List of references in film

Due to the popularity of the Mario games, they have been commonly referenced in pop culture. Below is an incomplete list of times Mario or anything relating to the series has been mentioned or seen in a movie.

''3 Ninjas
In the first quarter of this Disney classic, the kids are seen sitting in front of a television set playing Super Mario Bros. 3 for the NES.

''500 Days of Summer
In one early scene, Donkey Kong can be heard in the background.

''The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl
In the Dream Graveyard, a picture of Bowser losing while playing Game Boy can be seen alongside an NES controller.

''Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker
When Alex goes to the toy store for gadgets, some DS games can be seen. The games are WarioWare: Touched!, Yoshi Touch & Go, Super Mario 64 DS, and Mario Kart DS.

''Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
In one scene, Alvin says to Ian, "It is on like Donkey Kong!"

''American Wedding
At one point, Stifler says "It's on like Donkey Kong".

''Beethoven
Ted plays Super Mario Bros. 3 on the NES.

''Billy Madison
During a scene in the lunchroom, Billy (played by Adam Sandler) and one of his first grade peers get into a debate over Mortal Kombat and Donkey Kong.
 * Kid: Mortal Kombat, on the Sega Genesis, is the best video game ever.
 * Billy: I disagree. It's a very good game, but I think Donkey Kong is the best game ever.
 * Kid: Donkey Kong sucks!
 * Billy: You know something? You suck!

''Diary of a Wimpy Kid
During the Halloween scene, when Greg starts a leaf blower, it makes a Bowser roar. Another scene has Rodney James playing Mario Kart DS on his Nintendo DS.

''Dooly the Little Dinosaur
The name Mario is mentioned in the middle of Michol's song, with Dooly costumed as Mario.

Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
At one point in the movie, the Once-ler makes a reference to Donkey Kong while speaking with Ted.

''Elmo's Alphabet Challenge
A parody of Super Mario Bros. was shown in this movie. The parody is called Super Mustachio. The game design looks a lot like New Super Mario Bros Wii. Also, the song that plays sounds like a vague parody of the theme from Super Mario Bros. There is also a parody of Mario Kart.

''The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
On the elevator to the race, Twinkie asks Sean what DK (Drift King) stands for, to which Sean replies "Donkey Kong?"

''Fanboys
The film starts out at a Halloween party where one of the guests is dressed up as Luigi. The main characters are later seen playing Mario Kart 64.

''Four Christmases
One of the characters played the game Donkey Kong.

''Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare
Soon after being sucked into a NES game by Freddy, Spencer enters a red colored Warp Pipe. Later on, in order to combat Freddy in the game, Spence eats a fruit (resembling the ones from Super Mario World) to power-up and become "Super Spencer".

Future Cops
At some point, Ti Man and Chun May enter in an Arcade version of Super Mario Bros.:
 * Ti Man wears a red cap with an "M" upside-down, similar to Mario's; Chun May wears the same in green, similar to Luigi's.
 * Ti Man wears a green shirt under blue overalls, similar to Luigi's; Chun May wears a red shirt similar to Mario's, with a blue skirt.
 * A man wearing a green cap, a right shirt, and blue overalls can be seen in the background.
 * There are Brick Blocks, Warp Pipes and ? Block with stars on them in the background.
 * A turtle tries to run into them but they jumped over it. Ti Man later says that if it bumps into a big character, he will become small again; that's what happens near the end.
 * The overworld theme from the game can be heard.
 * Ti Man hits a kind of ? Block à la Mario. However, he does so with his head, rather than with his fist.
 * When they smell flowers, they become big, the flower having the same effect as a Super Mushroom.
 * They get out of the arcade machine when the Time Limit reaches zero.

''Ghostbusters II
At one point, when Janine and Louis are babysitting Oscar, Louis suggests that they could play Super Mario Bros..

''Gremlins
The second scene showing the new batch of Gremlins has the Coleco Donkey Kong machine being played by Stripe. On it is Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline.

''Hitch
In one scene, an ice-cream truck has a Mario ice-cream pop.

''Hot Tub Time Machine
When Adam, Nick, Jacob and Lou pan over the stuff from the 80s, a poster for Super Mario Bros. is seen.

Indie Game: The Movie
The film sometimes shows footage of the original Super Mario Bros.. Also, the Mario series itself is often referenced.

''Inspector Gadget
When Gadget discover he has tools on is figures, his face resembles Donkey Kong.

''The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters
This film is a 2007 documentary based around the classic 1981 arcade Donkey Kong. The film revolves around an unassuming high school teacher named Steve Wiebe and his struggle to attain the world's highest score in Donkey Kong. After being obsessed with the game for many years, Steve is suddenly thrust into the competition for the world's high score. He runs afoul of the current record-holder, Billy Mitchell, a successful entrepreneur.

Steve Wiebe actually plays the game Donkey Kong, but he plays it in a Donkey Kong Jr. cabinet.

''Leprechaun: In the Hood
A Nintendo 64 box with a picture of Mario on it can be seen in the background of Jackie Dee's store.

''Marley & Me
John Grogan mentions that before he went into college, he had no expectations for himself, having spent his time doing bong hits (inhaling marijuana through a bong) and playing Donkey Kong.

''The Master of Disguise
After the credits it is revealed that a midget dressed up as Mario, minus the cap, and sporting a mustache (refered to as the Slapping Dummy Man) has been controlling the "Slapping Dummy".

