LogFAQs > #906459873

GeneralKenobi85 posted...

I'm curious, what would your idea for a Super Mario Bros. movie be?

That depends on my level of creative control. Super Mario RPG is my favorite Mario entry from a thematic standpoint and I've always preferred the character to be more like Popeye than Mickey Mouse. But if Nintendo mandated that I go the Charles Martinet route and place Mario in a world full of bright colors and smiling faces, I'd have no choice but to acquiesce.

With creative control, I'd be looking at more of a "dark" fairy tale. Visually, I'm thinking something along the lines of Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. The protagonists would be optimistic and likable, but the stakes would be real. And Bowser would be a no-nonsense foe; a reptilian devil with a mouth full of sharp teeth and a temper to match. Bowser's minions, with the exception of a duo of characters designated for comedic relief, would be like fairy tale goblins or mythic creatures. Most of them would never speak. Mario would be a blind optimist and a born adventurer. Luigi, the less static of the two characters, would be more of a realist. He wouldn't be a coward, but he would be more cautious and always opting to keep out of things. Still, he'd follow along out of loyalty, mostly to protect Mario from his own overconfidence, and to see how things pan out in a strange bit of confidence in his brother.

Now, if I had to go the established route, Mario is Mickey Mouse and we try and give him what depth we can, Luigi is a comic coward, Bowser is something of a comic buffoon, and Peach and Toad are still likely at my discretion since they never stick with a given characterization anyway. I'd probably make Peach the unofficial star of the film and play up the strong girly character troupe. And I'd try to make Bowser as competent of a foe as I could within the given framework. He'd be someone we'd laugh at and think an idiot, but he would defeat Mario at some point prior to the film's final confrontation. The overall tone would probably be something more along the lines of Frozen meets Alice in Wonderland. It wouldn't be as good, but falling short of the best is still a lot better than what we got back in 1993.

Either way, I'd want the end credits to feature "behind the scenes" footage of the "actors" preparing for their parts. This would signal that, right or wrong, the movie is nothing but an adaptation and should have no bearing on how the game series plays out going forward. So if Miyamoto thinks my interpretation of Bowser is too dark or that this was another case of making a movie about again rather than adapting a game, it is just what it is: the characters participating in a movie.