TheSuper Mario Bros. Movie has opened and it appears Nintendo and Illumination have scored a hit with audiences, if not with the critics. In fact, thedivergence between audience reception and critical ratingshas become a talking point. But besides that, it was something of a cinematic puzzle to bring these much-loved video game characters onto the silver screen. After all, Mario in the games barely says anything. Ditto for Peach and Bowser, while the games have always had somewhat rudimentary stories and plots. In an interview, Mario creator and industry legendShigeru Miyamotospoke further about adapting the characters as well as shedding light on the original conception of Princess Peach.Related:Chris Pratt And Charlie Day Want Bowsette And Wario In Mario Movie SequelChatting toVarietywere Shigeru Miyamoto and CEO of Illumination Chis Meledandri who both served as producers on the animated feature film. Meledandri observed the intensity of the anticipation from the audience, which must be some pressure to be under. After all, Variety noted that 750 million people worldwide watched the trailers for the movie, while there was significant backlash after it was announced that Chris Pratt would be playing the titular character.The Variety feature contains some wonderful lines, such as “we recognised that each fan of the video game has a Mario in themself, as he is the avatar that represents the player”, spoken by the great designer himself. A humble air blew through the interview as everyone involved acknowledges how the movie medium requires a different approach. From Meledandri: “In video games, character serves the gameplay”, the studio head said, illuminating how each producer learned from the other. “In movies, character is everything. Our story is in service of character”. This different approach extends to Princess Peach, who has [small spoiler ahead] a much more dynamic and powerful presence in the movie than she does in the games. But, according to Miyamoto, this Super Mario Bros. Movie version of Peach actually resembles the original conception of the game character.
“In the games, we kept Peach as a damsel in distress who is rescued by Mario for a while, but we wanted to make her a playable character and a more powerful princess”, Miyamoto told Variety. “We pushed that even further for the movie”. Apparently, Miyamoto had originally wanted Peach to be a strong, powerful princess right from the beginning, but the focus really was on Mario in the earlyNintendogames while they had to keep things simple considering the limitations in place at that time.
This is what Miyamoto says, of course, and we could take his remarks at face value. But whether it’s entirely accurate to history or not, the fact is that Peach, Bowser, Mario and Luigi will now exist as their own silver screen characters from now on, and audiences will be finding a new way to relate to these beloved figures.
