Charles Martinet, who has provided the iconic voice of Mario the plumber across the various “Super Mario Bros.” games for over three decades, is retiring from the role.
Martinet says he’s “stepping back from recording character voices” for Nintendo and is transitioning into a new role as ‘Mario Ambassador’. He will now travel the world and interact with fans on behalf of the gaming company.
Martinet started at Nintendo in 1991 and first played the character in 1996’s iconic 3D platformer “Super Mario 64” which brought with it Mario’s famed high-pitched Italian intonation and catchphrases like “Let’s-a go!,” “Mamma mia” and “Wahoo”.
Since then, his voice credits as the character span across over 150 Nintendo games, including “Mario Kart” and “Super Mario Galaxy”. He had a brief cameo in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” earlier this year in the film, which saw Chris Pratt take over the voice. Nintendo of America said in a statement posted to Twitter:
“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all! It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him. Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
Martinet added in his retweet of the statement: “My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!”
Martinet is not involved in the upcoming “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” game, due out on October 20th on Nintendo Switch.
