This article contains spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The Mario franchise has a large number of characters, there to support the hero of the story. Luigi, Mario’s brother, is maybe the most important among those. However, while the two brothers’ relationship is so central to all the stories that have sprung out of the original video games, their parents barely make any appearances.
Aptly called Papa and Mama Mario, Mario and Luigi’s parents appear to be married in most of their appearances. Their first appearance was in the 1989 short anime film Super Mario Issun-bōshi, although their faces are never featured. This is a common theme across almost all of their appearances. We actually get to see Mama Mario’s full appearance in the live-action “Mama Mia Mario” segment of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show from 1989, but she’s played by male actor Lou Albano.
The mystery has led fans to come up with a number of theories, as well as potential alternative answers to the question of who Mario and Luigi’s parents really are. Some say original game designer Shigeru Miyamoto is their father, while others defend that, regardless of ancestry, it’s Yoshi who really raised them.
It’s a different story in the 2023 release The Super Mario Bros. Movie, though, where we get one of the few rare depictions of Papa Mario and Mama Mario on screen. Although they aren’t actually given names in the film, we do see their face. The dad is presented as bald, with a mustache extending to his sideburns, largely resembling Talon from the Legend of Zelda series, in what is a cheeky reference to the fact the latter character is loosely designed after Mario himself.
Mario and Luigi’s dad in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is voiced by Charles Martinet — the same man who has voiced Mario and Luigi in the Super Mario video games over the years. In the film, Papa Mario is against Mario quitting his job under Spike to start his own plumbing business with Luigi, accusing him of bringing his brother down with him. Their mother, however, continuously shows her support. By the end of the film, when the brothers successfully take down Bowser, Mario and Luigi are seen having a meal with their family, where their dad finally expresses his pride.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is currently showing in theaters.