The Super Mario Movie (2004)

Theatrical release poster

***The Super Mario Movie*** (also simply known as ***Super Mario***) is a 2004 American computer-animated action-adventure musical comedy film directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, Robert Zemeckis and Conrad Vernon, produced by Nickelodeon Movies, Nintendo Animation, Pacific Data Images, The Play Tone Company and ImageMovers and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is based on the video game franchise Super Mario, and is produced by Shigeru Miyamoto, Tom Hanks and Yoshiaki Koizumi and written by Jon Irwin, John Leguizamo and Shigeru Miyamoto.

The film stars the voices of Charles Martinet as the titular character as well as Luigi, along with Jen Taylor, Kenneth Wendell James, Dolores Rogers, Lani Minella, Mike Vaughn, Dan Falcone and Grant Kirkhope. The film follows the story of Mario and Luigi (Martinet) who are on a mission to rescue Princess Peach (Taylor) from Bowser (James), until it's too late.

The film premiered at the Kodak Theatre on December 21, 2004 and was theatrically released in the United States on December 24, 2004 by Paramount Pictures and in other territories on December 25, 2004 by DreamWorks Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, visual effects, voice acting (particularly Martinet, Taylor and James), musical score by John Debney, and faith to its source material. It was a box office success, grossing $795.6 million against a budget of $80 million.

## Cast

* **Charles Martinet** as
	+ Mario
	+ Luigi
	+ Wario
	+ Waluigi
* **Jen Taylor** as
	+ Princess Peach
	+ Toad
* **Kenneth Wendell James** as Bowser
* **Dolores Rogers** as Bowser Jr.
* **Lani Minella** as
	+ Larry Koopa
	+ Morton Koopa, Jr.
	+ Wendy O. Koopa
	+ Lemmy Koopa
* **Mike Vaughn** as
	+ Iggy Koopa
	+ Ludwig von Koopa
* **Dan Falcone** as Roy Koopa
* **Grant Kirkhope** as Donkey Kong

## Production

Development on a Super Mario film did not happen until June 2002. After the failure and negative reception of Super Mario Bros. (1993), Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the franchise, did not want to make another feature film, as he would fear it would flop. However, in June 2002, Paramount Pictures CEO Sherry Lansing approached Miyamoto for a computer-animated film adaption. Although initially he said no, he accepted the idea of a computer-animated adaption.

During casting sessions, Charles Martinet was immediately chosen to play Mario in the film. He expressed great excitement with voicing the character, as he's done it for years. Jen Taylor, who voiced Princess Peach in the video games, was also picked to voice the character in the film. Kenneth James also signed to voice Bowser.

With the style being based mainly off of Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) for the Nintendo GameCube, the animation was produced at ImageMovers, Pacific Data Images and The Play Tone Company. Nintendo also opened its temporary animation division, Nintendo Animation, and assisted animation development.

John Debney composed the musical score for the movie. The score was recorded at the 20th Century Fox Studio and spanned from September 28, 2003 to July 2, 2004.

## Promotional marketing and release

Mattel and Hasbro produced limited edition toys for *The Super Mario Movie*. LEGO A/S developed play sets for marketing of the film, and fast food chains, including McDonald's and Burger King, advertised the film on to-go food bags and drinks, and included limited toys.

*The Super Mario Movie* premiered on December 21, 2004 at the Kodak Theatre, and later was theatrically released in the United States on December 24, 2004 by Paramount Pictures, and was later released on December 25, 2004 in other territories by DreamWorks Pictures. It later had a theatrical release in Japan on March 27, 2005.

### Home media

*The Super Mario Movie* was released on DVD and VHS on June 25, 2005, and the Blu-ray version was released on August 1, 2007 by Paramount Home Entertainment. The DVD and Blu-ray contained a 25-minute featurette, a casting session with the voice cast of the film, an interview with Charles Martinet, Jen Taylor and Kenneth Wendell James, a scoring session with John Debney, and contained a trailer; the Goomba Stomper trailer.

## Reception

### Box office

*The Super Mario Movie* opened on December 24, 2004 in the United States and December 25, 2004 in other territories. The film grossed $342.4 million in the United States and Canada and $435.1 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $795.6 million.

In the United States and Canada, The Super Mario Movie was released alongside The Woodsman. In its first opening weekend, the film grossed $58.3 million ($53.1 million + $5.3 million in Friday night previews), making it the biggest Christmas opening weekend of 2004, and hit #1 on the domestic box office charts. In its first opening week of projections, estimates were $50-60 million. The film broke its projections with $85.2 million at the domestic box office, keeping its #1 spot on the charts. Its second opening weekend box office projections was raised by 1.2% and grossed $72.6 million ($65.2 million + $7.4 million in Friday night previews), and the film kept its #1 spot on the charts, until its second opening week. Its projections were estimated to $60-75 million, and the film projected less than its estimates, grossing $52.4 million in its second opening week, dropping to #3 on the domestic box office charts.

Meanwhile overseas, the film had a high opening weekend, grossing $69.5 million ($62.4 million + $7.1 million in Saturday night previews), and peaked at #2 on the overseas box office charts. Its opening week's projections were estimated to around $50-60 million, and it broke the projections and brought in $103.4 million in the overseas box office, and its position went from #2 to #1 in a day, as on Wednesday, it grossed $59.5 million. Its second opening weekend earnings dropped by 0.6% and grossed $58.4 million ($53.3 million + $5.1 million in Friday night previews). Its second opening week, however, keep its projection grind going, as estimates were raised to $75-95 million. The Super Mario Movie dominated projections and grossed $148.5 million. Box office projections soon concluded on October 20, 2005, and the film was declared the second-highest-grossing film of 2004, behind DreamWorks' Shrek 2, the second-highest-grossing animated film of 2004, also behind Shrek 2, and the 21st-highest-grossing animated film of all time, behind Disney's Coco.

### Critical response

On review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, 96% of 209 critics' reviews were positive, with an average rating of 8.25/10. Its critical consensus reads, "Beautifully animated, filled with laughs, and drumming up with excitement, *The Super Mario Movie* is a pure cinematic staple on the beloved franchise by Nintendo." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100 based on reviews by 59 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore assigned the film a rare grade of "A+" on its A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times rated the film four stars out four, and stated "What *The Super Mario Movie* does is unlike any other video game movie you've seen before. Its improvising on source material is spot on, its cast of characters is perfect and matches with the games' enthusiasm, and the animation has a heavy Super Smash Bros. Melee feeling." He stated the plot was "by far the greatest part of the film. You have no idea what will happen next."

Kevin Lally of Film Journal International described *The Super Mario Movie* as "fun, exciting and hilarious". Peter Rainer of New York Magazine also praised the film as "inventive" and stated the animation was "unimaginably beautiful". Steven Rosen of The Denver Post wrote "Nintendo has returned to the theatres with an all-new, butt-kicking movie with Paramount Pictures, and it's even better than the 1993 movie. A lot of stuff is present, including the main cast of the original video games, and has a heavy Super Smash Bros. Melee style of animation."

### Accolades

At the 77th Academy Awards on February 27, 2005, *The Super Mario Movie* won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, beating DreamWorks' Shrek 2. *The Super Mario Movie* was also nominated for 5 BAFTA Awards at the 58th British Film Academy Awards, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film.

## Trivia

* It is the second theatrical Super Mario film after Super Mario Bros. (1993).
* It is the first Super Mario film to be produced by Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies.
* It is the first Super Mario film to receive multiple accolades.
* It is Nintendo's first ever film under their animation division, Nintendo Animation.