''Megamind
In the scene where Megamind (disguised as "Space Dad") is training the newly created "Tighten", Minion is seen stomping in place at the top of a construction site throwing flaming barrels down at Tighten, who jumps over them, trying to get to the top of a 25m-like stage.

''Paul
In a brief shot with Ruth in the RV, an SNES with Super Mario World in the cartridge slot can be seen.

''Paul Blart: Mall Cop
Acording to IMDB, Super Mario Galaxy can be seen in one of the stores.

''Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief
When the heroes go to Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, a Mario Bros. arcade cabinet can be seen among other arcades.

Rock of Ages
Dennis has a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet in his office. At one point early in the film, Lonny plays it briefly. When he loses, he shouts "Nobody puts Donkey in the corner!".

''Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Young Neil is playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on his Nintendo DS at one point (but it can only be heard). As in the graphic novel the film is based on, the band Scott plays in is named "Sex Bob-omb", and Super Mario 64 was the inspiration for the star-emblazoned doors that Ramona uses to enter subspace (similar to Super Mario Bros. 2).

''Son of the Mask
In the car, Tim Avery was playing Mario Kart: Super Circuit as Luigi.

''Spy Kids: All the Time in the World
In one scene, Tick Tock enters the hall with gears including one of them that resembles a gear-shaped platform of New Super Mario Bros. Wii, where Cecil Wilson bumped his head on.

''Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo
Super Mario Bros. can be seen in the background of the arcade.

The Tooth Fairy
Near the start, Derek describes his muscles as,"Hammer Bros.", like the enemies.

The Toxic Avenger Part II
One of the villains the Toxic Avenger fights in Japan is a man dressed like Mario.

''Tron: Legacy
A Mario Bros. cabinet can be seen at the arcade. Also, music from Donkey Kong can be heard as Sam approaches the Tron cabinet.

''Wendy Wu: Homecoming Warrior
Jessica Dawson's roar resembles Bowser's roar.

''Wild Child
At the beginning of the Le Cross match, Poppy states "This is on like Donkey Kong."

''The Wizard
Super Mario Bros. 3 is featured as the game played in the final event of the Video Armageddon competition at the end of the film. As the scene progresses, protagonist Jimmy Woods manages to find the Warp Whistle in the World 1 Fortress and wins the competition by warping to World 4 (which wouldn't actually score extra points in the game itself; the competition probably has a different scoring system). Curiously, the audience becomes immediately aware of how the game is played, despite the fact that at the time of the film's release, the game would not be available for another three months. Additionally, the emcee at the Video Armageddon announces several level names incorrectly (for instance, calling level 1-3 "World 2"). Super Mario Bros. 2 is mentioned and seen being played occasionally at earlier points in the film. Sound effects from Super Mario Bros. can be heard at a few points as well. Mario was prominently featured in the background of the film's poster artwork (which was later reused as the box art for the VHS release).

Wreck-It Ralph
The video game-inspired Wreck-It Ralph appropriately includes cameos by many video game characters, including Bowser, who appears alongside several other antagonists as part of a "Bad Guys Anonymous" group, wherein villains lend each other moral support and promote the acceptance of their somewhat difficult roles in the games. While Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad do not appear in the movie, Mario is mentioned by name when Felix hears the doorbell at his party and remarks "I'll bet that's Mario! Fashionably late, per the norm." Later, while Ralph is looking through the Lost & Found, he comes across a Super Mushroom; however, he swiftly discards it.

The Mario series is also indirectly referenced a number of times. When Felix is hit by a piece of falling ceiling, he jumps up, spins once than falls with his legs up, similar to Mario's death animation in Donkey Kong. The game that Ralph and Felix hail from, Fix-It Felix, Jr., seems to be based on the original Donkey Kong in overall design, with Donkey Kong 3-like gameplay aspects as well (like Fix-It Felix bearing a passing resemblance to Stanley the Bugman), and with Donkey Kong Jr. inspiring the name. Furthermore, the gameplay of Sugar Rush bears some resemblance to the Mario Kart series, such as players potentially stalling out if they botch a boost at the beginning of the race, and how they drive through sugar cubes to acquire cartoon weapons to use against other racers. The title card for Sugar Rush even has what appears to be Nintendo's logo. In the movie's credits, at one point the characters (now shown in 8-bit form) move around collecting floating medals, recalling coin-filled rooms in classic Mario platformers, and in another scene, they exit an area via a large grey Warp Pipe-like structure.

In a scene set in the Game Central Station in the movie, two characters resembling Peach (or Rosalina) and Daisy can be seen in the background.

In an interview, director Rich Moore stated that if a sequel to Wreck-It Ralph gets produced, he intends to give Mario an actual role.

The Wrong Ferarri, A Screwball Tragedy
This postmodern indie film by Moldy Peaches vocalist Adam Green features a scene early on in which Adam, after a successful audition for "Nintendo Records," is informed personally by Mario and Luigi that he will be taking Mario's place in the Mario series as "Awesome Adam." Throughout the remainder of the movie, Mario motifs such as Mushrooms and ? Blocks are used to represent the subplot exploring Adam's life as a videogame character. The film is notable for featuring ex-Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin in a number of roles, one of them being Luigi.

''Yogi Bear
During the credits, there is an animated segment which depicts silhouettes of Yogi, Boo Boo and Ranger Smith running around in a Super Mario Bros.-inspired setting.