How could a Mario cartoon work these days?

S

Sherri R

New member
Inspired by a thought of mine in another thread, I thought it'd be interesting to have as a full topic.

Anyhow, yeah, Mario isn't quite as popular as he was during the apex of the early 90's, but honestly? I think it's a shame there isn't a new Mario cartoon on TV these days, since I feel the series now has a lot of potential to be a good 'toon.

For one thing, they have enough characters, places and even story inspiration -the Paper/RPG games being one- for plots, instead of relying on movie parodies and ridiculous 'back to Brooklyn' plots (especially since the whole Brooklyn thing has essentially been retconned away thanks to Yoshi's Island 1 and 2 especially) as a crutch.

And the best part is that there'd be no need for any Oogtar-like characters, though I'd guess that Bowser Jr. would suffice on the bad guy side of things. And you've got characters like Daisy and Rosalina (who'd appeal to the girls), Waluigi (comic foil), Professor E. Gadd, Donkey and Diddy Kong and even recurring bad guys like King Boo, Fawful and *winces* Petey Piranha to kinda make it so that Bowser isn't always the villain of the day, so to speak.

Maybe split the show in half with one half being Mario-themed and the other being a 'Wario Ware' segment, or one that has brief, 5 minute stories of Wario's gang in Diamond City. I say 3-5 minutes, since it'd be true to the spirit of the whole 'micro-games' motif of the games themselves.

I dunno, I think it could work if given to the right people. With Nintendo have a semi-renaissance of sorts, I think it's amazing they haven't done more to market their properties outside of games and candy knick-knacks.
 
Nowadays, there really isn't a market for cartoons based off of video game characters. Mostly due to the fact that games have become more of a cinematic experience than cartoons ever where.

With that being said, something similar to the Sonic the Hedgehog OVA would be great, IMO.
 
I think Mario is just as popular as he was during the 90's, if his high game sales are any indication.

However, I also don't think that there's currently any real market for a video game-based cartoon on television, especially one of Mario's caliber. Games have become so cinematic themselves that pretty much any small-screen adaptations would be a letdown by comparison.
 
True, but the Mario games never really struck me as 'cinematic', whereas games like Halo, Final Fantasy or Mass Effect are. Hence why I think there's the potential for a new Mario 'toon, but yeah, I think the market is what's preventing it from becoming a reality.
 
If the Kirby, Pokemon, and F-Zero animes are any indication, if they made a new Mario show now, he most likely wouldn't be the star of his own show.

Another Mario cartoon made in the States would be good if Nintendo could corrall some top-grade writers familiar with the source that won't stage every conflict like it was a Pokemon battle.
 
It's also worth noting that, for the most part, Nintendo seems dead set against allowing Mario to really talk. Sure he says some random lines during his games, but for the most part he's mute. I don't see Nintendo changing their policy anytime soon.

Plus, you've got Miyamoto, who is totally opposed to allowing his properties to be adapted.
 
I'm not entirely sure about that. Kirby and the Pokemon (except for Meowth) don't speak. It's no easy task to develop a non-verbal character into a fully rounded personality, especially when said character is surrounded by characters who do speak. Accomplishing such a task isn't impossible, mind you, but it does present the writer(s) with a challenge.

Mario, by contrast, is capable of full speech (Mario spoke in all of his previous TV adaptations), so it would be easier to develop him as a genuine personality. One problem that I would see with developing a Mario series is that the main character is an adult, not a spunky kid or a hip teenager. I would hope that the producers of a Mario centered series wouldn't try something lame like stick the Italian plumber in the "real world" and have him hanging out with 2 kids an a dog.
 
Actually, having Mario in minor non-speaking roles would be great. Tell various stories about all the bizarre characters and creatures around the mushroom kingdom and just sort of intertwine it with whatever Mario is up to, giving him minimal dialog. Luigi can be the talker.
 
MamaForker.JPG
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/0/05/MamaForker.JPG that mama luigi to you
 
To be honest, I don't think Mario is nearly as popular as he was in the late 80's to early 90's. Just by going by sales of the Mario titles alone I would say that he is kind of lost in the shuffle as far as video game characters go, it's sad. Super Mario 2 sold something like 8 million copies, Super Mario 3 was once (and maybe still is) the top selling (non packaged) video game of all time at almost 20 million copies, now, from what I heard, Super Mario Sunshine (GC) and Super Mario Galaxies (Wii) only sold in the neighborhood of about 2-3 million copies each. Also, there does not seem to be much Mario merchendise on the shelves these days, besides a short lived action figure line and a few nostalgic items, but back in the day Mario was so mainstream they took a poll in 1989 and Mario was as recognizable as Mickey Mouse or Hulk Hogan to kids/teens (read that in the "Ultimate History of Video Games). But as far as a television show goes, I don't think it would do very well and would probably be short lived. I just don't see the stories being good and it would be based on more of the current Mario titles, which have long lost that classic Mario feel and plot. But in hindsight, maybe thats what would bring it success? I don't know, but I wouldn't hold my breath for a new Mario cartoon, but I always wondered why they never made a newer Zelda cartoon, the series is still very popular and right around the time that Zelda 64 was released back in late 1998 would have been a perfect time to create one.
 
I would love to see a new Mario toon modernized to match the current games. I always figured maybe if they took some of the mythos from the games and gave it a spin or something, but not connect everything so it wouldn't become cluttered and confusing.

Like say, make some connection between Star Road, Rosalina, and the Star Spirits. They all share a common theme, and could create some amazing backstories and conflict when they approach that area.

As for sharing a spot light, I would hope it doesn't go beyond sharing the role with the original 4 (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad or maybe Yoshi since Toad's role has been reduced in the last generation). If they really wanted to use a youthful character to connect with the audience, there's always some partners from the RPG series. Goombario, Koops, the Yoshi Kid, Watt, or Lakilester. They're all young and familiar, so we wouldn't have to deal with a Chris Thorndyke or a Rick Wheeler.

A WarioWare mini-series would be hilarious, especially if we actually get to see Wario ripping off his customers. Beyond that, it seems that cast has actual lives beyond mini-games so it could work. I think someone actually made a flash WarioWare cartoon, but I haven't seen it in years.
 
I would love to see a serious theatrical release of an animated Mario movie.

I wouldn't mind the movie having 3d animation like the Mario Sunshine and Galaxy cutscenes. However, it would be nice if the film was done on a Pixar budget.

I would love for them to keep the story focused on the main five characters (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad & Bowser) ...and perhaps some of the more popular villians/allies (Wario, DK & King Boo).

I also hope that any additional characters (Birdo, Yoshi etc.) will be kept to having minor cameo roles, or else having too many characters would ruin the film.
 
Back
Top