Thread by @UniAniNews

Mario is a guy from Brooklyn with big dreams. He’s the classic ‘big brother’ brimming with charm and confidence. We catch up with Mario right as his newly launched plumbing business has gone off the rails.

Mario is voiced by Chris Pratt, who has been a fan of The Super Mario Bros. games since he was a kid. “When I was presented with the opportunity to lend my voice to such an iconic character it was too exciting to pass it up,”

Mario is just a brick-smashing avatar. We don’t know much about him other than he’s a little Italian plumber with a mustache who says ‘Woohoo!’ and ‘Let’s-a go!’

So, in order to craft a compelling and relatable narrative—one with heart, humor, adventure, and everything else one comes to expect from an Illumination film—we had to dig in and discover the character beyond what the games have shown us.

His insecurity, his ambition, his persistence.”

The film’s directors thought Pratt was perfect for the role because of his ability to seamlessly play the everyday hero.

“You have to believe that the character is an everyman but then at the next moment, he’s going to save everyone and defeat a giant evil turtle,” Jelenic says. “And then on top of that, he also has to be funny and convey emotions.

These are hard things to do, and Chris was able to pull all of them off with ease. He had endless enthusiasm and energy, and it was important to him to get his character right.”

Bringing a character that’s already so well known and loved around the world is a daunting task. “Mario is beloved by fans all over the world, so I definitely wanted to do the character justice,”

Pratt says. “I did a lot of research about the history of the franchise, the games and the character, and I hope that comes across onscreen.

I also wanted to make sure that the character appeals to fans of all ages and backgrounds, and even those who aren’t as familiar with the games. I hope that everyone who sees the film has as much fun watching it as we had making it.”

For his portrayal of Mario, Pratt and the filmmakers spent a lot of time perfecting the character’s voice. “The original Mario character, voiced by Charles Martinet, is obviously iconic,”

” Pratt says. “Considering he’s probably the most famous video game character of all time, it was crucial to get the voice right.

We discussed early on the importance of grounding my version of Mario’s voice in something that could carry a 90-minute emotional through line. I played with the tone, the inflection and ultimately landed on the voice you hear.

Within the first couple of sessions, we really nailed it down.”

Princess Peach, voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, is the capable leader of the Mushroom Kingdom,sworn protector of the Toads and amaster of the magical Power-Ups. Together, Peach and Mario embark on an adventure to stop Bowser and rescue Luigi.

When Bowser threatens her kingdom, Peach will stop at nothing to defend it and its citizens.

Taylor-Joy says. “Princess Peach redefines what it means to be a princess because she’s the master of her own fate. She’s not weak or helpless, and she’s not a damsel in distress. She’s not looking for anyone to save her.

She’s an incredibly driven leader, she’s fearless, determined, capable and has so much heart. She’s very concerned about the welfare of the Mushroom Kingdom—she wants everyone to be taken care of and to live peacefully.

After I watched the film, I was inspired by her and thought, ‘I want to be more like her.’”

Director Aaron Horvath echoes that their approach to Princess Peach was an evolution from the character in the games. “In this movie, Peach is not there to get captured and be rescued later,”

Horvath says. “It was important to us to make Princess Peach a tough character with her own agency. And being the guide to the hero’s journey, she serves our story in a really crucial way.

She rules the Mushroom Kingdom, which is always in conflict with Bowser, and someone with that position would, of course, need to be really tough and capable.”

Taylor-Joy was astounded by the level of artistry that’s gone into the film. “It’s the most beautiful animation I’ve ever seen,”

Taylor-Joy says. “Illumination really understands what it means to appeal to all ages and to a mass audience.

And Nintendo creates entirely loveable characters. So, together, they’ve created a visually rich world that appeals to all ages. They’ve taken this beloved story and made it more three-dimensional.

I think fans of the Super Mario Bros. will be excited about how many references Aaron and Michael have managed to squeeze into the film. You can watch it over and over again and continue to discover elements that originated from the video games.

It really has something for anyone of any age.”

