Mama Mario: Difference between revisions

|image=[[File:TSMBM Mama Mario.png|260px]]<br>Mama Mario in ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]''

{{Quote2|When I tell you to run, I want you to run!|Mama Mario|</span>"[[Mama Mia Mario]]"<span>}}

'''Mama Mario''' (referred to as '''Mama''' and '''Mama Mia''' by her children, maiden name '''Rigassi''') is the mother of [[Mario]] and [[Luigi]] and a recurring minor character in the ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' franchise and its spin-offs, particularly in ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!]]'', where she was referenced throughout the television series' run and made two appearances in the live-action segments.

A version of Mario's mother made her first appearance in ''[[Super Mario Issun-bōshi]]''. ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' was responsible for the expansion of the character; to date it is the only source that has shown her face or explored her personality, developing her as a comically strict parental figure who ultimately cared very much for her boys. Though Mario and Luigi fear her temper and punishments on the show, both boys return their mother's love. Mama Mario's connection to Mario and Luigi's [[Papa Mario|father]] is unclear, but the two are shown to live with each other in all of Papa's appearances, and the fact that Mama has a maiden name implies that she is or was married.

Mama Mario's appearance is relatively inconsistent across the series: ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' portrayed her as a portly, masculine woman, while the ''[[Nintendo Comics System]]'' shows her as a dainty, blonde-haired, young woman. However, one consistency across all appearances, save "[[Mama Mia Mario]]" and ''The Super Mario Bros. Movie'', is the concealing of her face by objects and camera angles.  

"[[Super Mario Issun-bōshi]]," a retelling of the Japanese fairy tale, Issunboshi, featuring characters from the ''Super Mario'' series, marked the first appearance of the character. Though she did not speak, Mama and/or Papa's hands were visible during the montage of their son's young life and her feet, in slippers, were visible when Mario attempted to convince her to let him travel alone. Throughout Mama's remaining appearances, Mario and Luigi continued to refer to her as "Mama." Another tradition established by the original video animation was the concealment of Mama's face, which has continued throughout all ''Mario'' media with only one exception. In the story, when a shooting star flew over Mario's parents' house, Mario was miraculously born. However, he was small enough to fit in the palm of his father's hand, even after he grew older. His parents hesitated in letting their boy travel alone, but after much convincing they allowed him to leave.

[[File:MamaMiaMario.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Mama Mario, played by [[Lou Albano]], scolds [[Luigi]] for not opening the door.]]

When Mama Mario called [[Mario Brothers Plumbing]], Luigi picked up the telephone. He attempted to protest and explain Mama's complains as she her voice grew higher and higher. Listening into the call, Mario first suspected that the caller was complaining about the water heater that blew up the week before. After agreeing to let Mama come over, Luigi hung up and told Mario that it was worse: Mama was coming to visit. The two decided to clean up the apartment and lay out leafy [[vegetables]] in an attempt to hide their bachelor lifestyle.

[[File:NCS Mama Mario.jpg|thumb|200px|Mario's mama appeared much more feminine in "[[Family Album "The Early Years"]]."]]

[[File:Marioparents.PNG|left|thumb|200px|Mario and Luigi are discovered by their parents in ''[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]''.]]

At the end of ''[[Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island]]'', Mario and Luigi's mother made her first video game appearance. Only her lower half and hands are seen, and she is the smaller figure in the dress to the right, carrying Luigi. Once [[Yoshi]] rescues the [[stork]] and [[Baby Luigi]], the stork takes [[Baby Mario]] and Baby Luigi and continues on his way to deliver them to their parents. The video game's narration states that the boys' delivery has been "long awaited." Flying to a small, unnamed town surrounded by mountains where "mom and dad live," the stork leaves the bundles on the doorstep of a [[Mushroom]] house. The parents awake, turn on a light, open the door, and are pleasantly surprised to see their twins have arrived.

