AFI|Catalog

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Marcea Lane

Asst to the choreog

Stunt coord, 2d unit film crew

Based on the concept and characters by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka of Nintendo.

"Almost Unreal," performed by Roxette, written by Per Gessle, Roxette appears courtesy EMI Svenska AB; "Walk the Dinosaur," performed by The Goombas, featuring George Clinton, written by Randy Jacobs, David Was and Don Was, George Clinton appears courtesy Paisley Park Records; "Love Is the Drug," performed by diVinyls, written by Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay, diVinyls appear courtesy Virgin Records America, Inc.; "I Would Stop the World," performed by Charles & Eddie, written by Mick Leeson and Peter Vale, Charles & Eddie appear courtesy Capitol Records, Inc.; "Where Are You Going?," performed by Extreme, written by Nuno Bettencourt, Extreme appear courtesy A&M Records, Inc.; "Speed of Light," performed by Joe Satriani, written by Joe Satriani, Joe Satriani appears courtesy Relativity Records, Inc.; "Breakpoint," performed by Megadeth, written by Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson and Nick Menza, Megadeth appear courtesy Capitol Records, Inc.; "Tie Your Mother Down," performed by Queen, written by Brian May, Queen appears courtesy Hollywood Records/EMI Records, Ltd.; "Cantaloop," performed by US3 (featuring Rahsaan & Gerrard Prescencer), written by Herbie Hancock, Kelly Rahsaan, Geoff Wilkinson and Mel Simpson, featuring a sample from Herbie Hancock's "Cantaloupe Island," US3 appear courtesy Blue Note Records, a division of Capitol Records, Inc.; "I Want You," performed by Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch (introducing Trez), written by Donnie Wahlberg and Spice, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch appear courtesy Interscope Records, Inc.; "Somewhere My Love," performed by Frankie Yankovic, written by Maurice Jarre and Paul Webster, Frankie Yankovic appears courtesy of RCA Records, label of BMG Music.

Release Date:

28 May 1993

Premiere Information:

Los Angeles and New York openings: 28 May 1993

Production Date:

began 5 or 6 May--end of Jul 1992 in Wilmington, NC

Physical Properties:

In Brooklyn, New York, a young woman rushes through a rainstorm to a church, where she leaves a rock shard and an oval box on the doorstep. While nuns discover an egg inside the case, the girl disappears down a manhole and is confronted by the evil dictator, King Koopa. As she screams, a baby girl hatches from the egg and her rock is found by the nuns. Twenty years later, brothers Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, get a call for their plumbing services, but after rushing to the scene they discover a rival company, Scapelli Construction, has taken the job. Meanwhile, at the Brooklyn Bridge, a Scapelli construction project is shut down by New York University archeology students who are excavating the site for dinosaur fossils. As Anthony Scapelli arrives in his limousine, Daisy, a student leading the dig, explains she has a court order to remain at the location, but Scapelli threatens her. Followed by thugs named Iggy and Spike, Daisy heads to a payphone to call for security but finds Luigi on the line. Stunned by Daisy’s beauty, Luigi hands her the phone and gives her change. After thanking him, Daisy accepts a ride back to the bridge and agrees to a date that evening. At dinner with the brothers and Mario’s girlfriend, Daniella, Daisy explains that her excavation may prove that dinosaur extinction was caused by a meteorite. When Daniella points out Daisy’s rock necklace, the archeologist says she never takes it off because it is the only memento from her infancy, when she was abandoned at a church. Luigi ...

