46 Fun Facts About Mario Movie

Which animation studio produced The Super Mario Bros. Movie with Nintendo?

Its founder met Mario's creator through the Super Nintendo World theme park project.

Who voices Mario in the 2023 film?

Chris Pratt voices Mario, but not as he first tried it: an early, heavier New York accent was rejected and softened into the voice heard in the film.

Who voices Bowser in the 2023 Mario movie?

Jack Black, the Tenacious D frontman, did more than growl: having Bowser sing a love song was his idea, and he co-wrote the ballad himself.

Which actress voices Princess Peach in the 2023 Mario movie?

Anya Taylor-Joy voices a Peach who needs no rescuing: she rules the Mushroom Kingdom, trains Mario herself and leads the mission to recruit the Kongs.

Who voices Luigi in the 2023 Mario movie?

Charlie Day, star of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, voices Luigi, Mario's nervous younger brother who is captured by Bowser's forces early in the film.

Seth Rogen voices which character in the 2023 Mario movie?

Donkey Kong is Seth Rogen's role: the Kong heir first fights Mario in a packed arena, then ends up his reluctant partner against Bowser.

Keegan-Michael Key voices which character in the 2023 Mario movie?

Keegan-Michael Key voices Toad, the eager mushroom who guides Mario to Peach's castle and joins the quest to the Jungle Kingdom.

Sebastian Maniscalco voices which bullying ex-boss of the brothers in the 2023 Mario movie?

Spike comes from the 1985 game Wrecking Crew; the film makes him the boss the brothers walked out on to start their own business, and he never lets them forget it.

In the 2023 Mario movie, longtime game voice Charles Martinet cameos as the brothers' father and which other character?

Giuseppe is a wink to players: he looks like the hero of the 1981 arcade original and speaks in the classic game voice Martinet made famous.

Which animated series did Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic make before directing the 2023 Mario movie?

Teen Titans Go! made the pair's name, and word of their Mario job got out in 2021 through an animator's LinkedIn profile before any announcement.

Where does Luigi end up after the Warp Pipe separates the brothers in the 2023 Mario movie?

The Dark Lands are Bowser's own territory, so Luigi does not stay free for long: he is caught and locked up while his brother is still looking for him.

What power-up does Mario use to beat the Kong prince in their fight?

Mario grabs a Cat Suit mid-fight, and its claws and pounces let him beat the far stronger Kong prince; the Tanooki Suit only appears later, at Bowser's wedding.

On which iconic course does Bowser's army ambush the heroes' go-karts?

The kart chase runs along Rainbow Road, where a Koopa General's blue shell blows out the track and sends Mario and the Kong prince plunging into the sea.

What does Toad hide in Peach's wedding bouquet?

Peach pulls the hidden Ice Flower from her bouquet and uses its powers to freeze Bowser at the altar, stalling the ceremony.

What does Bowser threaten to destroy the Mushroom Kingdom with if Peach refuses to marry him?

A Super Star is what Bowser carries off in the opening scene, and it ends up beating him: the brothers grab it, turn invincible and flatten his army.

How is Bowser dealt with at the end of the 2023 Mario movie?

Shrunk with a Mini Mushroom and jarred: Peach feeds him the blue mushroom and Toad seals the tiny, squeaky-voiced Koopa King in a jar.

Which New York borough are Mario and Luigi from in the 2023 Mario movie?

Brooklyn is home base for Super Mario Bros. Plumbing, and its TV commercial pays off late on: glimpsing it mid-battle is what gets a beaten Mario back on his feet.

Lumalee, the cheerfully gloomy blue star in Bowser's dungeon, is voiced by the young daughter of whom?

One of the directors: Juliet Jelenic, daughter of Michael Jelenic, voiced the doom-loving Luma and returned to the role in the 2026 sequel.

Composer Brian Tyler worked closely with which longtime Nintendo composer on the score?

Brian Tyler consulted Koji Kondo, composer of the original 1985 Super Mario Bros. theme, and wove Kondo's game leitmotifs into the orchestral score.

What is the title of the love song Bowser sings at the piano in the 2023 Mario movie?

Peaches outgrew its scene: the joke ballad climbed to number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100, the first time the actor singing it had charted there on his own.

The 2023 Mario movie was animated at its studio's branch in which city?

Paris, not Hollywood or Kyoto: the film's American studio does its animating in France, at the former Mac Guff workshop behind the Despicable Me films.

Which film was the only 2023 release to out-gross the Mario movie worldwide?

Barbie overtook it at the start of September 2023, ending the plumbers' months as the year's biggest film worldwide.

What box-office milestone did the film achieve before any other video game adaptation?

It became the highest-grossing video game film after just one week, earning a Guinness World Record.

Which later film beat the 2023 Mario film's US opening-weekend record for a video game adaptation?

