The 6th "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire" - How did Hollywood adapt the black ship of entertainment, video games, into a movie? The 6th "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire" - How did Hollywood adapt the black ship of entertainment, the video game, into a movie? We rewatched it before the release of the latest movie!

According to Toho Towa, the worldwide box-office revenue has exceeded 100 billion yen (Reference article: 4Gamer.net "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" has exceeded 100 billion yen at the worldwide box-office. In the U.S., it was number one for three consecutive weeks. " # ), which shows how long the "Super Mario Bros.

However, this is actually not the first time that "Super Mario Bros." has been made into a movie. A live-action movie "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire" was released exactly 30 years ago in 1993. The supposedly jovial Mario howls, "I'm going to break all their bones and then I'm going to kill them! The "Mushroom Tribe," which was cute in the original game, is represented as a realistic mushroom that spews mucus, and the cute Yoshi appears as a realistic dinosaur. Princess Peach also appears as a "? blocks do not exist in this live-action version, which none of the fans could have predicted. The famous copy of this film is "Mario made Hollywood take him seriously," but knowing the circumstances, we can glimpse another meaning to this copy.

Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire" takes place in Brooklyn, a section of New York City in the modern United States. Brothers Mario and Luigi live there working as plumbers. One day, Luigi meets Daisy, a woman who studies fossils, and falls in love at first sight. With Mario's advice, Luigi and Daisy get into a good mood, but their happiness does not last long. Daisy is captured by a mysterious dinosaur and taken underground. Luigi and Mario follow her and find themselves in Dinohattan, a city of the Dinosaur Empire, where humans evolved from dinosaurs.

The Dinosaur Empire is a dystopia where the dictator Bowser has established an oppressive regime, and people are imprisoned for singing a song that makes fun of the current situation. The entire area has been infested by a mysterious "mushroom fungus," and the situation is bleak with no resources or food. Bowser hates the mammals that roam the rich terrestrial world, and plans to invade with his "degenerative gun," a weapon that causes all living creatures to degenerate. In order to connect the isolated dinosaur empire with the terrestrial world, Daisy's pendant is necessary, and in order to obtain it, Bowser has kidnapped her. Thus, Mario and Luigi confront Bowser in order to get Daisy back.

When the movie was shown in real time, many people probably went to see the "Super Mario Bros." movie and were amazed to see a setting like the dinosaur empire in "Getter Robot. When I rewatched the movie again for the purpose of writing this article, I was still amazed at the "Getter Robot" like setting. （The dinosaur people of the Dinosaur Empire (from the "Super Mario Bros." movie) are said to have evolved from dinosaurs, but they look just like humans. They are not covered in scales or have clawed fingers, and some of them have tattoo-like patterns on their faces. The cities they have built are not much different from human ones. The only differences are that "they are generally dirty" and "they sell bread with baked lizards on it," again, a setting that is easy on the props team. Signs use the alphabet and people can communicate with each other in English (by the way, there are also signs for tattoo stores in the city. The aforementioned facial pattern is also a dinosaur characteristic or a tattoo (it is unclear whether it is a tattoo or not).

Of course, the game's familiar "?" blocks and green clay pipes are not supposed to appear. If you showed this picture of the dinosaur empire to someone with no prior knowledge of the game, it would be hard for them to realize that this is a "Super Mario Bros." movie.

A misinterpretation has also occurred in the characterization and clothing of Mario and his friends. In the original film, Mario is cheerful, but in this film he is portrayed as a bit peculiar. He seems to have a good heart, as he took in Luigi, who is not related to him, and raised him well, but when he sees that Luigi has a crush on Daisy, he lacks delicacy and tells Daisy to attack him. He also has a strong old man's temperament, saying "Tap water is free, right?

