The Super Mario Bros. Movie has received a lot of attention for not only it's accuracy to the game
series but for the amount of fan service woven throughout the film. Whether those
be references to games, cartoons or even other series littered throughout Nintendo's history,
the creative team here made sure video game fans had plenty to appreciate.
I'm Kyle with WickedBinge and this is The Super Mario Bros. Movie Easter Eggs: Cool to Amazing.
For this video we're going to be excluding most of the Easter Eggs we talked about in
our Super Mario Bros. Trailer Game References: Cool to Amazing video.
Check that out if you want to hear even more about what this movie has to offer.
Also, spoiler alert for The Super Mario Bros. Movie going forward.
With that established, let's kart race into the list starting from the pretty cool references and
working our way up to the most impressive! The first Easter Egg today is a reference
to the first full sentence ever uttered in a Mario game, that being “Thank you,
Mario! But our princess is in another castle!” While the line isn’t spoken verbatim in the film,
it is referenced in some form. When Mario first arrives at Peach’s castle, he meets
two Toad guards who refuse to let him enter, claiming that the princess is in another castle.
Even if it’s a bit different from the source material, the feeling of frustration we feel
from the uncooperative Toads definitely reminds us of how annoying it was to see that line in the
game so kudos to the screenwriters for that. Fans were skeptical as to whether or not the
Koopalings were going to appear in the film and thankfully they did… at least, some of them did.
At one point, Bowser has a punk band who plays for him and his minions that are comprised of several
members including Ludwig, Iggy and Lemmy. We’re not sure where Wendy, Morton, Roy or Larry were
but perhaps they’re playing in a different band. Either way, we like how these band cameos actually
reference the fact that the Koopalings were named after famous musicians, which was quite clever.
We also got a Suer Mario Odyssey reference with Bowser and Peach’s wedding attire. Near the end
of the film, Peach agrees to marry Bowser to save her Toads, causing the Koopa King
to set up an elaborate marriage ceremony for the two. In this portion of the movie,
we see Bowser is wearing the same distinctively white wedding suit he’s worn before with Peach
in a very similar bridal gown. Perhaps if Bowser tries this again, he and Peach can wear
the wedding outfits seen in Super Paper Mario. While we didn’t get to see every single location
Mario has ever traveled to in the series, we do briefly see him traversing through many
areas in a montage. When Mario, Peach and Toad set out on their quest to stop Bowser,
we see them walking through many familiar locations along the way. These include Bob-omb
Battlefield from Super Mario 64, the Sand Kingdom from Super Mario Odyssey,, Yoshi’s Island from,
well, Yoshi’s Island, the Rock Candy Mines from New Super Mario Bros. U and the Cheep
Cheep Bridge from the original Super Mario Bros. This was a great way to represent various eras or
Mario’s adventures one quick succession and made the world of the movie feel much more alive.
One of the quicker auditory references in the film is that of Mario’s ringtone. When
Mario and Luigi are waiting for calls regarding their new plumbing business, the main moustached
man’s cell phone plays out a familiar tune. Turns out that his ringtone is actually the
startup music for the Nintendo GameCube, which is a pretty cool thing to put into the film.
Speaking of the GameCube era, there was also reference to one of the classic series that
started on that system, that being Pikmin. Mario and Luigi are assigned with the task of plumbing
for a rich couple and eventually have to save their dog from falling out the window. After
catching the dog, there is a brief shot from the houses window where we can see a small statue of
a Pikmin. This is reference is pretty easy to miss but we’re glad the carrot creatures
found their way into the movie in some form. Another character who made a brief appearance was
Mario’s original love interest, Pauline. When the Brooklyn sewers are experiencing abnormal issues,
the local news interviews people about the situation, one of whom turns out be Pauline.
This is a reference to the fact how Pauline was the confirmed mayor of New Donk City in Mario
Odyssey which is obviously based on NYC. We’re glad this character found her way into the
big screen adaptation of Mario’s adventures. One character who was announced early on in the
film’s development was Foreman Spike, although it was not revealed what type of role he would
play. Upon seeing the finished product, we find out that Foreman Spike was Mario and Luigi’s old
boss before they left construction to start their own plumbing business. This is a pretty
cool subtle nod to how the game Wrecking Crew game out before Mario and Luigi were firmly
established as plumbers so it actually plays with the continuity of the games very well.
