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Hand over your crowns, Batman and Iron Man, it's Mario and Freddy Fazbear's time to reign dominant over the box office. Yes, it seems video game adaptations might be the next big thing in Hollywood, now that the generation of kids who were raised on gaming consoles and point-and-click titles are old enough to purchase movie tickets for themselves. And with "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" allowing Nintendo to successfully expand into the film business, what better time for the paterfamilias of high-fantasy video game series, "The Legend of Zelda," to finally make its way to the big screen in live-action?

This isn't the first time Nintendo has adapted the adventures of Link, Zelda, and the other citizens of Hyrule for a different medium. 1989's "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" featured animated segments centered on the characters and their eternal battles with the power-hungry Ganon, while Netflix nearly...

Contains spoilers for "The Super Mario Bros. Movie"

Nintendo's flagship video game franchise gets the big screen treatment with the bombastic "The Super Mario Bros. Movie." When brothers Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) get transported to the magical Mushroom Kingdom, they discover that the fantastical realm is under attack by the fiery monster Bowser (Jack Black). Separated from Luigi during their strange odyssey, Mario sets out to stop Bowser and rescue his brother, teaming up with Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen).

A true labor of love for fans of the iconic game series, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" has Easter eggs, subtle nods, and direct references to the full breadth of the long-running franchise. From musical cues from beloved games and television adaptations to a variety of power-ups and items players know and love, there are tons of allusions in virtually every scene.

N​intendo brought Mario to the big screen back in 1993 with Super Mario Bros. This film starred Bob Hoskins as the titular Mario and John Leguizamo as Luigi. The film did not do too well. It became the go-to reference for a bad adaptation of video games to live-action films.

F​ans hoped for a new adaptation for decades, but Nintendo was hesitant to pull the trigger. They finally teamed up with the animation studio Illumination Entertainment who brought us such films as Despicable Me, Minions, and the latest version of The Grinch. The company packed this new film full of Super Mario Easter Eggs and references. What did you end up missing?

P​unch Out Pizza

W​hen we meet Mario and Luigi, they are at their local pizzeria Punch Out Pizza. This is a reference to the Nintendo classic video game Punch-Out. Pictures of boxers from the video...

This Super Mario Bros. Movie article contains spoilers.

Surprise! The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which celebrates the long history of the most popular Nintendo character to ever appear on consoles, is jam-packed with tons of easter eggs, callbacks, and references to Mario’s gaming legacy. But it’s not just the video games themselves the movie turns to for inspiration. You’ll also find references to a certain 1993 movie as well as the animated series and comics sprinkled throughout the film. And there are plenty of even more obscure references, too.

In fact, there are so many easter eggs, we’re still finding more days after the movie’s release. Here are the very best callbacks to the Mario Bros. and Nintendo history that’s we’ve spotter so far:

Super Mario Bros. History

– Mario and Luigi’s plumbing commercial has them flying around with yellow capes, a power-up introduced in Super Mario World.

Kids of the early 2000s are likely deeply familiar with the Nintendo GameCube, the console that was released in September of 2001 in Japan (and the following month in North America). The design of the console itself was, and still is, immensely appealing, sporting a pleasant indigo/grey color scheme, and boasting complex, unique controllers that fit easily into the hands. It was also the first Nintendo home console to make use of discs instead of cartridges for its games, allowing the company to remain competitive in a marketplace already dominated by disc-based systems like the Sony Playstation. Weirdly, GameCube discs were of a miniaturized variety, allegedly to help curb piracy after Dreamcast games were pirated to hell and back.

Unfortunately for Nintendo, the GameCube was not one of their more successful pieces of hardware. According to Nintendo's own website, the GameCube only moved 21.74 million units, well below any of their systems to date.

With the arrival of The Super Mario Bros. Movie this week, there will undoubtedly be the odor of the 1993 Mario Bros. stinker billowing from the pipes. But that will only be for a certain generation who can’t get the image of dancing goombas out of their heads, as key people behind the latest movie barely discussed it during production.