Luigi, on the other hand, is very shy. He plays video games every day and likes to watch occult programs, which shows his geekiness, but when the time comes, he is a good young man who shows his ability to take action. Aside from Luigi, Mario's character is far removed from the original game. Mario and Luigi wear regular clothes instead of their trademark overalls. Mario stubbornly refuses to wear red, and Luigi does not wear green. It is only after 2/3 of the film's running time that they start wearing the overalls that were familiar in the advertisements at the time, which were a reproduction of the original film. Until then, the duo, who neither look like Mario nor Luigi, will be active in the film. Now, if you have read this far and wondered, "When does Princess Peach appear?" I'm sure some of you are wondering, "When does Princess Peach appear? Unfortunately, Princess Peach does not appear in this film, and Mario has a girlfriend named Daniela. Although Daniela's middle name is "Pauline," a reference to "Donkey Kong," many people would have liked to have seen Princess Peach as well.

Yoshi and Mushrooms treated too differently.

The dinosaur empire is a lawless town. The pendant Daisy left with them was first stolen by an old woman robber, then robbed by Big Bertha, a hulking woman, from the old woman. Combined with the characters' punk-inspired outfits, it is like "Fist of the North Star" in which the weak are the strong and the strong are the weak. Caught by the local police, Mario and Luigi were put in jail, but they escaped by stealing a police car. They force their pursuers to fight amongst themselves and successfully free themselves. The scene in which criminals scream and car chases unfold in the jail looks more like the crime-themed game "Grand Theft Auto (GTA)" than "Super Mario Bros. The police car also has a menacing design with a bare engine on the hood and bulldozer-like blades on the front, and the scene of the police car fighting looks like something out of "Mad Max" or "Vigilante 8," where cars battle in a post-apocalyptic world. Even as a recreation of "Mario Kart" in its own way, the violence is too intense.

Thus, rather than recreating the "Super Mario Bros." world, this film seems to have been made in the style of a Hollywood movie. When Mario curses the dinosaurs who abducted Daisy, "I'm going to break all their bones and then I'm going to kill them! Mario is more like a "typical Hollywood movie hero" than Mario. Bowser, too, is portrayed as a carnivorous character who is happy to soak in the bath with his mistress Rena, another "typical Hollywood movie villain.

It would be easy to dismiss the film if it were completely different from the original, but it is a problem because there are sometimes recreations of the original story. Big Bertha is equipped with mechanical shoes that allow her to jump and the cops with guns that shoot fireballs, and these elements make you forget that this is an adaptation of "Super Mario Bros.

One of the most memorable elements is the arrangement of Yoshi and the mushrooms. In the original story, Yoshi is Mario's companion and a dinosaur-like creature. He is cute to look at, and his long tongue swallowing fruits and enemies is reliable but comical. Yoshi in this film appears as Bowser's pet, and he and Daisy have a heart-to-heart talk. In one scene, when Daisy is attacked by Rena, Yoshi saves Daisy by tugging on her ankle with his tongue and making her fall down. It is a heartwarming scene that clearly conveys Yoshi's feelings for Daisy, but the fact that Yoshi looks like a real small dinosaur, combined with the graphic screams of Lena as she is dragged away, makes the scene seem like something out of a horror movie. It reminds me once again of the time when the film was shown in real time and I thought to myself, "In the future, I will not ride off or treat Yoshi-san roughly in a video game.

The mushrooms in this film are mainly represented as "mushroom fungus. In the original "Super Mario Bros. The Mushroom Kingdom is a picturesque land with blue skies and clear waters, where the mild-mannered "Mushroom People," who wear marshmallow-like hats, live peacefully. Another iconic scene in the series is when Mario takes a Super Mushroom and grows into a giant.

The mushrooms in this film, on the other hand, are the "mushroom fungus" that spreads throughout the Dinosaur Empire and is represented as a thin, sticky film that envelops the city. The "mushroom fungus" is the people who were regressed by Bowser, and their leader, the Mushroom King, has survived as an egg-like mass. The "eggs" appear clinging with mucus, just like in the movie "Alien. In the instruction manual for "Super Mario Bros." it is written that "the blocks scattered around the Mushroom Kingdom are the citizens transformed by Bowser's magic (external link: Nintendo's official website: # )," and this is reproduced in the dinosaurs! The "mushroom fungus" that proliferates here and there in the empire is a reproduction of this.

