When we said in our Super Mario Bros: The Movie review that the movie is a whole carousel of references, we weren’t exaggerating. The winks keep piling up in the images, be it in phrases, movements, characters, set pieces, and even musical notes, but they don’t stay in the Mushroom Kingdom either. : they transcend the Super Mario and Donkey Kong franchises to cover a large part of the Nintendo universe, in particular its origins in video games and the work of Shigeru Miyamotocreator of Mario and DK and co-producer of the film.
With all this, at Gamereactor we have made these two compilations full of secrets, Easter eggs and much more that can only be found by watching the Super Mario movie several times:
You can find everything from a handful of NES and arcade games to a Jumpman with the voice of Charles Martinet, via a Star Fox Arwing, a Pikmin figurine or the Game & Watch, but there are also mentions of other universes and consoles, such as Metroid and Wave Race 64. But where is The Legend of Zelda?
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If our eyesight isn’t failing us, and see that we’ve scrutinized every plane, in The Super Mario Bros. movie there is no reference to Link’s adventure series. It’s true that before going to the cinema we didn’t see it as something ‘out of the box’, but after having identified so many references it’s shocking, and a lot.
While the vast majority of games depicted were created, designed, directed, or produced by Miyamoto, and if there are external universes from other Nintendo franchises and creators (notably Yoshio Sakamoto, current Metroid producer), how not to include the other great series for which the Japanese is known, the adventures he has imagined with Takashi Tezuka And what do they mean as much or more to players than Mario? Weren’t there multiple references to Mario in Link’s Awakening and then Hyrule and Link were part of Mario Kart? Why not take the opportunity to publicize the imminent The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom?
Without being able to ask Miyamoto directly or Eiji Aonuma, current producer of Zelda, only speculation remains. On the one hand, we can think that Nintendo understands this fiction as something completely disconnected and independent, and that precisely the proximity of a new main release has led them to completely separate the two products at the promotional and communication level.
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On the other hand, knowing how the world of film rights works, it might just be a matter of permissions. As reported by the Wall Street Journal in 2015, Nintendo was already working with Netflix on a Zelda series that would have been “like Game of Thrones for the whole family”. The dates correspond to the announcement the same year of the agreement with Universal as it is remembered for the recognition of Satoru Iwata in the Super Mario film: it is very likely that the opening of the company to license its franchises for film and television came together at two bands, with Super Mario and Donkey Kong for Universal movies and parks and Hyrule for episodic productions from what was the main streaming platform at the time.
However, rumors say that the project ended up being canceled precisely because of this origin leak, among other reasons, a few years ago. By the way, this would fit very well with the company’s usual privacy and trade secret policies, could have ruined Nintendo’s intentions to adapt Zelda for film or television, but most likely, simply, these rights of exploitation are now in the hands of another producer. Seen in this light, a cross-nod to the Mario movie would seem odd, risky, and even problematic, without permission.
In any case, it becomes very strange when practically all of Miyamoto-san’s work is on the tape, from the first Donkey Kong to of course Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. and all that followed, including the sports games he made to make the NES more universal (Baseball, Tennis, Golf), Starwing and even the Pikmin. Zelda is undoubtedly the conspicuous absentee, the most glaring omission and singing.
When The Legend of Zelda becomes a movie or a series, what do you want it to be? With real or animated actors? Should they voice Link? Which actors would suit you in the role of the different characters?
