It's time to make a new Mario cartoon...

L

Livee

New member
I remember the oldschool Mario Bros cartoons were some of the cheesiest shows of all time, but they were awesome. I think there's a lot of potential in making a new cartoon. Mario flash cartoons are probably some of the most commonly made simply because he's awesome.

And how many Sonic cartoons have we had now? I'd like to see a Mario cartoon that with a bit more of an ongoing storyline. There are a lot more games to pick from now in terms of characters and different worlds.

Thoughts?
 
I imagine there'd be both positive and negative aspects to a new Mario cartoon. The production values would certainly be better. On the other hand, I'm not sure I could stand listening to Charles Martinet voicing half the cast for 30 minutes. You know that's what would happen. ;)

Romey
--I have nothing against Martinet's random voice clips in the games, though.
 
I'd love to see another SMB cartoon. Possibly call it The NEW Super Mario Bros. Super Show! It'd probably be all CG and very much look like the game for the DS. We've even got more characters to work with, so the antagonist wouldn't mainly be Bowser and the Koopalings.

How cool would that be to have Harvey Atkin reprise his role as Bowser?? Or have a few episodes with Wario as the main antagonist?? I would LOVE to watch a new SMB cartoon if it were like that.
 
I don't like the idea of Mario as a, y'know, conversational character. Even in RPGs, he's never spoken more than short phrases and generic "YIPPEE!" sounds. So, if they try and go that direction again, no thanks, and I imagine that's all they would go for.

Maybe in Japan they could do another one-short anime special, or something... but other than that, I just can't see a Mario cartoon working, simply because Mario isn't an interesting character, nor should he be. Any adaptation would try and make Mario into a character, when he's not a character as much as he is a generic mascot.

Y'know what I mean?

Plus, if they adapt the video games, I would want them to adapt the video games. Paper Mario would make an AWESOME show if they followed the game's plot. Super Mario Galaxy could make for a beautiful movie, in a kind of... Gulliver's Travels way, with the plumber hopping around from planet to planet to find Bowser. But I don't want generic adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom - that would just be lame.

So, while a Mario cartoon could be good, odds are, it wouldn't be. I wouldn't mind if they gave it a shot, though.
 
If they ever made a Mario anime, I would want Mario to be the star. Rather, I'd want Peach and Bowser to be the stars, since they're both far more interesting that the plumber. I also wouldn't want Mario to talk beyond the simple voice clips he uses in the games.
 
It's not likely to happen, but a new CGI Mario cartoon animated in the manner of the recent game cinemas would be awesome to see.
 
But he is a character. Just because he's a mascot doesn't mean he should never be allowed to do anything but have his image slapped onto merchandise. I mean, how many shows and movies has Mickey Mouse been featured in?

Besides, the thing about the Mario universe is since it doesn't have a strict continuity to follow, developers have a lot of room to work with when creating an environment for the characters to interact with. If they had stuck to the norms placed by the typical platformers Nintendo makes, then we wouldn't have stuff like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi because those simply took inspiration from the other games, not followed their restrictions.
 
I think that a new Mario cartoon could be really interesting. I'm not sure how likely it is, but if they worked at it, I think a creative staff could make a pretty cool series or at least a nice movie/special. I'm not sure how much they would want to adapt from the games or which games they would want to focus on. As for Mario himself, they could try to give him more of a personality in the cartoon than he does in the games. I thought that worked really well for the Pokemon Adventures manga series so far.
 
A new Super Mario Brothers animated series could work, if it were handled properly. It should have a fixed setting/locale like Super Mario Bros. 3, rather than have the cast traveling to a different genre/parody in every episode, like in The Super Mario Brothers Super Show. And I certainly wouldn't expect a SMB series to have a dark, semi-dramatic tone, like Sonic SatAM. We are talking about Mario, after all. How dramatic is the show supposed to get?

The series' emphasis should be on comedy. You'd have Mario and Luigi as main characters, Bowser/King Koopa as the main villain, Princess Peach, Toad (and possibly Toadette), The Koopalings, Kamek as supporting characters, with the Mushroom Kingdom as the shows' main setting. I think that a SMB series would have potential in the right creative hands.
 
I feel less insecure over a talking Mario then say, Link. With the latter, he doesn't speak, period. He grunts and scream; barely audible words. Mario - though not the pinnacle motivational speaker - has random quips, sentences, and phrases thanks to Charles' distinct voiceover for him.

So the idea of a new Mario cartoon appeals to me. I feel the world has plenty of stories, characters, and settings they can use to create something whimsical, if not random (continuity isn't an issue; it's Mario!). Granted, I do think if Mario (or Luigi for that matter) spoke, I'd much prefer a different voice. Martinet's voice works best as small one-liners.
 
I could imagine Link talking, but only with his Japanese VA, which some of you might know as Guy from GaoGaiGar and Viral from TTGL.

Mario, however...I think he could work, but only if paired with Luigi...and if the episodes were short in length.

Really, I think a series of interconnected shorts telling a story akin to the RPGs could actually work.
 
If they were to base it around games like Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and Mario & Luigi, the type of Mario games that are story driven, it could be made into a very entertaining cartoon/movie. Maybe Mario Galaxy could be worked into something too.

I'd actually love to see another crack at a Mario cartoon, but I don't think it's going to happen.
 
Mario & Luigi is my favorite for this. While the others depict Mario as a fairly humorous and charming mostly silent hero, Mario & Luigi depicted them as a Mutt and Jeff-style comedy duo fighting bad guys with various gags and comic props.
 
A bit Justified for Link as he's not supposed to be a character at all. Just an avatar for the player. I still believe that every character in The Legend of Zelda is just a "Role," than a true character.



You never heard of Mario VS Donkey Kong 1 for Game Boy Advance, have you?

Red M: Hey! Come back here, you big monkey!
Red M: Hey Donkey Kong. You OK?
DK: (grunts) Yeah!
Red M: OH!
(DK takes off with the sack of stolen Mini-Marios)
RED M: Here we go, again! Again?!

Also, Link is the generic mascot. The Pokemon Trainers are generic mascots. The human from Animal Froest is a generic mascot. The Miis, definitely! I always thought Red M could have potential. I mean, his brother has a personality.
 
Pretty much any of the Mario RPG games would make great shows, and there's tons of source material there. There are what, six, seven of them altogether?

It won't happen, though, but I would love it if it did and was done right. In fact, Nintendo has a whole ton of potential cartoon series - Star Fox and Golden Sun to name two I'd love to see - to mine.


Well, not quite every character. Like Midna for one, she's a developed character. And Majora's Mask is very character-based. But of the main recurring characters in the series I agree.
 
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