However, the treatment of mushrooms in the movie is very different from that in the original story. Mario and his friends are clearly creeped out when they see the "eggs" of the Mushroom King, and the police in the Dinosaur Empire are thoroughly disinfecting the area to exterminate the "mushroom fungus. The "Mushroom Tribe," which was gentle in the original story, is treated as "an eerie presence that encroaches upon us without our knowledge. Of course, the super mushrooms do not appear, nor do they grow to giant sizes.

In the eight years between its release in 1985 and this film, the world of "Super Mario Bros." has been consistently portrayed as a fantastic one, and it is not difficult to imagine that Nintendo has carefully nurtured the series. One can only imagine how those involved must have felt when they saw the Mushroom King depicted as a sphere covered in eerie mucus. The reason why "Super Mario Bros." was not made into a movie for the next 30 years may have nothing to do with the way it was treated in Hollywood.

Mario characters arranged in Hollywood style

Toward the end of the film, the battle for the pendant and Daisy reaches its climax. Bowser has mass-produced a "degenerate gun" that degenerates the opponents he shoots and is ready to invade the earth. With the world in peril, Mario and Luigi change into overalls that recreate the original story and rush into Bowser's stronghold. The Mario brothers, aided here and there by the "mushroom fungus," play with Bowser's minions. Luigi shows off his magical sensory abilities when he says, "The mushrooms are talking to me! but there is no clear explanation as to why he has such power.

Finally, Bowser sets out on his own, gun in hand. He gets into a basket that is apparently carrying coal in town and shoots a fireball at Mario. The basket looks like Bowser's vehicle, "Bowser Crown," and the "degenerate gun" resembles the Super Scope, a bazooka-type peripheral for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, making it hard to forget that this is an adaptation of "Super Mario Bros.

Mario also fights back, using a mushroom crust to prevent the "degenerate gun," but Bowser's advantage is unshakable. Mario is in a critical situation, but Bowser is stopped by a walking bomb, the Bomb Soldier, which also appeared in the original story.

The mushroom fungus entrusts Luigi with the Bomb Soldier, which sneaks up on Bowser and explodes. The world was saved. The Bomb Soldier is designed exactly as it was in the original story, and its spring-loaded, slow-walking appearance is adorable. In the dialogue, he is called "Bob-omb," but for some reason, the subtitles on the DVD version refer to him as "Bo Bomb. It is not clear if this is a churlish attempt to say, "This movie is different from 'Super Mario Bros.

Thus, "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire" is misinterpreted in many ways, from the character images to the setting. Overall, the film is interpreted in a realistic and Hollywood-like manner, and those who are familiar with the original game may feel some discomfort.

One of the most noteworthy scenes is Mario deceiving a woman at a disco. In order to get back the pendant that was stolen by Big Bertha, Mario tries to approach her with the words, "I'll win her over with my charm! He tries to approach the woman, "I'll drop you with my charm! When Big Bertha refuses to let him hit her, he asks her to hit him again, and eventually they have cheeky time. The two dance nicely, but Mario's only goal from the beginning is the pendant. After taking the pendant from Big Bertha's chest, Mario disappears.

He has a good relationship with his girlfriend Daniela, and he is quite a womanizer, as a little advice to the shy Luigi will help him get along with Daisy ....... He is also a womanizer, as when he gives a little advice to the shy Luigi, which goes down well with Daisy. When Mario is cornered by Bowser's men, she saves him by giving him a pair of mecha shoes, which makes us feel both sorry for him and pity him.

As for Daniela, she seems to have forgotten that she has been kidnapped by the Dinosaur Empire, and only remembers when people around her point it out.