Luigi, voiced by Charlie Day, is Mario’s devoted (and anxious!) little brother and business partner. Where Mario is calm and confident, Luigi is…not. After the brothers fall into the Warp Zone, Luigi is captured by Bowser.

When the world is in danger, Luigi must face his fears head-on and find the courage to finally step out of his older brother’s shadow. “I remember when Nintendo was introduced to the world,” Day says. “Mine came with Super Mario Bros., so it was the first Nintendo game I’d seen.

For any kid at that time, it felt fairly life changing for us! I remember my older sister was better at it than me! Funny, the things you recall. But I also remember that because she was older, I often had to play second. Therefore, I was usually playing Luigi.”

The directors felt that Day was a natural fit to voice Luigi. “Charlie’s comedic energy was relatable to us,” Jelenic says. “We felt a bond with his comedy and his persona, which made him the perfect fit for Luigi.

Playing a nervous, scared character like Luigi is tough because in the wrong hands, he can come off a little bit annoying. But in Charlie’s hands, he injected so much character and personality into the performance, creating a full-fledged character of Luigi.”

Day enthusiastically took direction for the character from Horvath and Jelenic. “It just felt exciting to me,” Day says. “It’s nice to be part of something with such a massive fan base. We tried many different versions of the voice and the accent for Luigi.

Ultimately, they went with one close to my usual speaking voice. Which I guess is why they cast me. It was a pleasure from the first session to the last. I hope I get to do it again one day.”

Bowser is the ultimate, power-hungry villain. A giant, ferocious turtle and King of the Koopas, Bowser rules the Dark Lands. The entire world falls into jeopardy when Bowser steals the powerful Super Star and attempts to seize the Mushroom Kingdom and rule it, once and for all.

“Bowser is one of the most fun characters in the movie because he has so many layers,” Jelenic says. “When you meet him, he’s just evil personified and he’s a bit scary.

And as you get deeper into the film, you discover there’s another side to him. There’s a vulnerable, silly side.”

The character is voiced by Jack Black, who was thrilled to play the legendary arch-nemesis of Mario.

“Bowser is one of the most iconic villains in the entire history of video games!” Black says. “Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to bring him to the silver screen?! He’s terrifying…powerful…and filled with insecurities...a great character to explore.

I go way back to the beginning of Nintendo video games. I loved Donkey Kong growing up in the 1980s. It wasn’t until I had kids of my own that I saw Bowser!”

In the film, Bowser has an unexpected musical background, which wasn’t in the first draft of the script. Bowser sings a song called “Peaches,” which Black put his spin on alongside writers Horvath, Jelenic, ERIC OSMOND and Black’s longtime collaborator and engineer, JOHN SPIKER.

“Bowser plays an incredible piano ballad that extols his love for Princess Peach,” Horvath says. “As we were trying to get the point across of Bowser’s feelings for Peach, it seemed more fun, funny and sweet if we had him sing a song about it.

Jack Black is an incredible singer and musician, so we spent a night writing the song and sent the demo to Jack. A couple days later, Jack sent us back a finished track.

He had added his own twist on it and his pianist played an original music track for it. We were blown away.

Black adds: “We had a ball with it and I’m looking forward to audiences experiencing this new side of Bowser!” Black’s favorite scenes were the ones where his character was with his trusty assistant Kamek (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson).

“Kamek is kind of like Bowser’s best friend, but Bowser doesn’t really have any friends; he’s too darn scary and mean. Kamek knows all of Bowser’s secrets.”

Aside from writing the iconic tune, Black had a great experience working with the film’s directors. “We got into a good rhythm,” Black says. “Always trying to crack each other up and find the fresh approach to each scene. I think we might’ve cracked the code.”

Toad is an adorable and cheerful citizen of the Mushroom Kingdom who is desperate to go on his first real adventure. Toad is the first character Mario meets in this new world, and Toad immediately offers to help Mario save Luigi from Bowser.

Despite his light-hearted demeanor, Toad can also have a biting wit and isn’t afraid to go to battle to defend the people he cares about.

