Games on Film #2 Super Mario Bros 1,2,3.
There’s power in numbers.
Since jumping his way into our collective hearts in the ape-tastic arcade hit Donkey Kong (1981), Mario has become one of the most recognisable video game characters worldwide.
Although this is just scratching the surface, I’ve collected 3 instances of Mario games being referenced and appearing in film and TV.
Ghostbusters II (1989) Super Mario Bros (1985)
Who you gonna call?
Well, the call may have come in several years after Ghostbusters, 1984 left a stay-puff marshmallow man-sized footprint on film and comedy, but Ghostbusters 2, directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis. The film is good, but doesn’t quite cross the streams like the first one; it loses some of its originality and edge, being more kid-friendly. That said, Ghostbusters 2 still offers up some decent laughs and neat special effects.
The scene goes like this…
Louis Tully, while babysitting with Janine on a quasi date, suggests playing Boggle or Super Mario Bros. The scene takes place in Peter Vankman’s apartment. What may seem like quite a simple one-off joke actually carries more significance. This shows just how ingrained in daily life the Nintendo brand had already become by the late 80s and where its cultural relevance stood in pop culture at the time, to the point that Super Mario bros could get mentioned by name in a non-video game setting.
Although Super Mario bros is name-dropped by Louis Tully, it’s not actually seen. Looking closely at scenes of Vankman’s apartment, an NES is never clearly visible, nor, to that point, is Boggle. Yes, it’s just a joke, but seeing an NES would have made a good background detail. It would also have given a more in-universe explanation to the now-infamous scene, where the Ghostbusters use a souped-up NES Advantage to control the Statue of Liberty through the streets of New York.
While it’s never explicitly alluded to in the film, part of my headcanon is that the controller belonged to Vankman, and Egon added the modifications. This would track quite well, as we know from the earlier scene that Vankman has at least an NES and Super Mario Bros.
Wise Guy (1987-1990)
Wiseguy, created by Stephen J Cannell and Frank Lupo. Starring
Ken Wahl (Vincent Terranova), Jonathan Banks (Frank McPike), and Jim Byrnes (“The lifeguard“).
A crime drama about an agent who goes on deep undercover missions The show was fairly unique for its time, having large story arcs that would often call back on themself in later episodes and seasons. I think this gives the show a very contemporary feel and wouldn’t be out of place in modern crime dramas.
The scenes go like this…
S2 EP 11
McPike and his son have just finished building a gazebo for his wife (who is currently in the hospital). When talking to his son, Drake. McPike says “Let’s leave this mess here and take on the Super Mario Bros. again.” to which his son enthusiastically replies, ” Alright!”
I like the wording of McPike’s line, as it sounds, for lack of a better word, very “Parenty”, where he knows just enough about his son’s hobby and video games, but the phrasing is still a little off. “take on the Super Mario Brothers” while it does grammatically make sense, as in they’re going to “take on” the game, but I can’t help but interpret it as taking on the Mario Brothers themselves, like that they’re the Boss or something.
S2 EP 12
Vinny wakes up late at night, with music coming from another room.
Any Mario fan would instantly recognise the music from SMB2. (Can you imagine a better way of waking up?) Vinny investigates further, going into his living room where McPike is, playing in the dark, lit only by the glow of the TV screen. McPike is playing Super Mario Bros 2 on the NES. He’s on level 1-1, and he’s playing as Mario. Vinny enquires about the game. (his reaction suggests he’s not into video games himself.) McPike explains that he’s looking after it for his son. McPike describes the game as “fun” and offers Vinny a turn, who accepts but is interrupted so never gets to play. The scene ends with McPike getting a game over.
The music and gameplay are out of sync throughout the scene. The audio and game footage were likely recorded separately and from different play sessions. The jump sound effect can be heard when no one is pressing any buttons. The scene ends with Mario getting hit by a Shy Guy, but instead of the game over music, the stage music continues.
