Here are 10 things you may not know about our favorite video game character Mario:
- Mario was first seen in the video game Donkey Kong, but he was called "Jumpman." He was also a carpenter then, not a plumber.
- Mario was named after Mario Segale, the landlord of Nintendo of America's office, who barged in on a company meeting demanding an overdue rent.
- Shigeru Miyamoto drew Mario as wearing a cap because he found drawing hair difficult. He also drew in the moustache, because it was easier to see than a mouth in the crude video game screen resolution back then.
- Mario and his younger brother Luigi are known as the "Mario Brothers." This means that Mario's last name is also Mario, so his full name is Mario Mario.
- Mario is voice-acted by Charles Martinet, who crashed the audition for "an Italian plumber from Brooklyn" character. Here's an interview with the man:
YouTube Link
- Mario's nemesis is Wario (a combination of "warui", the Japanese word for bad, and Mario). Similarly, Luigi's rival is Waluigi. Both are also voiced by Charles Martinet.
- Mario has appeared in over 200 video games so far, has sold over 193 million units of games (all of the Mario series) and even has his own TV cartoon show. Super Mario Bros. 3 alone grossed over $500 million in USA.
- TV Schmeve, you're nothing till there's an opera done on you. In 2003, Jonathan Mann of California Institute of Arts created The Mario Opera, a rock opera:
YouTube Link
- Super Mario Bros. theme music, written by Koji Kondo, is known worldwide. It has inspired countless fan-renditions, including one played by Zack Kim on two guitars (viewed over 4 million times on YouTube!), played by Jean Baudin on 11 string bass, beatboxed by Greg Patillo on the flute, and played by the Oregon Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra on the trombones.
- Mario is the most famous character in the history of video games, and perhaps is the most famous character ever. In a 1990 poll by Marketing Evaluations, Mario was found to be more popular (and recognizable) among children than Mickey Mouse.
Notice that the names are Mario Mario and Luigi Mario.
Great article, i loved the interview with the real life voice of mario
Fixed. If your name is Bob Smith and your brother is Dan Smith, are you the Smith Brothers or the Bob Brothers? Get out.
Actually he used a cap because with a cap he could make it clear when mario was jumping or not (that's why it's off his head when in the air)...
This has been debunked by Nintendo publicly several times.
Yeah, we all take the Mario Bros movie as official canon in the Mario universe right?
/\/\sarcasm/\/\
Oh, sonic sucks. Up his ass with broken glass!
WTF are you people going on about.
Who cares if he "officially" had a surname or not?
They use Super as an adjective i.e they are the mario brothers and they are super cool
Is that canon enough for you?
I agree with you about the movie though, that was an abomination.
/Louis brothers?
//Lewis brothers?
http://maltastar.com/pages/msfullart.asp?an=15214
Plus, he even had his own anime show. Mind you, I don't know if this is the only episode or not, but it's pretty cool.
http://www.videogamesblogger.com/2006/10/08/classic-nes-review-super-mario-bros.htm
also people are saying that they don't officially have a surname, well logically they do because in example
Person one he is called "John Doe"
He has a brother called "Joshua Doe"
They will be known as the Doe brothers, not John brothers, not Joshua Brothers, just Doe brothers,
to help prove this correct is the fact that a whole family there last name is erm "Flint" so there last name is now Flint lol, that means they are known as the Flint family just like the simpsons family, so it would be Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Bart Simpson, Maggie Simpson and Lisa Simpson, so why should it be any diffrent with the Mario Brothers, its not no diffrent!, for another example, lets say Mario and Luigi's dad is called Ryan and there mother's name is Rochelle, then they could be called the Mario Family?, making there names : Mario Mario, Luigi Mario, Ryan Mario, Rochelle Mario.
i hope this helps anyone lol! =]
(mario rules)
God I wish I had had the skill and imagination to come up with a name
like Mario Mario, what panache.
I am sitting here watching my 9 year old son have a lifetime of high blood
pressure from playing this darn game.
Marios last name is goldstein as shown in episode 19 of the super mario super show.
plz guys, come on, that was easy.
They're the goldstein bros.
-.-