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In Brooklyn, New York, a young woman rushes through a rainstorm to a church, where she leaves a rock shard and an oval box on the doorstep. While nuns discover an egg inside the case, the girl disappears down a manhole and is confronted by the evil dictator, King Koopa. As she screams, a baby girl hatches from the egg and her rock is found by the nuns. Twenty years later, brothers Mario Mario and Luigi Mario, get a call for their plumbing services, but after rushing to the scene they discover a rival company, Scapelli Construction, has taken the job. Meanwhile, at the Brooklyn Bridge, a Scapelli construction project is shut down by New York University archeology students who are excavating the site for dinosaur fossils. As Anthony Scapelli arrives in his limousine, Daisy, a student leading the dig, explains she has a court order to remain at the location, but Scapelli threatens her. Followed by thugs named Iggy and Spike, Daisy heads to a payphone to call for security but finds Luigi on the line. Stunned by Daisy’s beauty, Luigi hands her the phone and gives her change. After thanking him, Daisy accepts a ride back to the bridge and agrees to a date that evening. At dinner with the brothers and Mario’s girlfriend, Daniella, Daisy explains that her excavation may prove that dinosaur extinction was caused by a meteorite. When Daniella points out Daisy’s rock necklace, the archeologist says she never takes it off because it is the only memento from her infancy, when she was abandoned at a church. Luigi tells Daisy that he is also an orphan and Mario raised him. Later, Mario drops Daniella off at home, but she is kidnapped by Iggy and Spike, who confuse her for Daisy. Meanwhile, Daisy takes Luigi to the excavation and shows him dinosaur bones with opposable thumbs akin to human beings. As they kiss, two Scapelli workmen sabotage the water main and Daisy begs Luigi to use his plumbing skills to prevent a flood. After collecting Mario, the brothers fix the pipes, but Iggy and Spike kidnap Daisy. Following her screams, Mario and Luigi discover Daisy's face emanating from a rock wall and as Luigi reaches for her, he pulls off her necklace. Determined to save Daisy, the Mario brothers jump into the rock portal and find themselves in a parallel dimension ruled by King Koopa. Running through an urban center, Mario and Luigi fall into a container of sticky “fungus” and notice two small Tyrannosaurs. They soon realize many of the city’s inhabitants are half human, half dinosaur. Meanwhile, germ-phobic Koopa complains to his female companion, Lena, that their society has been disease-ridden since the meteorite that struck Earth 65 million years ago divided their dimension from the mammal world. Koopa explains that Daisy is a princess and when he obtains the rock she wears around her neck, which is a remnant of the original meteorite, he will be able merge the two dimensions and rule the universe. At the moment Daisy’s shard is rejoined with the original meteorite, a portal between the dimensions will open and Koopa will be transported into the mammal realm to wield his power. When Iggy and Spike show up at Koopa’s quarters, he is outraged to learn that the Mario brothers have the necklace and issues a “plumber alert” for their capture. Meanwhile, an old lady holds Mario and Luigi at gunpoint and steals the rock, but a woman in jet-powered boots pushes her aside and gets away with the necklace. A busker named Toad tries to cheer the brothers up with a song about Koopa’s reign, but as police detain him for insubordination, they notice Mario’s plumbing tools and arrest the brothers as well. Meanwhile, Daisy is thrown into a holding tank and reunited with Daniella. After being “de-fungused” and booked at the police station, Mario and Luigi are locked in a cage and Toad tells them about Earth’s parallel dimensions. Pretending to be the Mario brothers’ lawyer, Koopa demands the rock, but when Luigi feigns ignorance, Koopa condemns them to the “Devo Chamber.” There, they witness Toad's de-evolution into a lizard creature called a Goomba. Claiming to have evolved from the king of dinosaurs, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Koopa threatens to de-evolve the Mario brothers, but they push him into the Devo Chamber and get away. After stealing a police car, the brothers are pursued by Goombas into a tunnel that sends them plunging into a pit, but their fall is broken by stands of fungus. Back in the Devo Chamber, Iggy and Spike are evolved into more intelligent life forms before Koopa sends them back on the Mario brothers’ trail. Elsewhere, Lena tells Daisy about her mother. The queen defied Koopa by bringing the rock and Daisy’s egg into the mammal dimension but died shortly thereafter. Upon meeting Koopa, Daisy asks about her father, but Koopa attempts to kiss her with a lizard’s tongue. Meanwhile, Iggy and Spike unsuccessfully chase the Mario brothers and agree to exchange Daisy for the rock. After Mario and Luigi describe the woman who stole the rock necklace, Iggy and Spike take them to the nightclub where Big Bertha works. There, the coat check attendant recognizes the plumbers from their “Wanted” poster and calls the authorities. Mario charms Bertha on the dance floor and slips the necklace off her head, but as the brothers celebrate their success, Lena arrives with Goombas and the rock necklace ends up in her possession. Chased by Goombas, the brothers escape with the help of Bertha, who gives them jet-powered boots. Back at Koopa’s tower, the dictator ridicules a large fungus creature, boasting that he will soon be ruler of both dimensions. As the Mario brothers enter the tower boiler room, they trip an alarm while shutting off the heating valves, alerting Koopa to their presence. Elsewhere in the complex, Lena decides to use Daisy’s rock for her own benefit, but when she attempts to slash Daisy’s throat, a pet Tyrannosaurus Rex attacks her and Daisy gets away. The princess encounters Iggy and Spike, who vow allegiance and introduce Daisy to her father, the fungus creature. They explain that the king was de-evolved into his current form by Koopa. When they leave the chamber, Daisy calls the Mario brothers on an intercom, revealing her location. Koopa overhears, but is distracted by a police report of an unauthorized de-evolution order. Realizing that Lena made the command, Koopa deduces that she has the crystal and is trying to take control. When the Mario brothers find Daisy, she introduces them to her father and Luigi acknowledges that offshoots of fungus throughout the city have helped them in their quest. Learning that Daniella is detained, Mario runs to her rescue and Luigi and Daisy are captured. Meanwhile, Lena is arrested and Koopa prepares for his invasion of the mammal dimension. As Mario, Daniella and her fellow captives slide through a frozen duct on a mattress, Daisy and Luigi escape and the fugitives are reunited. However, Koopa holds them at gunpoint. When Mario uses a jet-powered boot to fight him, Koopa drops the meteorite. Lena catches the rock but Mario tricks Koopa into believing that he has the crystal and threatens Koopa with a small, wind-up toy bomb. Meanwhile, Lena attempts to merge the two dimensions by inserting the rock into a larger meteorite but she is overwhelmed by electrical charges and becomes fossilized. Daisy realizes that only she has the power to withstand the force and attempts to dislodge the rock with Luigi’s help. As Mario and Koopa face off, their bodies begin to dissipate and Koopa triumphantly announces the dimensions are merging. The men reappear in Brooklyn at Scapelli’s construction site and Koopa uses a de-evolution gun to transform Scapelli into an ape. When Koopa turns the gun on Mario, the plumber deflects its rays and they are transported back to the reptilian dimension. The Mario brothers fire de-evolution guns at Koopa and the wind-up toy bomb detonates, throwing Koopa into the air. When Mario and Luigi approach Koopa, they see he has transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Firing their guns again, the Mario brothers turn the dictator into sludge and the citizens rejoice. Meanwhile, Daisy’s father regains the form of a man. Daisy uses the meteorite to create a portal for Mario and Luigi to return to Brooklyn, but when Luigi asks her to join them, she refuses and they kiss goodbye. Three weeks later, Mario, Luigi and Daniella watch a television show about the brothers’ heroism that deems them “Super Mario Brothers,” but as they celebrate their success, Daisy appears at the door, asking for help in a new battle.

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