A Minecraft Movie opened to about $163 million in April 2025 against Mario's $146 million, a debut spread thinner because Mario had opened on a Wednesday.

In which country did the 2023 Mario movie become the highest-grossing film ever released there?

Mexico made it the country's biggest film ever in May 2023; Japan actually spent more on it, about $100 million to Mexico's $85 million, yet there it fell far short of the record.

Which Saturday Night Live alumnus voices Cranky Kong in the 2023 Mario movie?

Fred Armisen voices the Jungle Kingdom's king, written here as the hard-to-please father of its star fighter, who wants nothing more than his respect.

Which studio's leaked emails showed it trying to secure the Mario film rights from Nintendo?

Sony Pictures was exposed by its own 2014 hack: the stolen emails had a producer telling the studio chief he had landed an animated Mario film, yet no Sony film ever followed.

Which two men are credited as producers of the 2023 Mario movie?

Chris Meledandri and Shigeru Miyamoto shared the job by design: Mario's creator wanted a film expert in charge, and found the studio founder's creative process close to his own.

At which awards did the 2023 Mario movie get three nominations, one in a brand-new box-office category?

The Golden Globes created Cinematic and Box Office Achievement that year, and Mario lost it to the one 2023 film that had out-earned it.

Who played Mario in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros.?

Bob Hoskins played Mario; he later named the film the worst job of his career, and Dustin Hoffman had lobbied for the part before him.

Who played Luigi in the 1993 live-action Mario film?

John Leguizamo played Luigi as the younger brother who falls for an archaeology student and follows her into the dinosaur world, dragging his sibling with him.

Dennis Hopper played the villain of the 1993 live-action Mario film, known by what title?

President Koopa is a dictator descended from Tyrannosaurus rex; Hopper later joked to his young son that he took the part so the boy could have shoes.

What is the name of the dystopian dinosaur-descended city in the 1993 live-action Mario film?

Dinohattan is the film's twisted mirror of Manhattan: a grimy, fungus-covered city founded by dinosaurs that escaped into another dimension and evolved into people.

Which princess do the brothers rescue in the 1993 live-action Mario film?

Samantha Mathis played Princess Daisy as an NYU archaeology student whose dig under a famous New York bridge leads the brothers into the parallel dimension.

Which Swedish pop act recorded Almost Unreal for the 1993 live-action Mario film's soundtrack?

Roxette wrote the song for another 1993 film, Hocus Pocus, and when that fell through it was retitled Almost Unreal and handed to Mario instead.

Which husband-and-wife team directed the 1993 live-action Mario film?

Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel, British co-creators of TV's Max Headroom, took over after the producers dropped the director first attached to the film.

What is the 2026 sequel to the 2023 Mario movie called?

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie takes its name and its inspiration from the 2007 game and its 2010 follow-up, the plumber's adventures in outer space.

Brie Larson voices which princess in the 2026 Mario sequel?

Rosalina drives the sequel's plot: she is carried off early on, and Peach sets out to find her while the brothers mind the kingdom.

Who voices Bowser Jr. in the 2026 Mario sequel?

Benny Safdie, who directed Uncut Gems with his brother Josh, voices the sequel's villain: Bowser's son, out to restore the family name.

Bowser's voice actor joked in 2023 that the Mario sequel should be a musical with what title?

Bowser's Revenge was his pitch on a podcast in December 2023, a full musical in the spirit of the Joker sequel, though he admitted nobody had yet called him about a follow-up.

Whose kingdom does Bowser's army conquer in the opening scene of the 2023 Mario movie?

The penguins and their king defend their snowy home bravely but hopelessly, and Bowser leaves with the powerful prize he came for.

Who voices Kamek, Bowser's Magikoopa advisor, in the 2023 Mario movie?

Kevin Michael Richardson, now the voice of Dr. Hibbert on The Simpsons, plays the sorcerer whose magic torments Toad until Peach agrees to marry Bowser.

Which TV mob character did the first, scrapped version of Mario's movie voice sound too much like?

Tony Soprano was the directors' verdict on the first attempt: the lead actor walked in with a heavy accent, was told it was "a little New Jersey", and dropped it.

Which composer's DK Rap plays in the 2023 Mario movie but went uncredited?

Grant Kirkhope wrote the DK Rap for Rare's 1999 Nintendo 64 game and tweeted his disappointment at being left out of the film's credits.

In the final battle of the 2023 Mario movie, what does Luigi use to shield Mario from Bowser's fire?

A manhole cover lets Luigi, who spent most of the film locked up as Bowser's prisoner, be the brother who does the rescuing when it counts.

Whose egg is seen starting to hatch in the post-credits scene of the 2023 Mario movie?

Yoshi is heard shouting his own name as the egg cracks in the sewers, a tease the sequel pays off by making the green dinosaur the brothers' new ally.