There certainly were a lot of references to mainline Mario games throughout the
film but we’re also glad they found the time to pay homage to Luigi’s Mansion. When Mario
and Luigi are first separated when entering the warp pipe under Brooklyn, Luigi ends up
in the dark lands. This causes Luigi to shine his flashlight around and call out for Mario,
much like he does in the games. If that wasn’t enough, the Dry Bones chase Luigi to a nearby
mansion which hammers the point home even more. We’re not sure if a Luigi’s Mansion spinoff is
around the conner but we at least got something for the fans of the series to appreciate here.
Super Mario Galaxy was also not forgotten about as we were also introduced to a Luma character.
This floating star known as Lumalee appears amongst the prisoners captured by Bowser and is
notable for saying some very dark but funny lines. While Lumalee hasn’t appeared in any Mario games,
the fact that they referenced the Galaxy games in such a way is really amusing and makes for some
of the better comic relief moments in the story. On Mario and Luigi’s trip from Brooklyn to the
Mushroom Kingdom there are direct references to level 1-2 from Super Mario Bros. When Mario and
Luigi are exploring the sewers, we are treated to the classic underground music which is still
being used in Mario games today. If that wasn’t enough, there is a sign behind Luigi
that states they are on level 1-2 of Brooklyn’s sewers. Very subtle and brilliant reference.
The Mario Movie also made it a point to include boss cameos at Bowser’s wedding. The Koopa King
invites se veral attendees to the wedding, including the iconic bosses King Bob-omb,
King Boo and Petey Piranha. As cool as it is to see these characters,
we’re putting this Easter Egg could be even higher on our list as these characters don’t really get
to do anything in the story of the film. That is with the exception of King Bob-omb who has
his fuse lit by Peach causing him to explode. The Mario Movie also made a couple of references
to the classic NES game Duck Hunt. This happens on two separate occasions in the film. The first
is showing a framed picture of one of the ducks in the pizzeria at the beginning of the film.
The other is a restaurant which includes a picture of a Duck Hunt duck as their logo.
It should be noted that the restaurant is named Chasse au Canard which translated into English
literally means “Duck Hunt.” Very clever. Another classic Nintendo series which received
a lot of love was Punch-Out!! At the beginning of the film, Mario and Luigi are seen watching
their commercial at a place known as Punch-Out Pizzeria. The reference doesn’t stop at the name
though as we also see framed pictures on the wall of several boxers including Little Mac,
Glass Joe and Bear Hugger. This seems to imply that Punch-Out and Mario take place in the same
universe which makes sense considering Mario was the referee in the NES game.
While we’re at it, we’ll take a brief moment to talk about all the references
in Mario’s room. While this is technically several references rolled into one scene,
we’ll briefly touch upon all of them here. Mario is seen playing an NES, specifically, the game
Kid Icarus. On Mario’s walls, we also see posters that directly reference the box art of classic NES
games like Golf and Tennis. Finally, probably the coolest reference in this scene is a model Arwing
from Star Fox which sits atop Mario’s television. Even if it’s rapid fire, these Easter Eggs are
bound to make any long-time Nintendo fan smile. Mario’s room wasn’t the only place that referenced
many Nintendo games as many Brooklyn Businesses also made nods to other games. We talked about
Punch-Out Pizzeria and Chasse au Canard but those were only scratching the surface. We also
see businesses such as Sunshine Travel Agency which references Super Mario Sunshine and ll
which references the NES game Balloon Fight. Those are pretty cool but what we consider to
be the most obscure reference in the film by far is a business called Disk-Kun Hardware.
This building features the character Diskun who was the mascot for the Famicom Disk System which
never left Japan. It’s also worth noting that Game and Watch appears on vans around Brooklyn
but we’re not sure if this is alluding to a business within the film’s universe.