“There’s something really fun about diving into this awesome world and the loveable and upbeat character of Toad, and throwing myself into his uber-high energy character, where every line said could be approached as if it’s the most important thing ever,”

Key says. “Like ever. I wanted to find a unique way to capture his enthusiasm, and all of the excitement for who he is, where he’s from, and how he tackles the limitless options ahead of him.”

Key has had a remarkable career doing voice roles in films, and he was excited to get back in the voiceover booth to perform Toad. “There is something about voiceover work that lets you reach for the stars,”

Key says. “You can really go for it when you’re vocally trying to match the exaggerated features and movements of the animation. Getting to explore all the things you can do with your voice to help create this character is one of the most fun things about this type of work.”

Key’s performance infused humor, heart and collaboration into the role. “Keegan is great at improv,” Jelenic says. “You give him a scenario and he’s able to give you fifteen funny lines that move the plot forward, which is very hard to do.

He’s a natural voice actor, and there’s not a bad take in anything he does. Every single line he performs has perfect clarity.”

Donkey Kong is the son and heir of Cranky Kong, the leader of The Jungle Kingdom and Kong Army. Donkey Kong is an extremely powerful warrior—but also a bit of a man-child. He isn’t exactly eager to help when Mario seeks his assistance in protecting the Mushroom Kingdom.

The character is voiced by Seth Rogen, who has always been a fan of the game. “I remember having the original Super Mario Bros., and vividly remember my father bringing home the first Nintendo Entertainment System. It was a pivotal part of my childhood.

The Donkey Kong role in the movie was funny, and I vicariously got to live out a lot of my childhood dreams.”

Rogen’s performance as Donkey Kong is one of the funniest roles in the film. “That’s not surprising because Seth is one of the funniest actors in Hollywood,” Jelenic says. “I was taken by how smart Seth was in the sessions.

I get the feeling he’s always the smartest guy in the room, but he doesn’t necessarily make you feel that. He’s so aware of all aspects of the filmmaking process and as he’s performing, he’s always thinking about the larger scene and all the other things that come into play.

He’s a very thoughtful actor, in addition to always being the source of the funniest adlibs. Every line he delivers is hilarious. Our job was to pick the most hilarious lines for the movie and then take credit for his genius.”

There was a specific element of his character that Rogen wanted to make sure was included in the film. “I definitely wanted to incorporate the Donkey Kong rap,”

Rogen says. “The character was not that defined in the games from a personality standpoint, so I got to really work with the team to create a character that suited Donkey Kong and the story. Working with Aaron and Michael was wonderful.

They kept telling me to yell more and more until my throat would give out.”

Cranky Kong, voiced by Fred Armisen, is King of The Jungle Kingdom and father to Donkey Kong. Peach and Mario, seeking Cranky Kong’s help to protect the Mushroom Kingdom, must first prove themselves to Cranky Kong, who is known for his bluntness and his refusal to make alliances.

“It seemed like a fun role to play because I’d never played anyone who was grumpy and loud like that before,” Armisen says.

Armisen perfected a specific inflection that suited Cranky Kong. “I tried making my voice sound older and more gruff,”

Armisen says. “The directors wanted me to push that even more, so they really helped making the character sound more like that. I thought of Mel Brooks doing a character.

They really cared about the tone and we kept trying to make it sharper all the way through. Also, they were working out of Paris, and I felt glamorous recording via Paris, even if it was just remotely.”

Armisen is a veteran comedic actor, and the directors were excited to push his range in the voiceover sessions. “Fred is able to make very small comedy funny,” Horvath says.

“But for this film, we pushed him in the opposite direction, giving him a huge character, and he was equally funny doing this over-the-top role. He stepped into the shoes of this cranky old character and found the inner cranky father in himself.”

Spike is Mario and Luigi’s former boss who takes joy in bullying the brothers and mocking their new plumbing company. The character is voiced by comedian Sebastian Maniscalco. “I grew up in the ’70s and ’80s, so Super Mario Bros. was a part of my childhood.

