(gaming music)
- [Narrator] Crawling through underground pipes.
Racing to catch a mushroom.
And saving Princess Peach.
All things you did in the Mushroom Kingdom.
You might think you know everything about your favorite
high-pitched, turtle- squashing, Italian plumber but,
you have no idea.
(gaming music)
Let's start from the beginning, the very beginning.
Guess when Nintendo was founded.
In the 19th century, 1889 to be exact.
They started out as playing cards manufacturer
and, as years passed, expanded their lines of products.
Going from toys to instant rice and even taxi services.
Fast forward to the 1970s, the company is
in dire financial straights and is looking
to reinvent itself. With the golden age of video games
in full swing, Nintendo saw an opportunity to join the fray.
So, they entrusted a young artist to lead their initiative.
A man that would ultimately change video games forever.
This is Shigeru Miyamoto, the world famous creator
of the world famous character
- [Shigeru] Mario.
- [Narrator] And this is how Mario got his look.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] But that was quite a challenge in 8-bit.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] And one thing let to another.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Now our character needed, well, a name.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] That video game was Donkey Kong.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] And that silly hero had a signature move.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Mr. Video become Jumpman,
a carpenter climbing ladders on a construction site.
But, he needed a more relatable name.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] To a warehouse in Seattle to be precise.
And what happened there?
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] That landlord was Mario Segale,
and he looked like this, with a mustache.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Wait, so that guy inspired Mario's name?
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] So, we had a funny idea:
We wanted to look for Mario Segale.
That elusive landlord, turns out he still lives
in the Seattle area, and he's still in real estate.
In fact, he's quite a mogul.
His name is even on a street sign.
We tried to call him to ask about Mario,
but he didn't want to comment on the matter.
What happened in that warehouse stays in that warehouse.
(Mario sound effects)
- After Donkey Kong, our hero was ready to be a star
on his own, so Miyomoto set out to design him his own world.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Mario was jumping over pipes.
So naturally, he became a plumber.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Instead, Mario was kind of a chubby,
blue collar hero.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] And players got to enjoy even more
of Mario with his doppelgänger.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Like Mario, his name has quite a story.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] And it was meant to be.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Although the Mario brothers have a lot
in common, Mario, he remained the true star.
And ultimately, he's more than a video game character.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
- [Narrator] We see him pretty much everywhere.
But, we'll never look at the Nintendo mascot the same way.
Mario is a legend, and so is his creator.
(Shigeru speaks in foreign language)
(gaming music)
- [Mario] Yi-hoo-hoo.
(chime)