Princess Toadstool for President

Princess Toadstool for President is the fifth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3; it aired alongside another episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 entitled "Never Koop a Koopa".

Plot Synopsis
Toad comes running out of his his house to find Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool, who are fishing at a pond, and warns them about how Bowser has brought a plague of Paragoombas to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Meanwhile, Bowser and Cheatsy wheel a cage full of Huge Paragoombas from Giant Land to the top of a hill. Bowser tells Cheatsy that he intends to have the Paragoombas eat up the local crops so that the Mushroom People will have no food and so that Princess Toadstool will be forced into giving him her kingdom in exchange for his food.

As soon as the Paragoombas are unleashed, Mario and Luigi arrive and try to tell Bowser to put the Paragoombas back in the cage, but Bowser throws the cage at them. Mario and Luigi manage to jump on the cage and make quick work of 4 of the Paragoombas, while the last 2 shut themselves in the cage. Princess Toadstool then confronts Bowser, telling him that if he's so desperate to rule her kingdom, that he should do it properly. She informs him of an upcoming election, and that he should run in it. That way, the citizens will be able to elect their next leader, and the loser will agree to leave the kingdom. Mario doubts that Bowser would actually enter the running, but Bowser surprises him by agreeing to Princess Toadstool's suggestion, and shakes her hand. Having returned to his throne room at Castle Koopa, Bowser whines to Cheatsy about how nobody in the Mushroom Kingdom would ever vote for him, because Princess Toadstool is a goody-two-shoes. Cheatsy suggests being nice, but Bowser claims that he's never been nice in his life, and that he's allergic to nice. Kooky enters and sprays his dad with a strange, blue chemical, which suddenly forces him to act nicely. Kooky explains that he has created a Nice Guy Potion, and with it, Bowser stands a chance against Princess Toadstool.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Princess Toadstool is giving a one-sided debate against Bowser, when Bowser and his kids arrive as a marching band. Bowser tosses Gold Coins out to everyone, telling them all to have a nice day. He then goes on to toss more freebies down to the Mushroom People from his Doomship. Back at Toad's House, Mario and Toad worry that all of Bowser's offerings will persuade people into voting for him, so Princess Toadstool plans to give a speech about what he's done in the past at the Mushroom Kingdom Founder's Day Picnic. Cheatsy and Kooky, who are spying on them through a window, realize that they need to deal with Princess Toadstool's plan. At the picnic, Princess Toadstool starts to give her speech, when Kooky sets off a firecracker, which hits a mountain of blocks, causing it to collapse. The blocks scare Princess Toadstool into falling off a cliff, but when Mario and Luigi go down to find her, they learn that she hid in a Warp Pipe.

Meanwhile, Bowser is sweet-talking to a baby, when he slowly stops acting nice. Kooky figures that the Nice Guy Potion is wearing off, so Bowser orders him and Cheatsy to return home and create some more before his final election speech. Mario and Luigi, who were spying on the Koopas, head after them.

Mario and Luigi soon arrive in Dark Land, where they are ambushed by Tanks and Rocky Wrenches. They escape into a Warp Pipe leading underground, but find themselves in a fire pit. In the pit, the brothers are chased around by Fire Chomps, Hot Foots and a Fire Snake, but they manage to avoid them and get to the other side. Mario and Luigi soon make it inside Castle Koopa, and arrive at the entrance to Kooky’s lab, where Kooky and Cheatsy are preparing more Nice Guy Potion. Luigi gets the Koopalings' attention by dropping a glass beaker on the floor, and they chase him out of the lab. While they’re gone, Mario walks into the lab and pours the Nice Guy Potion down the drain. Cheatsy and Kooky return to the lab without finding Luigi to see that the potion is gone. When Bowser finds out, he's furious, because the election is about to start.

After Princess Toadstool gives her final speech, Bowser is reluctant to give his, as he's still angry. Kooky and Cheatsy tell him to fake his way through his speech, so he attempts to do so. As he gives his speech, Princess Toadstool claims that he used a Nice Guy Potion to try and win the election. Bowser claims that he would never need such a potion to be nice, and threatens to pound anyone who opposes him into mush.

Afterwards, Mario reveals the final vote count, announcing that Princess Toadstool won by a landslide, and that Bowser only received one vote. When Bowser ponders as to why the only vote he received was his own, Cheatsy and Kooky explain that Princess Toadstool was so nice, that they had to vote for her. Bowser growls, and starts chasing his kids around.

Animation and Continuity errors

 * As Princess Toadstool tells Bowser that the election is coming up, there is a scenery background right in front of her where it shouldn't be.
 * If the Mushroom Kingdom is ruled by a true monarchy, then it would never have any primary elections; all leaders would be decided by birth.
 * In one scene when Cheatsy is helping Kooky make the nice guy potion, his entire face is green.
 * In Bowser's final speech, when he thanks the Mushroom People, nothing is in front of him, but after he is confronted with the Nice Guy Potion rumor, a mushroom is in front of him.
 * When Kooky holds the potion (when making another) his hands are similar to the King Koopa's.

Trivia

 * This is the first appearance of the Huge Paragoomba, which would much later make an official appearance in Super Mario Galaxy 2, almost 20 years later.
 * King Koopa is referred to as Bowser Koopa twice in this episode.
 * In the Swedish dub, when Bowser gets smacked by the kid, he says "Din jäv...", but abrupts himself. In Swedish, "jäv-" is the first part of a strong profane word.
 * From this episode onward, Mario has brown hair. Previously, his hair was black.
 * During the election result, Mario says 6,436,212 inhabitants voted for Princess Peach, and one for Bowser; meaning there are 6,436,213 inhabitants in the Mushroom Kingdom.