In a joint interview with Variety, Shigeru Miyamoto, designer of Nes’s Super Mario Bros., and Illumination founder Chris Meledandri, touched on the 1993 original Mario movie, although were apparently hesitant to even mention it by name. Miyamoto, however, feels like he knows why it was such a critical and commercial failure, citing his lack of involvement. “We were fearful of all the failure of past IP adaptations, where there’s a license and a distance between the original creators and the creators of the films…The fans get outraged...

With anticipation for Illumination’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie reaching a fever pitch, fans of Nintendo’s most famous character are finding all the ways they can to tide themselves over before the film’s theatrical release on April 5. Whether it’s going back and playing the classics of the Mario franchise over again, or simply reminiscing about the Mushroom Kingdom’s best moments with friends, the film is a special entertainment event.

While some folks may have felt that adapting Mario and his pals for the big screen was a novel concept, taking a trip back to the 1980s would allow you to discover that the plumber has already been transported to the television set decades in the past. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show was the first of three syndicated Mario animation series that aired between 1989 and 1991. If you grew up a gamer during this era, you...

The 2023 Super Bowl is really, really nerdy. Not the players (although maybe? Who's to say) but the commercials, which include trailer spots for "The Flash" and "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts." Not to be outdone by DC or Hasbro, however, Nintendo decided to show off their first collaboration with Illumination, "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

We've seen a few trailers for Mario Jumpman Mario's latest cinematic adventure before, but this particular trailer tried something a little different. Instead of showing off the voice cast, which includes household names like Chris Pratt and Jack Black, the "Super Mario" Super Bowl spot shows off a niche corner of the titular character's silly history. How niche? Well, do you remember a hybrid live-action and animated series from 1989 called "The Super Mario Bros Super Show!"? No? That's okay — we're about to ingrain it in your memory forever.

(You're welcome in advance, by the way.

(Welcome to My Most Ridiculous Note, a series of interviews in which animators talk about the weirdest and funniest notes they received from studio executives.)

"Kim Possible" was only the second animated series made for Disney Channel (after "The Proud Family"), and it quickly became one of the cable channel's most popular shows. It's easy to see why: It had action, it had comedy, and it had one of the coolest Disney pets ever.

One of the minds behind the show, co-creator Mark McCorkle, has been in the industry long enough to see it go from being dominated by toy commercials to exploding with original (and not-so-original) ideas and genres. He's worked on everything from "The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!" and Hasbro's "Cops" to "Aladdin and the King of Thieves" and "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command."

/Film talked to McCorkle about "Kim Possible," which turned 20 earlier this year,...

Along with being the primary antagonist of the Super Mario franchise, Bowser is one of the most recognizable names in gaming history. Honestly, you could easily argue that he’s probably the most globally recognizable villain in video game history.

Bower certainly boasts the resume needed to be worthy of that title. For over 35 years, he has played various roles in some of the most successfully, acclaimed, and beloved Nintendo games ever made. Of course, his status as a video game icon has as much to do with his distinct look and, of course, that wonderful name.

However, you should know that Bower’s real name isn’t actually Bowser. Well…at least not entirely. Actually, the origins of Bowser’s real name may leave you wondering why we ever started calling that character Bowser in the first place.

Kuppa and Koopa

See, in Japan, the character that I know...

Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quiñones, one of the forefathers of hip hop dancing and known best for his roles in the 80s breakdancing films Breakin’ and Breakin’ 2 Electric Boogaloo, has died. He was 65.

Quiñones’ death comes one day after he posted an Instagram photo of himself saying he was feeling “sluggish” from a cold, but had tested negative for Covid-19.

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A post shared by Adolfo “Shabba-Doo” Quinones (@officialshabbadoo)

Shabba-Doo was one of the members of The Original Lockers, innovators of the dance style commonly known as locking. One of his fellow dance crew members, Toni Basil, announced Quinones death on Wednesday. No cause of death was given.

“It is with extreme sadness the Lockers family announces the unexpected passing of our beloved Adolfo Shabba-Doo Quinones. In this difficult time, we are requesting privacy,” Basil wrote in a statement on Twitter.

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