Summary

• An anime film based on Super Mario Bros. was released in Japan in 1986, but the franchise would benefit from a new anime.
• Super Mario Bros. characters have expanded into various spin-offs like Super Princess Peach and Mario Kart, and they would be a great anime cast.
• Miyamoto's vision for Mario as a normal guy could lead to a slice-of-life Super Mario Bros. anime series.

While Super Mario Bros. is primarily known as a legendary game series franchise, it actually has an anime that few know about, and it needs a reboot immediately. Just after the release of the first NES Super Mario, an anime film based on the game was created and released only in Japan.

Shigeru Miyamoto’s first characters, Donkey Kong, Pauline, and Super Mario, first appeared in 1981. Next came the 1983 arcade game, Mario Bros., until finally, Super Mario Bros. was released on the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) on September 13, 1985. Since then, the imaginative world of Super Mario Bros. has reached every corner of the globe.

Fun Fact: Mario's name in Donkey Kong (1981) was originally "Jump Man."

For over 30 years, the franchise has expanded into a major game series with multiple spin-offs, including Super Princess Peach, Luigi’s Mansion, Mario Kart, and more. In 1993, Mario was seen on the big screen in a live-action movie, and again in 2023 in an animated film by Illumination, starring Chris Pratt and Charlie Day as the iconic brotherly duo. However, the animated film was only released in Japan, so very few fans know about it, and it needs a series reboot ASAP.

A Super Mario Bros. Anime & Manga Series Already Exist (But They’re Very Old)

Few fans are aware of the anime film and manga series based on the Mario franchise released over 30 years ago

On July 20, 1986, the animated Super Mario Bros. film: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach!, was released in Japan. Four years later, Super Mario-Kun, a monthly manga in CoroCoro Comic, was serialized in November 1990. Both the anime and manga were translated for a worldwide audience to enjoy. However, The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! didn’t receive an English dub until 36 years after its initial release, when a group of die-hard fans came together to re-dub the Japanese animated film. Since the original anime and manga, Super Mario Bros. has not received an updated anime adaptation.

Illumination Animation Studios produced the first major SMB film since the 1993 train-wreck starring Bob Hoskins and John Leguizamo. Led by Christopher Melendandri and Shigeru Miyamoto, The Super Mario Bros. Movie became one of Universal Studios’ highest-grossing films of all time, earning $146 million on its opening weekend. The project was also nominated for multiple Golden Globes, including Best Motion Animated Picture and Best Original Song. The films’ overwhelming success left fans, both new and old, wanting more expansive stories, exploring the fantastical world of the Mario gang.

The Intricate Relationship Between Studio Ghibli and Nintendo

The fascinating history between Studio Ghibli and Nintendo could reveal that a Super Mario anime series is highly plausible

Super Mario Bros. has taken tidbits of inspiration from the Japanese animation studio, Studio Ghibli, which is one of the main reasons an anime adaptation reboot makes perfect sense. Yoichi Kotabe, a Japanese animator, played a pivotal role in the connection between Studio Ghibli and Nintendo. After leaving Toei Animation, Kotabe worked closely with Hayao Miyazaki, who would later become the director of Studio Ghibli. Together, Kotabe and Miyazaki helped to create The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun, which is considered by some to be the first unofficial Studio Ghibli film.

Around the same time, Hiroshi Ikeda, a former writer and director for Toei Animation, began working for Nintendo. He hired Kotabe to help Shigeru Miyamoto, who was a graphic designer at the time, develop Nintendo’s animation techniques and character designs for the iconic franchise, Super Mario Bros. Years later, Miyamoto, now a game director at Nintendo, itted that he regularly takes inspiration from Studio Ghibli’s storytelling and art styles. This underlying connection between the two ired studios further exemplifies why a Super Mario Bros. anime adaptation is perfectly plausible.

The Expansive Possibilities of a Super Mario Bros. Anime Series

Since the first Mario-themed game in 1981, Nintendo has provided a plethora of lore to explore

As seen in the 2023 movie, the Super Mario Bros. franchise is filled to the brim with Easter eggs, fan theories, and canon lore. For example, some of the most famous theories surround the original 1981 Donkey Kong game. There is a theory that the original protagonists, Jump Man and Pauline, are Mario and Luigi’s parents. On the other hand, since the release of Super Mario Odyssey in 2017, some speculate that Pauline is Mario’s ex-girlfriend.

