Arguably the only bit of controversy “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” has faced at all in the lead-up to its release has been the hiring of Chris Pratt for the voice of Mario. Once the trailers came out, the concerns did seem to deflate somewhat even as they certainly didn’t dissipate.
The filmmakers explained the character has to sound like an Italian-American plumber from Brooklyn. What we’ve got is what sounds like Pratt attempting a Brooklyn accent.
Now Pratt and co-star Charlie Day, who voices Luigi in the film, appeared in the UK on “The One Show” talk show to speak about the film where the pair sat alongside Paris Hilton who was out promoting something else.
Pratt explained why the game’s voice wouldn’t work for a full-length feature, even showcasing a good approximation of Charles Martinet’s voice:
“There are only a handful of things we’ve ever really heard Mario say, like ‘Wahoo!’ and those types of things. ‘It’s-a-me! Let’s go!’ So we were trying to find a way to put that into the movie but in a way that would be congruent with a storyline of these working-class American guys from Brooklyn.”
Day also chimed in, saying Pratt “can’t say ‘It’s-a-me!’ for 90 minutes… 10 minutes in, we know it’s you.” You can see the explanation for yourself in the video below.
The film also features the voices of Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek, and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” opens in cinemas everywhere on April 5th.
"Mario and Luigi are Sliving"
Could you get more iconic catchphrases than Mario and @ParisHilton?@PrattPrattPratt, Charlie Day and Paris discuss iconic catchphrases#TheOneShow https://t.co/Yzo6QpbdQv #SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/NhEEBOvoKo
— BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) March 16, 2023
