The Legend of Zelda (television series)

The Legend of Zelda was a short-lived television series chronicling the adventures of Link, Princess Zelda and Ganon in Hyrule, which was based off the first two The Legend of Zelda games for the Nintendo Entertainment System. While the series is unrelated to the Mario franchise, it was part of the same syndication package as the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and, as with the Mario cartoons, was produced by DiC Entertainment.

While The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was broadcast five days a week, Mario cartoons only aired from Monday through Thursday. The Legend of Zelda, still accompanied by live-action segments with Mario and Luigi, aired on Friday.

Towards the end of the live-action segments that aired on Monday through Thursday, Mario, Luigi, and/or the guest star would speak out to the audience to promote that week's The Legend of Zelda episode, showing a preview consisting of scenes from the upcoming episode.

As the characters in the live-action segments are aware of the The Legend of Zelda cartoon, the animated series itself actually exists in the overall Mario series.

Trivia

 * The episode "Stars in Their Eyes" of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! has aliens known as the Quirks singing the theme song of The Legend of Zelda near the episode's end. Similarly, The Legend of Zelda episode "Doppelganger" depicts Link humming the Super Mario Bros. theme while practicing with his sword.
 * According to Mario, The Legend of Zelda is Mama Mario's favorite show.
 * Both this and The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! have the "Do the Mario" theme song for the credits. However, in the Cartoon Network UK version of the show, it had its own lyrical theme song.