I would have never imagined I would be the voice of Spike in an animated movie about one of the most iconic video game characters of all time.

I didn’t really care what part I had, I just wanted to be a part of the movie and Spike turned out to be a really fun role for me. Spike is definitely a domineering character.

When I do voiceover work, it tends to work to my strengths because I am very animated in my stance and when voicing these characters, the performance in the studio tends to get physical.

Our directors allowed me to improv some of the performance, which helped me become relaxed and more open to other possibilities.”

Maniscalco found the recording sessions to be particularly laborious. “I would come in for about an hour or two over the course of a two-year timeframe and leave exhausted,” Maniscalco says, with a laugh.

“Believe it or not, some of these voiceover gigs are exhausting for me. I’m turning 50 this year and apparently just talking into a microphone in a sound booth is a workout for me.

I tend to put so much energy into the performance that I leave with no voice and the sudden urge for a nap.”

Kamek is Bowser’s most loyal henchman. A Koopa with supernatural abilities, he acts as a sycophantic adviser and informant to Bowser. Unfortunately, he also deals with the brunt of Bowser’s wrath when things don’t go as planned.

The character is voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, who appeared in Illumination’s most recent film Minions: The Rise of Gru. “I have fond memories of playing Super Mario Bros. with my niece back in the ’80s,”

Richardson says. “I don’t recall Kamek as much as I do Bowser, but I loved playing the game. Even though I’ve never finished it, it was a lot of fun to play.”

Richardson had a great experience working with directors Jelenic and Horvath. “They made the recording process fun by simply letting me play with the character during sessions,”

Richardson says. “Michael [Jelenic] and I have worked together through the years on different projects, so it was really nice to work with him again, especially on a franchise as popular as this.”

Nintendo’s iconic Super Mario Bros. characters have been captivating gamers and fans for decades, so it’s fitting that the company would bring these characters to Illumination, the animation studio responsible for creating some of the most beloved animated films

including the Sing and The Secret Life of Pets films and the Despicable Me and Minions franchise, the most successful animated franchise in history.

Illumination’s iconic, beloved franchises are infused with memorable and distinct characters, global appeal and cultural relevance, making the studio the perfect home for The Super Mario Bros. Movie

“At Illumination, we are a character film studio first,”

Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri says. “We love to make films that have subversive qualities, and this tone fits beautifully with the story that we and Nintendo are telling with The Super Mario Bros. Movie. is incredible game and these beloved characters.”

Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of the Super Mario games and producer of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, explains that the Super Mario world connects with so many people across the globe because it has continued to evolve since its conception.

“Since I was a child, I longed to become a manga artist, and until around the time that I entered high school, my dream was to become one,”

Miyamoto says. “Around then, I was imagining the characters I drew myself appearing in my own manga.

Although the rail shifted to the game instead of manga, I believe that if my first game was not fun enough, the characters which appear in it would not have remained in everyone’s memories.

Fortunately, the character which appeared in Donkey Kong, the very first game I developed, was remembered and recognized by many people, and allowed me to produce many series of games after that.

For the people who play the game, the character was recognized as an alter ego of themselves which moves around on the TV screen. And Mario evolved along with the evolvement of digital technology.

As I continuously produced a game of Mario whenever a new technology came out, Mario became a very unique character which is totally one of a kind.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie is the first time that Nintendo and Illumination have collaborated, bringing together their creative worlds of gaming and animation. “The opportunity to work with Miyamoto-san, the creative leader of Nintendo, has truly been a privilege,”

Meledandri says. “The core elements in Nintendo’s game franchises lend themselves to become really distinctive, imaginative and fun movies for audiences who have never even seen the game.”

Miyamoto shares Meledandri’s enthusiasm for the partnership, and notes that his early discussions with the producer made it clear that they had likeminded creative visions.

“I clearly remember what Chris-san and I discussed when we first met,”

Miyamoto says. “Whenever I meet a Hollywood producer, they tend to start talking about how our intellectual property can be a success as a movie, but the conversation with Chris-san was mainly about how our thoughts about creating things are alike.

