Audiences and critics don’t seem to be in agreement regarding The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
Critical scores, which populated review aggregators before audiences had a chance to see the flick, labeled Mario as a “soulless ploy to sell us merchandise,” and fan expectations plummeted. Once they actually laid eyes on the film, however, viewers found themselves surprised, showering it with praise. It’s nothing groundbreaking, by any means, but it’s a colorful, fun homage to a staple of video games, and it hits the nail right on the head for its target audience: kids.
In the wake of Mario‘s official release, its audience score began to quickly outpace the measly 53% reviewers initially gave it. Its audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is currently sitting at 96%, showcasing just how big the gap is between critical and audience reception.
The film’s popularity is on a sharp climb as a result, and interest in the various characters and references scattered throughout the movie are likewise getting a boost. Chris Pratt’s less-than-nuanced role as Mario has been re-litigated to absolute death already, but some of the alternate voice talent is just starting to get attention. One character, in particular, is turning heads, but all is not as it seems. In the wake of the film’s release, questions about the character of Jumpman started to overwhelm the web, but the character’s status in The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a bit confusing.
Who is Jumpman in Mario?
First, let’s dig a bit into the character of Jumpman. It’s important to note that no one goes by this name in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, but there is a precedent for the character. See, before he was known as Mario, the man himself went by an alternate title: Jumpman. It’s a pretty on-the-nose moniker, given Mario’s love for leaping onto Goomba heads and across chaotic, moving platforms, but several early Nintendo games introduced the world to Mario as Jumpman. He appeared with the alternate name in both the Donkey Kong arcade game, which was initially released in 1981, and in the Game & Watch Donkey Kong, which released the following year.
By the time Donkey Kong Jr. made its way into arcades, however, Jumpman was no more. Renamed to Mario, but sporting a very similar look — complete with red hat and mustache — Jumpman made a full transition into the character that would come to define Nintendo for generations to come.
With that brief history lesson out of the way, we at least have an idea of who Jumpman is. Now, onto the question at hand — did he appear in The Super Mario Bros. Movie? Well, technically yes, because he is Mario himself. We suspect fans searching for answers to this particular question aren’t curious about Mario’s presence in his own movie, however. Instead, we think they might be asking after another addition to the crew — one whose ties to the character of Mario go way back.
Who played Jumpman in The Super Mario Bros. Movie?
While the age-old character once-dubbed Jumpman obviously sports a leading role in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, he goes by his modern name. The voice actor who helped define this character across three decades of releases also appears, however, in two separate roles. When people think of the longstanding Mario — or Jumpman — legacy, we suspect they’ve got Charles Martinet on the brain.
Martinet is Mario. He’s played the iconic character across Nintendo releases for a whopping 30 years — and more than 100 releases, and also lent his voice to similarly well-known characters like Luigi and Wario. Many fans were disappointed to learn that he’d been unseated by Pratt for the animated Mario flick, but Martinet was at least graced with a cameo — or two — in the release.
The legendary voice actor first appeared in a minor background role, in a fun passing of the torch moment early in the film’s runtime. As Mario and Luigi contemplate their performances in a commercial for their plumbing company, a character named Giuseppe — who shares quite a few similarities with Martinet’s iconic character — informs them that their delivery was perfect. In response to Mario’s concerns about their faux Italian accents coming across as “hammy,” Giuseppe informs them that they were “perfect,” before delivering an instantly recognizable “Wahoo” to seal the deal.
The character is a clear nod to Mario’s origins, all the way back in the long-past Jumpman days. Some fans may have even confused his character as the OG Nintendo staple, long before he was dominating the big screen.
How is he related to Mario?
We’ve already explained how Martinet and Jumpman are connected back to Mario, but Martinet shares one more connection with the character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. See, on top of Giuseppe, he plays an additional character. Later in the film, he ditches his iconic Mario voice to instead portray Mario and Luigi’s father, a fitting role for the man who brought both characters to life.
During his reappearance as Mario and Luigi’s father, Martinet ditches the classic voice gamers know so well and instead leans into a delivery similar to those given by Pratt and Charlie Day. He delivers each moment of the perfectly suited role flawlessly, even describing the characters that he defined for decades as “my boys.”