Other unanswered questions include the true identities of Wario and Waluigi in relation to the Mario Bros., Peach’s parents, Daisy’s familial relation to Peach, and Bowser Jr.’s mother. Furthermore, some of the existing canon lore is somewhat contradictory. In the officially licensed Prima guides for Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart Wii, Daisy is stated to be Peach’s ive, fiery cousin. However, in Super Mario-Kun, Daisy is depicted as Peach’s rival, constantly battling for Mario’s attention. Regardless, it is clear that an anime series could provide long-awaited answers to some old fan theories and conflicting canon lore.

A Statement from Miyamoto Could Change the Whole Genre of Super Mario Bros.

Miyamoto stated that he wants Mario to be seen as more than just a superhero

With its arduous obstacle courses and iconic battle sequences, Super Mario Bros. could best be categorized as a Shōnen anime, alongside series like One Piece, Naruto, and Demon Slayer. While Illumination gave audiences a taste of the brothers’ day-to-day life at the film's beginning, the ending was cut short. As a result, fans were robbed of seeing the Bros. embrace their new life in the Mushroom Kingdom. However, a statement from Miyamoto during an interview with Variety, could inspire a whole new exploration of the Mario franchise: a slice-of-life element,

“I do not want Mario to be a superhero that is always on a pedestal. I want him to be a normal guy who doesn’t seek attention too much.” - Shigeru Miyamoto

Quintessential elements of slice-of-life anime include beach trips, sports games, and festival episodes. Both light-hearted and action anime with these beloved, real-life moments are effortlessly popular among viewers, making it the perfect addition to the Super Mario Bros. universe. However, every slice-of-life series needs a memorable, dynamic cast of characters, and Nintendo has crafted just that: Brooklyn plumbers Mario and Luigi, and their royal companions, Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom and Princess Daisy of Sarasaland.

Super Mario Bros. Characters That Deserve More Screen-Time

An anime series could bring some well-deserving characters to the forefront

While the overall-clad protagonists could easily bring an anime series to life, the side characters capture the audience’s hearts, like with any anime series. Nintendo pleasantly surprised fans with new games like Princess Peach: Showtime! and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, both of which have key female figures. Additionally, the latter marked Daisy’s first appearance in a mainstream Mario game. An anime series incorporating powerful, complex female characters such as Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Pauline, and Rosalina could make a Super Mario Bros. anime series really shine.

Furthermore, a budding romance between two of Nintendo’s most underrated characters could be the anime series’ biggest asset. The franchise’s use of Princess Daisy has always been sporadic. The competitive princess mainly appears as a side character in spin-offs such as Mario Strikers. However, in the 1993 film, Daisy replaced Peach as the primary love interest alongside John Leguizamo's Luigi. The most intriguing Easter egg surrounding Daisy and Luigi’s relationship is in Mario Kart Wii (2008) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. On the orange princess’s titular course, Daisy Circuit, a massive statue depicting a dance with her supposed love interest, sits in the center.

Finally, one of the defining traits of Mario games, the boss battles, could bring the Super Mario anime series to the next level. Bowser has become one of the most recognizable villains in video game history. However, the SMB universe includes countless antagonists that would prove to be an epic challenge for Mario and the gang to overcome, including Mr. L, Luigi’s little-known alter-ego. King Boo, Dimentio, Fawful, Foreman Spike, and Count Bleck are just a few examples of the many foes that could produce legendary fight sequences in an anime series.

Shigeru Miyamoto is Protective of Mario’s Legacy, Which Could Help Bring His Story to Life

A Super Mario Bros. anime series could ease Miyamoto’s worries, putting creative power back in Nintendo’s hands

The 2023 Illumination adaptation of Super Mario Bros. was a raging success, but it didn’t happen overnight. Chris Melendandri of Illumination Studios worked closely with Miyamoto to secure the right to the esteemed franchise. Since the box-office failure of the 1993 film, along with severe fan and cast backlash, Nintendo was hesitant to allow another adaptation to be produced. However, the 2023 film became one of the most successful video game adaptations of all time, exceeding the studios’ expectations.

While Miyamoto’s fears were eased upon the success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, an anime series could be a fantastic way for Miyamoto and Nintendo to have complete creative control of the franchise. One aspect that Miyamoto was ionate about when negotiating with Nintendo was the film’s resemblance to the video games:

“The reason we were so resistant and careful to adapt our games into movies is because in video games there is always a player who overcomes challenges and fights their way through. Their struggle — redoing the levels over and over — is all part of it.”

A multi-episodic series of Super Mario and his friends could capture the magic of the Illumination film and so much more. Super Mario Bros., Nintendo’s crown jewel, has an anime and manga series that very few know about, but it needs a reboot now more than ever.