As a result, the way the film was produced was very close to how I usually develop games, and thankfully it was very comfortable for me. Upon proceeding with the production, obviously things do not always get solved with only philosophy.

We had many trials and errors and discussions as we pushed forward: What will the story be telling about Mario? What kind of scenes do the fans wish to see? Of the huge list of characters, who should we have appear in the film? We discussed so many topics.”

After these myriad discussions, the two creative forces formed a thoughtful, fleshed-out story, which would go on to become The Super Mario Bros. Movie, penned by screenwriter Matthew Fogel.

“We learn that Mario and Luigi are two outer borough guys who come from an Italian family,” Meledandri says. “Mario is a little insecure and just really wants to prove to himself that he’s capable.

In trying to solve a citywide plumbing issue, Mario and Luigi come across an underground area. When Luigi disappears, Mario goes to see what happened to him and we discover that he’s in the Warp Zone.

Mario lands in the Mushroom Kingdom, but Luigi gets thrown into the dark lands, which is ruled by Bowser. Mario has one objective: to find his brother.

It was crucial for both Illumination and Nintendo to find directors who would honor the iconic game that’s beloved by audiences worldwide, which they found in Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, who are both fans of the game.

“The development of the production was led mainly by Chris-san’s team, and [Horvath and Jelenic] were their recommendation,”

Miyamoto says. “Their personalities were great when I met the two of them, and we quickly made the decision. Another reason that I thought they were best for this film was that they were very well versed about Mario games, and I felt their love towards the franchise."

The Super Mario Bros. games had a big impact on both of the directors’ childhoods. “Playing Super Mario Bros. was my main source of entertainment as a kid,” Jelenic says. “Coming home from school and playing these games was always an adventure filled with lots of emotions.

So, when we got the chance to work on this project, the most important thing for me was translating those emotions that I had as a child playing the game into a
cinematic experience.

As they came onto the production, the directors wanted to make something that was beautiful, and which took these characters that everyone loves and brought them from the video game and into the film.

“The most important thing for us was to create a really authentic and beautiful representation of these characters and the worlds they inhabit,”

Horvath says. “We started by looking at the games and designs and finding the most common design elements that recur throughout all of the Super Mario games.

We took these iconic elements and pushed the level of detail to make them look believable, almost as if you could reach out and touch them.

The biggest challenge was to ensure the audience would believe that these are real characters with real emotions, families, hopes and desires.”

Horvath and Jelenic have a long history of working together, but The Super Mario Bros. Movie was the first time they directed a film together.

“We wrote and produced Teen Titans GO! To the Movies, and this is the first time we’ve directed together, which is a new role for me because I come from a writing background,”

Jelenic says. “So, this film presented us with the opportunity for a new working relationship. Normally, we’re coming up with stories and creating different plots and characters, and now, we’re overseeing the bigger picture.

And even though we had a long history of working together in a specific way, in a way, it was like getting to know each other again. We also come from a TV background, and in TV, you write the script and you make what’s on the page.

Coming into the feature world, we learned very quickly that even though you have a great script when you begin, that script is going to change a lot over the course of creating the movie.

It was a fun experience for us to work with Matt [Fogel] to come up with various iterations for this movie.

We made this movie so many times, and each time it was the best movie ever, but we kept saying, ‘We can make it better.’ That’s the nature of feature animation. You’re always massaging and shaping great ideas into better ideas.”

During the process of reshaping, the directors established the theme that they wanted to emphasize. "The most important theme of the movie is perseverance," Horvath says. "It's about never giving up.

The only way to lose at a Super Mario Bros. game is to give up, and if you just keep playing, you will get better and eventually defeat Bowser. So that became the theme of the movie."

To prepare for the film, the directors channeled their inner childhood personas and played various Mario games. "I definitely replayed the original Super Mario Bros. games,”

Horvath says. “I replayed some of the side scrolling, more recent ones. The one that I played a lot was Super Mario 3D World and that was a game that I really liked. I took a lot of design inspiration from that game."