[[File:SMBPlumbing com BrosMom.png|thumb|100px|Profile picture of BrosMom on the Super Mario Bros. Plumbing website]]

In the movie, she is first mentioned by Luigi after he brags to [[Foreman Spike]] of their first plumbing call (a cheerful message from mom). She is then first seen having dinner with [[Mario]], [[Luigi]] and the rest of their family after the brothers return from their first disastrous job. While her husband is pessimistic about their career, she continues to show them support and affection. Mama and Papa Mario are later seen in the climax assisting how their children defeat the Koopa Troop, to later hug them in triumph.

On the promotional ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'' website [[The Super Mario Bros. Movie#SMBPlumbing.com|SMBPlumbing.com]], one of the fictional testimonials pertains to the Mario Bros.' mother, as indicated by the username '''BrosMom'''. This testimonial praises the [[Mario Brothers Plumbing|Super Mario Bros. Plumbing]] service, in contrast with those from users [[Foreman Spike|SpikeIsCool]] and [[BrKlyn Couple]], stating that "The Mario Bros. are the very best in the business! They’re polite, professional, adorable, and treated me like family!"<ref>[http://SMBPlumbing.com/testimonials Testimonials]. SMBPlumbing.com. Retrieved February 12, 2023. ([https://archive.ph/yrbJM Archived] February 12, 2023, 21:39:36 UTC via archive.today.)</ref>

In an interview for the Mario film, the movie directors stated that both the mother and father have their designs strongly resembling the design from Nintendo's unused materials.<ref name=Polygon>McWhertor, M. (April 8, 2023). "[https://www.polygon.com/23673074/mario-movie-family-members-dad-mom-uncles-aunt The Super Mario Bros. Movie drew on unused Nintendo designs to build out Mario’s family]". ''Polygon''. Accessed April 8, 2023</ref>

There have been multiple instances in which a character invokes Mario's mother in a general sense, rather than speaking of Mama's person, such as [[Rawk Hawk]]'s jab "Didn't your momma teach you any manners?!?" in ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]''. Another noteworthy case is in the German ''[[Club Nintendo (magazine)|Club Nintendo]]'' comic, "[[Super Mario in Die Nacht des Grauens]]", when a [[Abigor|demonically]] possessed Peach tells Mario that his mother scrubs toilets in [[hell]], in what can be taken as a {{wp|"Yo mama" joke|"your mother" joke}} and reference to a line in the 1973 film ''{{wp|The Exorcist}}''. Additionally, in the ''[[Super Mario Bros. (film)|Super Mario Bros.]]'' film, [[Luigi (film character)|Luigi]] jokingly says that [[Mario (film character)|Mario]] has been like a father and a mother to him, as their real parents died when he was still a baby and he was brought up by his brother.

''[[The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!]]'' introduces two characters known as [[Grandma Mario]] and [[List of Implied Characters#Grandma Mia|Grandma Mia]], though it is not revealed as to which one is Mama's mother or mother-in-law. The show also reveals that Mama has a pair of nieces named [[Marianne]] and [[Luigeena]], and two nephews called [[Mario Joe and Luigi Bob]], though like the two grandmothers, it is not known if they hail from Mama's or Papa's side of the family. The same goes for [[Aunt Luigeena]] and [[List of implied characters#Aunt Maria|Aunt Maria]] (who was mentioned in ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]''): either one could be a sister or a sister-in-law of Mama's. There is also an [[List of Implied Characters#Uncle Tony|Uncle Tony]] who is either her brother or brother-in-law.

In ''[[The Super Mario Bros. Movie]]'', the family is presented with more members living under the same roof, but aside from Mario, Luigi, and her husband, only two uncles are credited: Uncle Tony and [[Uncle Arthur]]. In an interview, the directors reveal them as brothers of her husband. Other family members seems to include a grandfather, Aunt Marie, and a niece, but nothing is said about who comes from her side of the family.<ref name=Polygon></ref>

|Ita=Mamma<br>Mamma Mario

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