There were a few flashback scenes in the film which thankfully allowed for cameos
from Baby Mario, Baby Luigi and Baby Peach. The first two were shown in a flashback where
Baby Mario protected Baby Luigi from a bully on the playground. Baby Peach was
shown in a flashback where she first entered the Mushroom Kingdom which was revealed to be
her earliest memory. We’re really glad these babies found an organic way to fit into the
plot that was both heartfelt and amusing. We all knew the introduction of Donkey Kong
was going to be a big moment and we weren’t disappointed with the implementation of the
DK Rap. Donkey Kong in this film is portrayed as an egotistical fighter who loves to showboat
and there’s no better song to get that point across that the DK Rap. Granted, we don’t get
the full song and are instead only gifted with the chorus but that was more than enough to satisfy
us. We wouldn’t be surprised if many audience members started chanting “DK! Donkey Kong!” as
soon as this moment popped up in the film and we wouldn’t blame them if they did. The only issue
with this reference is that they didn’t credit Grant Kirkhope, the track’s original composer,
in the games credits so we’ll make up for that by mentioning him in this video right now.
Speaking of Donkey Kong, the crowd scenes during the fight between him and Mario allowed for many
other Kongs to make an appearance. One is called out by name, that being Diddy,
but he isn’t the only one to appear if you look closely. We also can see Dixie, Kiddy,
Chunky, Funky and Swanky are cheering on Donkey Kong from the crowd. Who knows,
maybe only closer inspection we might find more Kongs like Lanky, Candy or Donkey Kong
Jr. lurking somewhere amongst the roster as well. Probably not Bluster but we can dream.
We never thought referencing a menu would end up as one of the coolest Easter Eggs but
this film accomplishes this by referencing the Mario Kart 8 menu screen. When Mario,
Peach and Toad are assigned with creating Karts to ride to Bowser’s castle, they encounter a
scrolling menu that allows them to choose the Kart’s body, wheels and gliding mechanisms.
This is the exact same menu the players use while selecting a Kart which turns what could have been
a boring scene into a really cool Easter Egg. One Easter Egg that we’re glad turned out as
well as they did were the cameos from Charlies Martinet. Many fans were worried that Mario’s
original voice actor was going to get shafted amongst the movie’s cast but thankfully this
was not the case as he played not only one but two very memorable minor characters.
The first character he played was Giuseppe, an Italian-American who dresses like Mario’s original
design and makes fun of Mario and Luigi’s fake accents from their commercial. Giuseppe is also
seen playing an arcade game named Jumpman, which is a reference to both the old classic Donkey Kong
arcade game and Mario’s original name. The second character he played was Mario and Luigi’s father
which is very clever and makes sense given the context of new actors voicing the duo.
These references are both smart and respectful to Martinet’s contribution to the series which is why
we’re ranking it so high up on the list. One of the earliest references the film
makes surprisingly is to The Super Mario Bros. Super Show Theme Song. This song, alternatively
known as The Super Mario Rap or Hooked on the Brothers, appears as the commercial song for
Mario and Luigi’s plumber commercials that air in Brooklyn. This is such a hilarious reference and
implemented into the film very well as it points out the cheesy aspects of it while still paying
homage to the original series. They even got Jeannie Elias, the woman who voiced Princess
Toadstool in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, to make a cameo as the woman in the commercial,
which makes this reference infinitely better. Finally, we’ll end things off by talking about the
post credit scene with the Yoshi Egg. While Yoshis do appear briefly in the film during a montage,
they aren’t interacted with by any of the of the main characters. A Yoshi Egg is given as a gift
to Bowser for the wedding between Peach and him but we don’t see any Yoshis attend the ceremony
themselves. The after credit sequence features a camera swoop through the Brooklyn sewers,
revealing a Yoshi Egg ready to hatch. The way the camera moves in this sequence may be referencing
the opening cutscenes of levels in Super Mario Sunshine which often showed shots of locations
while highlighting focal point of the mission (including Yoshi Eggs). We’re not sure that was
entirely intentional but either way, this was a really cool note to end the film with and an
excellent way to end a video about Easter Eggs. But let us know in the comment section what your
favorite Super Mario Bros. Movie Easter Egg was, as well as what we should cover next. Make
sure to hit that notification bell and binge our other videos. But most importantly, stay wicked.