The Wheel Thing

"The Wheel Thing" is the second episode of the Super Mario World television series.

Plot
While relaxing in front of the Dome Castle, Mario and Luigi watch as the people of Dome City painstakingly move various rocks and boulders. Feeling sorry for the cave people, Luigi and Mario try to think of a way to help them; after some brainstorming, Mario comes up with an idea.

Inside the Dome Castle, Mario and Luigi are hard at work producing various wooden wheels, as Kooky von Koopa looks on. After getting an idea, Kooky runs off while Mario and Luigi begin to transport the wheels they constructed outside. Outside, Mario runs into two cave people, Ugga and Ooga. He then proceeds to hand some wheels over to the two. The two cave people, not understanding what to do with the wheels, wear them as hats, much to Mario's dismay.

While Mario tries to explain the concept of wheels to Ugga and Ooga, Luigi approaches the nearby, napping Yoshi, who proceeds to eat the wheel Luigi was carrying. After burning some holes into some wheels with a Fire Flower, Mario, using a wooden rod and stone slab, manages to make a stone skateboard.

Hopping on this skateboard, Luigi zooms around several amazed cave people. An overly-excited Yoshi ends up hopping on Luigi's back, wanting a ride. This added weight causes Luigi to crash, Yoshi to fall to the ground and the skateboard to be flung into the air; as the skateboard begins to fall to the ground, Yoshi happily gobbles it up, proclaiming "Ohhh, is good!"

A while later, Mario begins to show Princess Toadstool his recently constructed car factory. Utilizing things such as Fishbones and Piranha Plants, Mario, with the help of Yoshi and the cave people, has managed to construct several Goomba-powered cars; despite Mario continually stating that his cars are a good idea, Princess Toadstool is still somewhat worried.

After having created several dozen cars, Mario decides to take a nap, only to be awoken several minutes later by a run over Luigi. Luigi explains to Mario that the cave people have no idea how to drive and that the accidents are piling up, quite literally. Mario simply brushes-off Luigi's claims, saying that the cave people will "Catch on".

In the bowels of Neon Castle, Kooky von Koopa begins construction of what he calls his "most monstrous invention ever!". Kooky proceeds to begin welding with a Dino-Torch while laughing maniacally.

After some disastrous traffic management, a battered Luigi approaches Mario saying that the city is in a state of disarray. After a particularly bad accident, the angry people of Dome City, blaming Mario and Luigi for all the trouble that has been happening, banish the two to the Lava Pits.

Outside the walls of Dome City, Kooky reveals his newest invention to King Koopa: the Mega Mechanasaur, a fire-breathing weapon of mass destruction. Boarding the Mega Mechanasaur, Kooky and Koopa proceed to rampage through Dome City, which is now defenseless without Mario and Luigi. A panicking Ooga proceeds to ask Princess Toadstool's help in getting Mario and Luigi back.

Meanwhile in the Lava Pits, Mario and Luigi are trying, quite unsuccessfully, to cook a pizza over a fire. As Luigi cooks the pizza, Mario gets a Morse-code message from Princess Toadstool, asking the Mario Bros. to come back and beat King Koopa and Kooky. As Mario and Luigi try and think of a way to get back to Dome City, a Blargg, attracted by the smell of the pizza, attacks the two. As Luigi runs from the Blargg, Mario, using a trampoline, manages to get a Cape Feather and transform into Cape Mario. In his new form, Mario grabs Luigi and flies up a nearby Warp Tube and back into Dome City.

Through the use of some "log speed-bumps", fireball-shooting stop-lights and a pot-hole-digging Yoshi, Mega Mechanasaur is destroyed and Kooky and Bowser are forced to flee.

A celebration is thrown by the cave people in Mario and Luigi's honor. As the two Mario Bros. are happily welcomed back to Dome City, the two decide to stave-off inventing things for the cave people for "a few thousand years".

Quotes

 * "Behold our cave mobile assembly line, Princess! We're on a roll. The cave people are gonna have wheels before you can say Henry Ford!" - Mario
 * "Thank you, Marios. You've inspired me to create my most monstrous invention ever!" - Kooky von Koopa
 * "Wow, and I thought I was hungry all the time!" - Mario
 * "Your turn as traffic cop, mister fender-bender. If only Yoshi would stop nibbling on the stop signs! It's a nightmare out there! Yeesh!" - Luigi

Characters

 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Princess Toadstool
 * Yoshi
 * Kooky von Koopa
 * King Koopa
 * Ugga
 * Ooga

Cast

 * Walker Boone &mdash; Mario
 * Tony Rosato &mdash; Luigi
 * Andrew Sabiston &mdash; Yoshi
 * Tracey Moore &mdash; Princess Toadstool
 * John Stocker &mdash; Ogga, dinosaur
 * Dan Hennessey &mdash; Agga, singer #3, caveman #1
 * Michael Stark &mdash; Kooky von Koopa, singer #1, caveman #2
 * Harvey Atkin &mdash; King Bowser Koopa
 * Stuart Stone &mdash; singer #2

Animation and continuity errors

 * When Luigi asks Mario, "Does that mean what I 'tink' it means?", Mario’s overalls and shirt are red.
 * When Luigi first shows Yoshi some wheels, the latter's arms are white. Also, several shots in the episode accidentally have the "L" on Luigi's cap colored white on a black background.
 * Yoshi's eyes shift in size throughout the episode
 * Unlike the previous show, Kooky's snout was the same color as the rest of his body.
 * When Princess Toadstool asks Mario, "It even has a horn?", her eyebrows change color.
 * When Mario tries to hit the ? Blocks, there are five of them, the fourth containing a Cape Feather, however, when Mario hits the Cape Feather block, there are six blocks instead of five.
 * After the cave people use the wheels as hats, Mario has an "L" on his cap.
 * When Mario tosses the fireball from the Fire Flower Luigi gave him, he says "Auuggh!", his voice is from King Koopa.
 * When Mario says, "Gimme some of that prehistoric prod!", as he starts walking, the "M" on his cap disappears.

Profiles

 * WildBrain - Cartoon Super Heroes/Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - WildBrain: Mario "invents" the wheel, and the Cave People discover traffic jams and fender benders. Frustrated, they banish Mario and Luigi to Lava Land. Then Kooky van Koopa builds a gigantic "Big Foot" drawn by evil dinosaurs which King Koopa uses to terrorize the hopelessly gridlocked Cave People until Mario and Luigi escape and come to the rescue.

Trivia

 * After being absent from "Fire Sale", this is King Koopa's first appearance in the Super Mario World series.
 * This is the only Super Mario World episode where Kooky has a speaking role.