Mario, the squat mustachioed hero of too many video games to count, must always be protected by his fans. Despite his corporate masters at Nintendo having no problem with the lil’ dude starring in everything from golf games to early-’90s typing tutorial software, Mario’s admirers are a bit more discerning about how he appears in media.
Case in point (and contrary to the hopes of those making the film) the internet is unhappy that the character’s traditional, cartoonishly Italian accent has been replaced by the sound of a new, non-cartoonishly Italian Chris Pratt in the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Movie.
This departure is such an affront, it seems, that within 24 hours of the movie’s trailer being released, the actor has already been edited out of it.
Voice actor Carlos Morillo, ensuring he’ll never dub a Jason Bourne cartoon by posting on Reddit as “fuckmattdamon,” released his cut of the Mario trailer yesterday evening, only a few hours after the original was made available for the first time. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie WITHOUT CHRIS PRATT” is, as its title suggests, a version of The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer, now without Chris Pratt.
Eager to restore the video game character’s national pride, Morillo used clips from Charles Martinet’s many Mario performances and his own Martinet impersonation to replace all of Pratt’s (dull, not Italian accented) lines with more familiar (goofy, very Italian accented) dialogue. Within seconds, we hear Mario mumble “momma mia,” make his rubbery, pig-man Mario noises of pain and confusion, and, in one dub that fully justifies the real movie’s decision not to have Pratt do a funny voice, gaze around the Mushroom Kingdom and ask, “What is-a this-a place-a?”
With this, Morillo has shown us an alternative vision of the Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer that serves as a far better argument for the filmmaker’s voice acting judgment than anything they themselves could have created.
As for those still hurting over Mario’s changed voice, we offer this reminder: You’ve weathered hairless Mario, long Mario, and realistic Mario. Chris Pratt Mario, too, can be taken in stride.
[via Uproxx]
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