This is still one of the better representations of “Games on Film”. The music is actually from the game, not some generic beeps and bloops. The music is from the actual stage, and the level progression makes a decent amount of sense, even though McPike isn’t very good at the game. The scene opens, and he’s already lost a life going from 1 to 0. He plays for a little bit, then seemingly deliberately gets a game over.
The gameplay was, no doubt, pre-recorded as is often the case for both TV and film, as it makes things easier for retakes and doesn’t act as a distraction for the actor. Johnathan Franks does a good job of pretending to play. Too often, actors wildly overreact when pretending to play games (as seen in the next example).
Beethoven (1992) Super Mario Bros. 3
From TV, it’s back to the silver screen to end with Super Mario Bros. 3 in Beethoven (1992). The family comedy about a large dog, written by John Hughes, Amy Holden Jones and directed by Brian Levant.
The scene goes like this….
The kids are in their room playing Super Mario Bros. 3.
One kid is using the standard NES controller, while the other is using the Power Glove. We see a brief glimpse of the screen they’re on, World 5-3, with 26 coins, and they are currently “fire” Mario.
It cuts away from the TV just before collecting a leaf power-up.
The kids babble about collecting power-ups, then it goes on to be about a dog or something. I don’t know, it’s not video games! Above anything else, the scene is the prime example of giving an unplugged controller to a younger sibling.
It’s become somewhat of a cliche that actors almost always overreact, like it’s a silent movie when “playing” a video game. By 1992, audiences knew what video games were and how they were played. Sure, kids are more likely to get into the action of the game, so you can let it slide a little, but any kid worth their salt could tell you the main game of Super Mario Bros. 3 doesn’t have cooperative two-player. The scene in Beethoven strongly implies this through its dialogue and direction.
The Mario series wouldn’t see a true cooperative gameplay on the same screen until “New Super Mario Bros. on the Wii” in 2009. SMB3 did have a two-player mode, which was head-to-head, where players took turns one after another.
Like the example in Wiseguy, Beethoven’s audio is out of sync with the gameplay. A difference is that Beethoven actually has lines that refer to the action on screen, while in Wiseguy, the characters briefly make comments about the game in a very general sense, more so commenting on the value of games in general. A take on perspectives, perhaps, while the kids play the game for a pure fun aspect, Wiseguy is more of a distraction for the characters’ problems or a form of escapism.
Nit picks
In the wide shot, the controller leads are low and to the floor, while in the establishing shot, the NES is high on the dresser, so the controller leads should be hanging down.
The brother tells his sister, “Get that question block,” an impossible task as it has already been collected. There isn’t another question block in this part of level 5-3 until after a warp pipe.
The brother is using a Power Glove (1989-1990); however, in the establishing shot of the TV, the power glove sensors are clearly not set up and are nowhere to be seen. Granted, they still use the standard controller button layout on the glove.
All this said, the Beethoven kids have a decent stack of games. From this scene, we can see…
Golf
Pinbot
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Kung Fu
Ice Hockey
??? ( The green box is hard to identify, but it could be “Nintendo World Cup.”)
RC Pro-Am (even though it’s mostly cut off by the camera, the “R.C.” can clearly be made out.)
So, what was the point?
Both mentions of Super Mario end up bringing the characters together. In the text of Ghostbusters, it was a date, and in Wise Guys, it’s reconnecting a father and son. This shows the social value video games have. While the arcade scene in Rocky III had a loose implied social theme, its setting and depiction wouldn’t fall in line with a traditional idea of wholesomeness. Also, it shows the differences between the public interaction with games at an arcade and games at home, such as McPike actually playing on the floor in the dark.
Ghostbusters plays its references for humour; it could also be argued that Wise Guys plays it for laughs also, if only on a more subtle level, having the often serious McPike playing video games and getting a game over.
As I said at the start, these three examples are only scratching the surface; there are many more examples of Nintendo and Mario games appearing in our favourite films and shows. Watch out for the next games on film.
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Ghostbusters 2 (Columbia Pictures)
Wiseguy (Stephen J. Cannell Productions)
Beethoven (Northern Lights Entertainment, Universal Pictures)
(All images belong to their respective copyright holders and are used in this blog for educational purposes.)