, and Oona jump over blueberries is a reference to Mario jumping over barrels in Donkey Kong.
- In the episode "The Sizzling Scampinis!", one of the Scampini Brothers is named after Luigi.
- In the episode "Sir Nonny The Nice!", the 8-bit video game where the knight has to collect the jewels plays similarly to Super Mario Bros.
- In the episode "Get Ready For School!", while Gil and Molly are trying to choose what to do in the space school, the dress area choice had a dress and crown that looks identical to Princess Peach's dress and crown.
- In the episode "The Police Cop-etition", the coin-collecting sound from Super Mario Bros. can be heard when Nonny and his chicken are looking across the street during Deema's segment.
- In the episode "Puddleball!", the giant has a similar moustache to Mario.
Bunny Maloney[edit]
Bunny can sometimes be seen playing a game resembling Super Mario in several episodes.
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card[edit]
In the episode "Sakura's Nostalgic Viewing Party", Kero can be seen playing a parody of Mario Kart 8 called Frog Kart 15. He fires a takoyaki bomb item that functions similarly to a Red Shell except it causes an explosion upon contact. In a later scene, he is shown viewing the customization menu deciding if he should use a V8 (presumably a reference to the Mach 8 kart) or a straight-eight engine until ultimately deciding on a straight-six to reduce weight.
Kero plays a parody of Mario Kart 8
Kero about to fire a mock Green Shell
Kero viewing the customization menu
Kero loses at Frog Kart 15
Cartoon Network[edit]
The Cartoon Network Extra bumper includes bouncing balls that resemble Chain Chomps.
The Casagrandes[edit]
- In the episode "Guess Who's Shopping for Dinner", the coin sound effect can be heard.
- In the episode "Achy Breaky Art", Carl leaps into a cloud prop and uses a fishing rod similar to the Fishin' Lakitu.
- In the episode "Squawk in the Name of Love", the plant that Sergio gives Priscilla looks like a potted Piranha Plant.
- In one of the tie-in graphic novels, "Friends and Family", the little girl on page 37 resembles Lulu. Coincidentally, Lulu's voice actress, Alex Cazares, voiced Carl.
Celebrity Deathmatch[edit]
- In "High-Tech Fighting", Mills Lane refers to Brad Pitt and Keanu Reeves as "Mario Brothers" before their fight begins.
- In "Gottfried in the Arena", Johnny describes Robert Iler hitting Frankie Muniz with a Game Boy in a tube sock as a "Super Mario bonk".
ChalkZone[edit]
Reggie's dad, Bruno Bullnerd, wears a brown suit, a red tie, and a hairstyle that significantly resemble those of Donkey Kong. Bruno is seen in "Disappearing Act", "The Heist", "That Sinking Feeling", and "Day of the Living Mall".
Chowder[edit]
In the episode "Chowder and Mr. Fugu", Chowder tries to find a place where he and Mr. Fugu can find food for themselves without Mr. Fugu eating his. He finally stops at a place where "every dish is different". The two men that take Chowder's order greatly resemble Mario and Luigi, though they only appear on-screen for seconds. They also have a Brick Block-like pattern on their overalls.
In the episode "Sniffleball", Chowder must run 14 bases in a game of sniffleball so that he can leave the game. One of the bases features him, Gorgonzola, and Panini in an area that resembles a castle in Super Mario Bros.; in an 8-bit scene, a song similar to "Underground BGM" plays as Chowder jumps off Gorgonzola's head and into a Warp Pipe, and Gazpacho declares him "safe". A sound from the Atari 2600 version of Donkey Kong can be heard as soon as Gazpacho comes out of the pipe.
In the episode "Big Ball", Chowder and Mung Daal joined Team Macadamia when Truffles became coach to Team Goulash to win the game. In some scenes of the episode, Chowder's Macadamia cap looks similar to the Mario Cap. At the end of the episode, it turns out that the Big Ball stadium is on the back of a giant turtle that resembles Bowser, who says "game over" and throws the stadium into a giant trash can.
The Lead Farfel from "Shnitzel and the Lead Farfel" resembles a Thwomp.
In the special pop-up commentary episode of "Stinky Love", the costumer is said to be based off of Mario.
In the episode "The Garden", there is a plant resembling a Piranha Plant that swallows Chowder.
During the fight scene in the episode "The Moldy Touch", a soundclip of one of Bowser's roars can be heard.
In "Apprentice Appreciation Day", the ugly Chowder lookalike highly resembles Wario.
Chuck's Choice[edit]
In the episode Area 53, one of Chuck's possible choices is a sprite of him jumping in a similar pose to Mario.
Clarence[edit]
Right at the beginning of "The Tunnel", Clarence and Sumo are watching a TV at the storefront of a TV shop. A wrestling program called "Aww Snap" is being broadcasted. The fighter on the right resembles Mario, while the one on the left wears a purple hat with a "P" emblem, resembling Waluigi's.
In "Escape from Beyond the Cosmic", when Jeff gives Clarence a piece of grass, the sound of an item coming out of a ? Block can be heard.
Class of 3000[edit]
In the episode Funky Monkey, a gorilla escapes from the class and takes refuge at the top of a construction site. Li'l D climbs the platforms to reach him as the gorilla throws barrels at him, Donkey Kong-style. Li'l D even uses a large mallet to knock the barrels away.
The Cleveland Show[edit]
In the episode "Brownsized", Donna gives an inspirational speech about Cleveland's job hunt. At one point, she mentions a gorilla of life throwing barrels at him, being too weak to jump and no sledgehammer in sight, which is an allusion to Donkey Kong.
