I’m just going to put my cards on the table immediately - I don’t really care about the Mario voice. He’s an often silent protagonist who mainly speaks in ‘wahoos’, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie is not the first time his Italian origins have been made into Italian-American by way of Brooklyn. You could hear that twang in Pratt’s voice, though many seemed to pretend they couldn’t. I’ve long been on the record as a Chris Pratt Mario voice defender, so when I sat down with the man himself, I had to ask - did he realise the voice of Mario was going to be such a big deal?
“I didn’t, no. I was a little taken aback by it,” he admits. “People are sensitive about this. And they should be, because this is a huge piece of IP. It's part of all of our childhoods. If anyone comes along and screws up Mario, I'm going to be pretty pissed. I was grateful that I'm part of the team that got to collaborate and work on it and I'm proud to say we didn't screw it up.”
Pratt’s on-screen brother, Charlie Day, understands what people’s expectations are, but points out where the voices are coming from, and makes the case that once people see the movie, they may well warm to these versions. “People grow up with the games and what the characters sound like within the games. I don't think they were referencing the old cartoons, or certainly the old movie. In the games, you have a certain thing you're used to hearing. So if you hear something different when you see it, you gotta get adjusted for a second.”
It’s also worth noting that Pratt and Day both do the classic Italian accents in the movie briefly, which Pratt has even been touring during this junket. Outside of die-hard Mario purists, it’s difficult to feel like a full 90 minute movie (and potential cinematic universe) of the high pitched Italian stereotypes wouldn’t get old extremely quickly.
The movie is in a tough position, and Pratt and Day with it, because for all Mario is a beloved character, the narrative has never been a central part of the appeal. This leaves the movie with a lot of cultural touchstones that it needs to weave together into a compelling story, while staying true to vague ideas about the brothers and grounding them inside an invented narrative that is fresh to the Super Mario world, but also feels at home. In doing that, Mario and Luigi need to have a little more depth and texture, and with that comes adapting the voice to support an adventure that leads with story, not platforming.
There is a case to be made that Charles Martinet, the long-serving Mario and Luigi actor, has a terrific range that would have allowed him to change the typical Mario voice into something more like the Mario we hear. But then, if he’s changing the Mario voice then it’s not the Mario voice anyway, and while it can be disappointing, it is typical for video game voice actors to be recast for Hollywood stars when big budget adaptations roll around. As for Martinet himself, when the cast was first revealed we were promised Martinet would have “surprise cameos”, and while I can’t talk about what they are, I think fans will be satisfied by the respectful way the movie treats Martinet’s contribution to Super Mario’s legacy.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is in cinemas April 5.