by Pierre Lorenz on April 6, 2023

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" is currently running in theaters and is winning over fans. The animation style is particularly well received, which is why we would like to take a spoiler-free look behind the scenes of the film.

The movie's production was in the works for quite a while. The last time a Mario movie was released was back in 1993, during the golden age of Nintendo's world-famous games, and it proved to be a huge flop. The gloomy fantasy adventure looked more like a science fiction thriller than a fun video game adaptation. Following this letdown, there was years of uncertainty about further adaptations for the cinema. Nintendo was very hesitant about the movie adaptation rights and wanted to avoid another flop at all costs. At the end of 2017, it was eventually reported that Nintendo was in talks with Universal and Illumination in regards to a film adaptation. Just a few weeks later, things got clearer and a release date of 2022 was set, which was not that far off with the actual release now at the beginning of April 2023.

The fact that the movie was produced by Illumination is not a coincidence. The animation studio belongs to the parent company Universal Pictures and was able to achieve worldwide success with "Despicable Me" and "Minions". The entire animation process was done at Illumination Studios Paris and it took a little more than a year to finish. As a result, most of the work was done last October, and those responsible were free to start promoting the movie before its release. According to director Michael Jelenic, the technologies used for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" were upgraded, so that the lighting effects in particular were raised to a new level.

In an interview with Animation Magazine, directors Jelenic and Aaron Horvath describe the movie's style as cartoon-like and semi-realistic at the same time. Those in charge wanted to create the feeling of a big adventure movie, where it's not necessarily clear whether the characters will survive the spectacle. In order to achieve this, a lot of time was invested in the design of the individual characters, so that they come across as being much more down-to-earth compared to other, cartoon-like animated films. Donkey Kong has been given an almost complete makeover. The barrel rolling monkey has been reworked since the 1994 video game "Donkey Kong Country" and looks more modern now. After the international premiere, many critics praised not only the clear nostalgia factor for longtime fans, but above all the film's visuals, into which plenty of time had obviously been put.

Another highlight is the movie's score, which has been highly praised. The man behind it is U.S. composer Brian Tyler, who has a lot of experience in the film business. Among other projects, he scored "The Expendables" movies, "Iron Man 3" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" and thus clearly has a background in the action genre. The choice of Tyler as the person in charge speaks for the fact that Illumination definitely wanted to focus on action. Work on the sound design, by the way, did not begin until after the animation was completed, so that the recordings with professional orchestras began at the end of October 2022. It paid off, as the film offers fans what they've come to love over the decades: a treasure trove of musical themes and sound effects.

Anyone who was still undecided about watching the movie in theaters has now hopefully been given a reason to go and see it. Particularly viewers who already enjoyed the games in their childhood should get their money's worth. If you've already seen the movie, feel free to let us know your impressions in the comments!