In the episode "A Brown Thanksgiving", while the Browns are playing football, Rallo at one point jumps over Cleveland Brown Jr. in the same way that Mario jumps. Additionally, a coin appears over Cleveland Brown Jr.'s head, complete with the coin sound effect from Super Mario Bros. when Rallo collects the coin.
Clone High[edit]
In the 10th episode of MTV's short-lived animated series, JFK is playing a Game Boy in the back of a car as Abe Lincoln and Cleopatra are making out while trying to mourn the loss of his friend Ponce. As he is playing, JFK loses a life, causing him to say "Now Mario's dead! I'm killing everyone! ... Why couldn't Ponce have three lives like Mario?!"
Close Enough[edit]
In the episode "The Perfect Couple", Bridgette and Alex go to an arcade bar called "Mario and Brewigi".
Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island[edit]
The episode "Sir Nut-A-Lot" contains various parodies of the Super Mario franchise, including a game parody called "Super Chef Brothers", Slip and Slide dressed as Mario & Luigi, Mr. Greenrind dressed as Princess Peach, and a bonus level that's a parody of Donkey Kong.
Code Monkeys[edit]
Clarence's room can only be accessed through an orange Warp Pipe which sticks out from his ceiling.
In Season 1 Episode 1, titled "The Woz", when Mr. Larrity introduces himself to Dave and Jerry, they pass through environments that are graphically and architecturally very similar to World 1-2 and World 1-4 of Super Mario Bros. A Koopa Troopa-like turtle is also seen in this area, which Dave jumps on, sliding it under Jerry and Larrity and knocking them over; Clarence then disappears in a Warp Pipe. Later, when Black Steve shoots his gun at Dave and Jerry, an angry face can be seen on it akin to a Bullet Bill. A Shy Guy's mask also can be seen hanging on the wall in Steve Wozniak's office.
In Season 1 Episode 3, titled "Stonervision", the underwater room in the Stonervision headquarters looks a lot like the water levels from Super Mario Bros. A squid-shaped jellyfish also appears in this room, which is most likely a reference to Bloopers. Another Koopa Troopa-like turtle appears in the animal area of the Stonervision headquarters. Later, when Jerry tries to ask Mary out on a date, he tries to give her a flower that resembles a Fire Flower.
In Season 1 Episode 4, titled "Super Prison Breakout", a Bill Blaster appears, shooting prison inmates right into a wall. In the high security area, the warden says the reason why an inmate named Giovanni is in jail is because he murdered an ape who was trying to have a relationship with a woman; Giovanni's description and appearance significantly resembles Mario. When the camera scrolls down the GameaVision headquarters to Larrity and Dean, his son, at the vault room, a Koopa Troopa can be seen between the floor and the ceiling on a Warp Pipe.
In Season 1 Episode 6, titled "The Take Over", a fictional Japanese video game company by the name of "Protendo" visits GameaVision headquarters. When Dave ate one of the items that his eating competition mentor gave him, it causes him to grow a little bit bigger, somewhat like a Super Mushroom, with the accompanying sound playing every time he ate.
In Season 1 Episode 7, titled "Larrity's Got Back", a Banzai Bill-like bullet can be seen on Larrity's desk for $100.
In Season 1 Episode 8, titled "IPO", Dean's fake game "Super Mega Bro Bro" is a reference to Super Mario Bros. The style of the title name copies the game's original colors as well. Dave's robot Scoot-Scoot also looks similar to the Nintendo Entertainment System accessory R.O.B.
In Season 1 Episode 11, titled "Wrassle Mania", a dark-skinned Princess Peach lookalike can be found in the crowd at the strip club in the scene where Dave looks for Sergei.
In Season 1 Episode 13, titled "The Revenge of Matsui", the cover of Clarence's video game is a reference to the cover of Super Mario Galaxy, the name of Clarence's game is "U R MR GAY", alluding to the rumor surrounding Super Mario Galaxy's box art cover. A giant NES is seen on top of the Protendo headquarters building. When Benny is riding with Larrity, Benny is holding a sandwich full of coins from Super Mario Bros.
In Season 2 Episode 1, titled "The Story of 420", a parody PSA in the style of Donkey Kong 3 is shown. Also, the bushes in the background in the scene with the turnip patch are from Super Mario World.
In Season 2 Episode 2, titled "My Pal Jodie", a small Banzai Bill can be seen in the closed-up photograph on the attempted assassination right before the trial. A black-colored Princess Peach can also be seen as part of the cardboard-cutout jury.
In Season 2 Episode 3, titled "Psychological Problems", the select episode screen is a parody of the Super Mario Bros., Duck Hunt, and World Class Track Meet game select screens. At one point, Benny gains a Super Star from Super Mario Bros. and becomes Super Benny.
In Season 2 Episode 4, titled "Dave Gets Boobs", Jerry hands Dave a flower that resembles a lot like a Fire Flower.
In Season 2 Episode 9, titled "Trouble in the Middle East", Jerry and Mr. Larrity both go down a golden Warp Pipe to a gold room, in which a Zelda-style "puzzle solved" tone is heard. In the "Pee Dream" flashback dream, the toilet that Jerry runs to and cries in is a Warp Pipe. The desert background behind the jail is the same one in World 2 of Super Mario Bros. 3.
In Season 2 Episode 10, titled "Benny's Birthday", when Mr. Larrity states that Benny is seven, an "Ins Service" degree comes up with a signature on it saying "MARIO". When Benny is attacked by bears, he says "It's on like Donkey Kong, bitch."
In Season 2 Episode 11, titled "The Great Recession", when Dave is shown around the "Stink-E-Cheese", a parody of