Of all the movies that have and will come out this year, by far one of the most surprising and entertaining ones to come out is the Super Mario Bros Movie. Produced by Illumination and released this April, the movie was a surprising box-office success. Making nearly over $400 million dollars in its first week of release, the movie broke many animated and regular movie records all across the world. It’s the third highest grossing movie in Mexico, it has grossed over $1 Billion Dollars worldwide, and it is the highest grossing video game adaptation of all time. The Super Mario Bros have also almost surpassed The Minions, as Illumination’s most successful movie ever. 

Now how did this idea get started? A good video game adaptation? Over the years many people have sought to create such a thing. However, many of them have fallen short. The Halo series, the Monster hunter Movie, and the Lara Croft movie are just a few examples that have not only failed to meet expectations, but some have even damaged the fan base of the original series. Many of the mistakes made by people when adapting is that they stray away from the original source material too much. The Scooby Doo franchise is a good example of good and bad adaptations. From Mystery Incorporated to Velma, that franchise is a good reference for making adaptations. 

So what did Nintendo do differently? How did they make a good adaptation? Well, their first big choice was to choose which studio to help them produce the movie. This decision could have drastically different effects on the movie had they chosen to go with a different company. The style, passing, and length of the movie could all have been affected by the studio. So the choice of Illumination to help them create a family-friendly animated movie was a no-brainer. However, this choice also had its ups and downs. Illumination is famous for not only making high-grossing animated family movies but for also having relatively mediocre movies. The Despicable Me franchise is a great example of their high-profit movies having average content. Many believed that The Mario Movie would follow the same mediocre pathing. However, Nintendo countered this trend by doing something unexpected. It closely oversaw almost every aspect of the movie’s production. Looking at it, this isn’t all that surprising for Nintendo. They are notorious for their stringent use and protection of all of their properties, and this movie was no different. As such Nintendo made the direct decision to restrict any and all “toilet humor” that Illumination is famous for incorporating into many of their animated movies. Combined with an all-star cast and a few advancements in their animation techniques, The Super Mario Bros Movie was a smashing success and an all around fantastic family-friendly film. 

So if I could leave you with anything of value from this article, it would be to give the Mario Movie a chance, grab your big blue pants, and say Let’s A Go for Mario.