Top 10 Hidden Cameos in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

After proudly showing off a commercial for their brand new plumbing company, the Super Mario Bros are antagonized by their former employer Spike. This appearance may have gone over many younger Nintendo fans' heads, as Spike is actually one of Mario’s oldest antagonists. Appearing in the 80s NES classic Wrecking Crew, Foreman Spike would attempt to thwart Mario and Luigi’s demolition progress by knocking them off of the stage. Since then, his only other major appearance was in the Japan only sequel Wrecking Crew '98 for the Super Nintendo, where he would work under Bowser.

It wasn’t just ‘the leader of the bunch’ who made his silver screen debut in the Mario Movie. Fans of the DK series went bananas during the epic brawl between Mario and Kong, when the latter got a little bit of outside support from Diddy Kong, who is alongside both Dixie and Chunky Kong. Diddy Kong made his first appearance in the original Donkey Kong Country, with Dixie following in the sequel. Her cousin Chunky Kong would make his debut in the series first 3D foray Donkey Kong 64. But why stop there Illumination? Next time send in all the Kongs… except maybe Lanky. We don’t talk about Lanky.

#8: King Boo

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The attendees of the wedding of Peach and Bowser got a little jump scare when this ghostly geezer turned up. The main antagonist of the Luigi’s Mansion series, King Boo is Luigi’s arch-nemesis and serves as the final boss for each iteration. Being the only Boo that appears in the movie, he quickly disappears once Peach, Mario and Donkey Kong crash the wedding, and who can blame him? Maybe he could turn up again in a Luigi’s mansion spin off? Now that we’d pay to see!

It looks like Mario’s old squeeze is doing quite well for herself. One minute she’s a damsel in distress, next she’s the mayor of new donk city, and now she’s mayor of the big apple! In a very brief moment, the recently reelected mayor Pauline is shown in an interview on TV, reassuring the viewers that the sewer flood issue will be fixed. She also appears amongst the crowd of Brooklyn residents towards the end of the movie. It would be great to see her featured more in the sequel, just make sure you keep her and Cranky Kong away from each other. That might open up some old wounds.

#6: King Bob-omb

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We love to see a little bit of Mario 64 representation, and what better boss to give the big screen treatment than your first big opponent - King Bob-Omb! Originally appearing at the top of the mountain on Bob-omb Battlefield, the Bomb King is one of the more notable guests at Princess Peach and Bowser's wedding, and finds himself getting caught up in the fracas once things go south. While his explosive fate in the scuffle leaves little hope for him appearing again, we’re just pleased he got his screen-time.

If you’re anything like us, you probably yelled “wa-hoo” when we caught a glimpse at a stampede of Yoshis during Mario’s trip to the Kong Kingdom. It’s a very clear reference to the classic Super Smash Bros Melee intro, but that wasn’t all. For fans who stayed long enough, after the credits they were shown a teaser for what’s next - a single green and white Yoshi egg. The egg then begins to crack. It’s very clear that Mario’s dino-companion will be playing a larger role in a potential Mario Movie sequel - and we couldn’t be more excited!

We’re first introduced to our heroes Mario and Luigi inside of this Brooklyn-styled pizzeria, but this is no ordinary restaurant, as it is a reference to one of Nintendo’s oldest franchises. Named after the boxing NES Classic, the Punch-Out Pizzeria is adorned with many photographs of the game’s unique roster. We were positively knocked-out to see the likes of Glass Joe, Bear Hugger, Doc Louis and even protagonist Little Mac. We all love a good boxing movie, so the potential for a Punch-Out spin-off in the future would leave us down for the count!

Someone please call Captain Olimar because it looks like he might find work in New York City! When Mario and Luigi take on their very first independent plumbing job, the two find themselves in a very fancy home with an excellent choice in decor. If you look close enough, you’ll be able to spot a Pikmin statue in the corner, another creation from the brilliant mind of Shigeru Miyamoto. While this doesn’t exactly imply the existence of actual Pikmin in Mario’s world, we’re not giving up hope just yet.

Not only is this cameo a blink or you’ll miss it affair, but it’s also a reference that many western Nintendo fans probably won’t get! During the final battle against Bowser, for a brief moment you’ll be able to see an advertisement for Disk-Kun hardware store. This obscure little character was the mascot for the Japanese version of the Nintendo Entertainment System, known as the Famicom. Another brief character cameo you’ll see during this scene is the balloon fight protagonist attached to a car wash sign. Though we’re not sure about the connection with that one!

There were quite a few Nintendo fans out there that were distraught when they found out that Mario would not be performed by long-time Mario voice actor Charles Martinet, with the honor going to Chris Pratt. It was however announced that Martinet would be appearing in surprise cameos. For months, fans theorized which character that could be, but none of us would have guessed that it would be more than one! The first character he voices is Giuseppe, who is based on the original version of Mario from “Donkey Kong”, known as Jumpman. The second character is Mario’s disapproving father, who turns over a new leaf once his sons save the day.