As a result, Mario in this film can be seen as a gigolo who takes advantage of women in a calculating manner, which is very different from the Mario we have imagined from the game.

The Clash of Emerging Media: Video Games and Traditional Media: Movies

In "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Kingdom," the filmmakers have tried to bring the world of "Super Mario Bros." closer to the grammar of Hollywood films, in other words, to "realistically interpret" the fantastical world at all costs. Take, for example, Mario's trademark big jump. Since a big jump like the one in the game is impossible in real life, it is interpreted as an ability of mecha-shoes. Mario and Big Bertha are entrusted with the item by a resident of the dinosaur empire (Big Bertha), but it is not realistic for Mario and Big Bertha to be entrusted with the item until the relationship between them deepens, which is later in the story, resulting in almost no scenes of Mario making big jumps. ...... This is my personal opinion, but I can't help but think that they are trying to make the gap between the Hollywood-style "realistic interpretation" and the original story into something funny. I am sorry to say that this is a bit old-fashioned, but it seems to be intended to be a "realistic Sazae-san" (Sazae-san and her family are thrown into the real world and portrayed as housewives who are tired of their lives, and the gap between their worldviews is turned into a laugh), which was popular in the secondary creation scene in the past. How did this happen? The American information magazine Variety interviewed the film's director, Rocky Morton, and there is an interesting passage in the interview.

"The director believes the film was swept up in the negative cultural attitudes toward video games in the 1990s. "In the U.S., people thought of video games as evil monsters that polluted our youth and affected their brains and diets," and "Hollywood's 'let's make a movie about video games' was the straw that broke the camel's back (meaning that things explode beyond the limit of what they can bear, as in the English It was the straw that broke the camel's back and opened the floodgates of people's resentment toward video games. The 'Super Mario Bros.' movie was at the forefront of this and took the flak .

Thinking back on this article in light of this article, there is a sense in which the film's questions are answered. In the film, there is a scene in which Mario and Bowser express their disgust at the spread of the "mushroom fungus. This makes sense when you consider that this is the very reaction that Hollywood and the adults of the time had toward video games. They probably saw games as something that would infiltrate their world like mushroom fungus. Although backlash is always inevitable with new things, this is still a very strong reaction. Although it is hard to avoid the accusation of "checkmating," it is understandable that the copy "Mario has made Hollywood really serious," which was incomprehensible at the time. It is not hard to see this film as a serious rival to video games in the same entertainment industry, competing with each other for disposable income.

After this, the film adaptation of "Super Mario Bros." ceased for 30 years, but Nintendo continued to make games in the Mario series during that time, never compromising the worldview. Even in those times, adventures have been had; 2017's "Super Mario Odyssey" features a "New Donk City" reminiscent of New York City. The way Mario flies around in the metropolis, which is depicted in a slightly more photorealistic manner than in previous titles, has the power to convince fans that if there were to be a Mario movie, this is the kind of movie they would want (oddly, the outline of Mario's adventures in a New York-like city is shared with "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire"). (Oddly enough, the outline of Mario in a New York-like city is the same as that of "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Empire").

Times have changed in the past 30 years. The generation that was familiar with video games has grown up, and the prejudices of the 1990s have faded. Nowadays, even if Mario makes a big jump, the "? blocks exist in the "Mushroom Kingdom," no one would say that they are unrealistic. This is the result of Nintendo's 30 years of producing high-quality Mario series that can be enjoyed by all ages.

And now, with a full house, "The Super Mario Brothers Movie" has arrived. The Super Mario Brothers Movie" is not a live-action film, but a CG animated film, and Nintendo and Illumination are co-producers of the film. This structure may have learned from "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Kingdom".

In this sense, "Super Mario: Goddess of the Magic Kingdom" was a meaningful film in the history of video games. I am looking forward to seeing how "The Super Mario Brothers Movie," which was produced by Nintendo itself and will be released at a time when prejudice against video games has disappeared, will turn out to be.

(Text by Shinichi Yanamoto)