The Bird! The Bird!

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"The Bird! The Bird!"
Production number	101
Airdate	September 4, 1989 (English) September 3, 1990 (French)
Writer(s)	Bruce Shelly Reed Shelly
Plumber's Log #	1 - 0 - 1
Cover song(s)	"Surfin' Bird"
Replacement song(s)	"Life Of A Dog" "Motor City"
Live-action segment	"Neatness Counts"
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This article is about The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode called "The Bird! The Bird!". For the VHS of the same name, see The Bird! The Bird! (VHS).

"The Bird! The Bird!" is the first episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! and the series premiere of DIC Entertainment's Super Mario cartoon trilogy. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Neatness Counts." The copyrighted title for the episode in the United States Copyright Office is "The Birds, the bird". This episode was adapted for the Super Mario Bros. 2 set of View-Master reels, with the illustrations consisting of repurposed stock art of the characters, with Wart being used in place of King Koopa, though the pictures' captions still refer to him as such.

Plot synopsis

The Giant Birdo giving one of her slobber-filled kisses to Toad.

Having recently rescued Princess Toadstool from King Koopa, Mario, Luigi, Toad and the Princess begin their search for something that can rid the Mushroom Land of King Koopa and his followers and return Mario and Luigi back to Brooklyn. Traveling through the Land of Ice, Mario and Luigi lead the way through the path while Toad pulls Princess Toadstool on a sleigh. As the group travels onward, they are followed by a near-sighted Giant Birdo who continues to crash into things. Suddenly, the Giant Birdo swoops downward and grabs Toad and begins to fly away, saying that she has found her baby, Cheepy.

As the Giant Birdo flies away with Toad, Princess Toadstool asks Mario and Luigi go save Toad, who has been brought to the highest mountain in the area. Undaunted by the size of the mountain, Mario, along with Princess Toadstool, set off, leaving a hesitant Luigi behind; eventually, after hearing there are polar bears in the area, Luigi decides it would be best to go with Mario and the Princess.

Arriving at her home, the Giant Birdo drops Toad in a crib and crash lands into the house herself. Grabbing Toad, the Giant Birdo begins to give him kiss after kiss, saying how much she missed her "Cheepy". Ignoring Toad's claims that he is not Cheepy, the Giant Birdo roughly throws Toad into the crib and grabs the nearby, ringing phone. Answering the phone, the Giant Birdo says it is the "Missing Bird Bureau" and proceeds to tell the caller they can call-off the search for Cheepy, saying she already found him. Approaching Toad, who has begun to climb out of the crib, the Giant Birdo tries to hug and kiss him; not wanting another one of the Giant Birdo's slobbery kisses, he begins trying to run away, with the Giant Birdo chasing him.

Down below, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool have started their trek up the mountain, when suddenly, the ground below them splits, creating a large fissure. As Luigi and the Princess begin to bemoan Toad's fate, Mario, not giving up, tries to jump the fissure and succeeds. Next, the Princess jumps the crack and then Luigi, who almost falls, is quickly grabbed by the Princess. Mario, Luigi and the Princess then continue to travel up the mountain, unaware that they're being watched by a Flurry named Flaky and his accomplice, who, using skis, leave to inform King Koopa of the Mario group's presence in the area.

At a frozen ice palace, Flaky and his Flurry friend tell what they saw to King Koopa, while bombarding him with pleasant comments; after hearing the Flurries' story, King Koopa, after telling the Flurries to "lick his feet", uses a radio to contact his Koopa Troopers - a gang of Albatosses, led by one with a radio receiver on its head - to begin their attack.

At the Giant Birdo's house, Toad is in the process of being force-fed from a bottle by the Giant Birdo. After getting the bottle out of his mouth, Toad starts trying to explain that he cannot be the Giant Birdo's baby, as he doesn't have wings or feathers and can't fly. Oblivious to Toad's comments, the Giant Birdo starts to kiss Toad repeatedly, only to remember that it's time for "Cheepy"'s flying lesson.

Still climbing the mountain, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool are suddenly ambushed by an Albatoss, who drops a Bob-Omb in front of them. Reacting quickly, Mario throws the Bob-Omb into the air, causing it to hit an Albatoss, knocking it out of the sky. Unfortunately, more Albatosses appear and begin to drop more Bob-Ombs, which the group easily knock aside. Suddenly, a group of Albatosses drop some Bob-Ombs on a nearby ledge, causing an explosion which triggers an avalanche, forcing the Mario Brothers and the Princess to fearfully flee.

Running from a wave of snow and debris, the brothers and the Princess take shelter in a house half-submerged in snow. Unfortunately, the trio become trapped in the house, as the snow blocks the door, the only way out. Up above, Toad is being carried through the air by the Giant Birdo; after unsuccessfully trying to bribe the Giant Birdo to let him go, Toad learns the Giant Birdo's plans on soon dropping him so he can fly on his own.

In the snowed-in house, Princess Toadstool suddenly sees a Fire Flower and points it out to Mario, who plans on eating it. The Princess goes on to explain to Mario that the Fire Flower will give him superpowers that he can use to help them escape. Having Luigi give him a boost, Mario reaches the Fire Flower and uses it to become Super Mario and begins to use his fireballs to melt the snow keeping him, Luigi and the Princess trapped.

Koopa awards his Albatosses.

In his ice palace, King Koopa is in the middle of awarding his Albatoss minions medals for getting rid of Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool when he is suddenly approached by Flaky and his companion, who say that the Mario group survived the avalanche. Bowser, infuriated, violently grabs the medals he gave to the Albatosses and says that he'll have to come up with another plan.