Jelenic adds: "I'm more of an old school Mario guy. I played a lot from the original stuff. Working on this movie, I jumped back into the Mario world and I got to play a lot of games I had not been exposed to and it just reminded me of being a kid again."

For the entire filmmaking team, the main goal in making The Super Mario Bros. Movie was to create something that can be enjoyed by everyone.

“Whether it is someone who has played the game before, someone who has never seen Mario before, children, adults who have played the game since their childhood…anyone,”

Miyamoto says. Jelenic adds: "It’s a movie about life and about family. We hope that people come see it, have fun, and see that we’ve treated these iconic characters with the respect they deserve.”

For the score of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the filmmakers turned to acclaimed composer Brian Tyler, who has composed music for more than 100 feature films

including F9, Transformers: Prime, Eagle Eye, The Expendables trilogy, Iron Man 3, Avengers: Age of Ultron with Danny Elfman, Now You See Me, and Crazy Rich Asians, among others

Tyler’s love for Nintendo games and unique background in video game scoring made him the perfect choice for the role.

“Through the years, when I would play a Mario game, I would always imagine what it might be like to jump into that world for real, and in the best way possible, this film brings that fantasy into reality,”

Tyler says. “The care that is taken by every single person on this film is second to none. We all care so much about making this vision a tribute to what Mario means to us personally. That is why I threw myself into this movie fully.

I wanted to make that idea a reality for everyone who sees this film.” Like many classic films, the core center of the score is a grand-sized orchestra.

This gave Tyler the ability to go big for the action sequences and small for intimate scenes, while still being able to incorporate myriad 8-bit sounds used in the original Mario games.

“E.T. was a film that came to mind in how a classic score can tell the story of a film extremely well with definable themes,”

Tyler says. “The themes of our two brothers, the baddies, the romance, the humor, the magic, the action—all of these brought with them an orchestral element.”

Nintendo’s Koji Kondo created the main theme for Super Mario Bros. in 1985. Since then, it has become iconic in popular culture. “I know the Mario music so well and have always been very nostalgic about all the music that Koji Kondo has written for the games,”

Tyler says. “It was an absolute delight to be able to not just write new themes and music to represent Mario in this film, but to merge it with the music that Koji Kondo wrote for the games.

I wrote a score emblematic of the scale and emotional depth of this film that still represents the music of the games since their inception.”

Tyler built a strong relationship with Kondo and producer Miyamoto that allowed him to create a new chapter in Mario music while keeping the original scores in the fabric of the film. This collaboration among the two directors and three studios created a perfect process for Tyler

“The original score works in all of the Nintendo themes in incredibly beautiful, thoughtful ways,”

Horvath says. “Sometimes it’s just a little hint here, a little flourish there, and sometimes it’s the full track, but it’s been orchestrated and performed by some of the most talented musicians in film. And for me as a fan, it’s really satisfying to hear."

Tyler adds: “Everyone from the incredible directors Aaron and Michael to our amazing friends in Japan, Shigeru Miyamoto and Koji Kondo who started the entire endeavor, to Universal’s wonderful music department, to the brilliant leader of Illumination, Chris Meledandri

everyone was working towards the same singular goal: To make an incredible film that will bring joy and an unforgettable experience for forever fans of Mario and new ones alike. I am so proud to be a part of this film.”

#TheSuperMarioBrosMovie

UNIVERSAL PICTURES PRESENTS

A SHIGERU MIYAMOTO

AND CHRIS MELEDANDRI PRODUCTION

"THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE"

CHRIS PRATT

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY

CHARLIE DAY

JACK BLACK

KEEGAN-MICHAEL KEY

SETH ROGEN

FRED ARMISEN

SEBASTIAN MANISCALCO

CHARLES MARTINET

KEVIN MICHAEL RICHARDSON

Produced by

CHRIS MELEDANDRI, p.g.a.

SHIGERU MIYAMOTO

Written by

MATTHEW FOGEL

Directed by

AARON HORVATH AND MICHAEL JELENIC