Super Mario Bros. Super Show Cartoon Episode 01 – The Bird! The Bird!
The first episode of the longest running series of the Mario cartoons
Mario begins by aptly calling us peasants. “Hey paisanos, it is the super Mario Bros. Super Show.” He announces with a rather thick and stereotypic Italian American dialect. Hm… I am not sure I appreciate this term… yet I will continue watching I think to myself. It has to get better than to teach children to call one another peasants right? Oh… and then a superb rap ensues. I may not be “hooked on the brothers” but I am hooked upon that rap accompanying the classic music! The theme rap is sensationally catchy if you ask’a mii!
Synopsis
The brothers have just rescued the Princess being dragged in a sled by toad and well, they just wanna get home to Brooklyn. A flying nurturing birdo disrupts things when she toadnaps the squat fellow and begins to force toad into a role-play scenario as though he were her child. Mario takes it upon himself to rescue toad upon the request of Princess. Toad attempts to ensure the visually impaired bird that she has the wrong creature in a crib yet she stubbornly does not listen. Luigi is quick to quit and despair while Mario plunges through all quests with… pasta power? King Koopa has scouts and is told of the happenings prior to getting his feet literally licked by minons. Meanwhile, toad is held hostage by an ostensibly elder birdo who cannot understand toad is indeed NOT her child. Mario, Peach and Luigi trek towards toad while bob-ombs are dropped by birds. King Koopa’s bob-omb bird squad are no match for opposable thumb wielding walkers. An avalanche allows for Luigi to lead the pack in a mad dash down the hill they just climbed until they sneak into a doorway within a building and become trapped. Meanwhile, Toad tries to bargain with money while birdo flies him to 30,000 feet for a flying lesson.
Princess Toadstool explains to the brothers what a fireflower is “you can become a Super Mario” Luigi then hoists Mario up to the flower only for Mario to reveal he “loves when that happens.”
King Koopa is very angry when he discovers the hominids survived the not so natural disaster. The small birdo is found and the little cheepy critter just wants it’s mama. Meanwhile toad was dropped down and is descending towards his doom until he uses his hat as a parachute and destroys a fire his search and rescue survivors had built upon the ground. Toad is ecstatic to view the real baby who desperately wants mommy. King Koopa is back complete with a squadron of baddies which are no match for fire wielding Mario. Yet… just one hit takes the super powers away and Koopa is defeated by Toad and mama birdo throwing signature turnips out of a bag. The mama bird wants to help make the world safe for her offspring and thus saves the day! It is interested to see everyone work together in such a fashion as birdo is a boss baddie featured within the Super Mario 2 game.
Everyone is invited to dinner for what appears to be the first Mario Party? When the bird serves what else but… worms… the party is over.
Trivia & Bloopers
- This episode was adapted for the View-Master Super Mario Bros. 2 reel set, with Wart used in place of King Koopa — though the reel captions still referred to him as Koopa.
- “The Bird! The Bird!” is one of only two episodes featured in the opening and credits of Club Mario, the other being “Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid”.
- When King Koopa tells his Flurry minions to “lick his feet”, it’s a play on bootlicking. DiC later reused the gag in Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog (the “Boogey-Mania” episode) when Dr. Robotnik catches Scratch and Grounder snooping.
- Toad’s clothes are miscolored throughout this episode (and into the start of “Butch Mario & The Luigi Kid”) — his cap is red with white spots instead of white with red spots, resembling the Super Mushroom design that wouldn’t debut until Super Mario World.
- Princess Toadstool’s brooch is missing in several scenes and has its colours reversed in others. The Giant Birdo’s arm briefly turns the colour of Toad’s pants in the phone-call scene.
- The scarf and earmuffs Mario and Luigi wear in this snowy episode are reused later in the series in “Little Red Riding Princess”.
- In the original version, Toad attempts to bribe the Giant Birdo with ten gold coins; the German dub changes this to him offering his entire mushroom stamp collection.
Cast
- Captain Lou AlbanoMario
- Danny WellsLuigi
- Jeannie EliasPrincess Toadstool, Cheepy, Giant Birdo
- John StockerToad, Flurry
- Harvey AtkinKing Koopa
Images from this episode
Watch this Episode
Super Mario Bros. Super Show Cartoon Episode 01 – The Bird! The Bird!
Neatness Counts (Live Action Sketch)
The brothers appear to be messy fellows who like to eat and may need napkin bibs. Luigi finds spaghetti remnants upon Mario and Mario finds sauce upon his brother. They pick each other apart verbally and almost do not notice a young Nicole Eggert (from the series Charles in Charge, later Baywatch fame) within the medicine cabinet. She somehow warp pipes into the brother’s space and is in need of a plumber for her sink but doesn’t have too much time prior to a party. The brothers fail to perform adequately resulting in Nicole being splashed in the face with water. Cue the commercial break!
Images from this Live Action Sketch