On the mountain, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool, having escaped, stop to rest, only to discover a baby Birdo frozen in a block of ice. Using his fireballs, Mario manages to release the Birdo from the block of ice it's frozen in; the Birdo, once released, begins to shout for its mother, who Princess Toadstool surmises must be the Birdo that took Toad as she wraps the baby Birdo with her cloak, meaning the Birdo they just rescued is the missing Cheepy.

In the sky, the Giant Birdo, judging that she has brought Toad up high enough, suddenly drops him, expecting him to fly. Plummeting to the ground, Toad suddenly gets the idea to use his mushroom cap as a parachute and, after a rough landing, falls right into Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Cheepy's campsite. Seeing Cheepy, Toad recognizes him as the Giant Birdo's child; after being asked where the Giant Birdo is now by the Princess, Toad says that he is not going near the Giant Birdo, but is forced to change his mind when Cheepy begins to cry for his mother.

The Koopa Troopas and Flurries surround the heroes.

Deciding that Toad and the Princess should take Cheepy to the Giant Birdo, the Mario Brothers stay behind to distract King Koopa, who has appeared riding a snowmobile, with several dozen Koopa Troopas and Flurries following him. Blasting the Flurries with fireballs, Mario is eventually regressed back to his regular form when a Bob-Omb tossed by an Albatoss explodes near him. Before they can react, Mario, Luigi and Princess Toadstool are surrounded by Koopa Troopas and Flurries.

The Giant Birdo assists Mario and Toad.

Before King Koopa can order his minions to attack, though, he is suddenly bombarded with Turnips thrown by Toad, who is being carried through the air by the Giant Birdo. Calling a retreat, King Koopa and his minions begin to flee. Unfortunately for them, the Giant Birdo is not finished with them and, picking up Mario, has him and Toad begin to throw more vegetables at King Koopa and his troops. Koopa zooms off on his snowmobile, saying the heroes have not seen the last of him.

With the threat of King Koopa gone, the Giant Birdo, as thanks for finding Cheepy, decides to invite Mario and his friends to dinner at her house. At the Giant Birdo's house, though, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad quickly leave after learning that the dinner they are being served are large, talking worms.

Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• King Koopa
• Cheepy
• Giant Birdo
• Flurries
• Flaky
• Bob-Ombs
• Albatosses
• Koopa Troopas
• Worm

Cast

• Lou Albano - Mario
• Danny Wells - Luigi
• Jeannie Elias - Princess Toadstool, Cheepy, Giant Birdo
• John Stocker - Toad, Flurry
• Harvey Atkin - King Koopa

Quotes

• "Come on Flaky, let's tell King Koopa so we can put 'em on ice for good." - Flurry
• "I gotta get outta here!" - Toad
• "Watch it, soldier. When I want my feet licked, I'll ask for it! ...I want my feet licked." - King Koopa
• "Spaghetti? We're not spaghetti, we're worms." - Worm

Animation and continuity errors

• Throughout the episode, Toad's clothes are miscolored, including a red cap with white spots instead of white with red spots, resembling the Super Mushroom's design starting with Super Mario World. This would continue until "Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid". This design would later be used for Super Toad in The Fire of Hercufleas.
• When Princess Toadstool feels sorry for Toad, her brooch has its colors reversed.
• In several scenes, Princess Toadstool's brooch is missing.
• When the Giant Birdo hugs Toad when the phone rings, her right arm is the same color as Toad's pants.
  • In the same scene, there is a purple book on the table, but in the next shot, it is orange.
    • Additionally, the phone switches direction when the camera changes.
• When Mario jumps across the gap, his friends are briefly layered on top of him.
• When Luigi runs back for his jump, he disappears into the snow instead of behind it.
• In a scene that shows Mario, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool walking up a mountain, Mario's "M" is white.
• When Mario and Luigi attempt to keep the door closed in the cave during the avalanche, Princess Toadstool's glitches until the snow bursts through the door.
• When Toad says he has ten gold coins, he speaks through the Giant Birdo's mouth.
• When the Flurries report to King Koopa about Mario and his friends, one of them can be seen to be landing in midair.
• When Luigi says, "What is that thing?", he speaks through Princess Toadstool's mouth.
• When Toad notices Cheepy, Cheepy's eyes are mostly closed.
• When Mario and his friends are surrounded by the Koopa Troopa, some of the Koopa Troopas have a green stripe on their underbelly.
• When Mario and Toad are dropping Turnips as they head over to the Giant Birdo's house, Toad's shoes are brown like Mario's instead of white.

Profiles

• Netflix: It's a serious case of mistaken identity when a Giant Birdo thinks Toad is her missing baby and tries to claim him as her own.
• Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play and Pluto TV: While venturing in a snowy world, Toad is kidnapped by a nearsighted Birdo who is convinced that he is her missing baby.
• The Bird! The Bird! VHS/The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! - Volume One DVD: While crossing the Land of Ice, Toad gets kidnapped by a Giant Birdo who thinks the Mushroom is her missing baby.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Finnish	Lintu	Bird
French	Ne fais pas l'oiseau	Don't act like a bird
German	Der Vogel! Der Vogel!	The Bird! The Bird!
Hebrew	ארץ הקרח Eretz HaKerach	The Land of Ice
Italian	Vola! Vola!	Fly! Fly!
Portuguese	O Pássaro! O Pássaro!	The Bird! The Bird!
Russian	Птица! Птица! Ptitsa! Ptitsa!	The Bird! The Bird!
Spanish	¡Vuela! ¡Vuela!	Fly! Fly!

Trivia

• The scarf and earmuffs that Mario and Luigi wear in this episode were later reused in "Little Red Riding Princess".