Super Mario Bros. movie interviews!

[Redstar]

Super Mario Bros. Movie Interviews

One of my recent projects is working for the Super Mario Bros. The Movie Archive as far as mediating affiliation and interviews with members of the cast and production. The first interview I put-together is with Mojo Nixon (actor for 'Toad') and Ryan Hoss, webmaster of the site.

This is the first interview I've been able to facilitate, but there are certainly more to come, including exclusive interviews with the film's Academy Award-winning film editor Mark Goldblatt, scriptwriter Parker Bennett, and puppeteer Guy Himber. In the meantime, this interview with Mojo Nixon on the site here.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

As a fan of the film, I enjoyed it.

I think it a movie you had to watch when it was first released in order to enjoy it today. When I was a kid this was a big movie for myself and a friend of mine. And we would act out the elevator scene with the dancing Goombas. lol

So, you work for the site, huh? Set up an RSS feed please.

And... I'm not sure where I read this, or if it is even true. But, you might know. I think I read once that whoever designed the Goombas and Koopa Troopas in this movie also designed the 1998 Godzilla (or just "Zilla").

 

[Redstar]

As a fan of the film, I enjoyed it.

I think it a movie you had to watch when it was first released in order to enjoy it today. When I was a kid this was a big movie for myself and a friend of mine. And we would act out the elevator scene with the dancing Goombas. lol

It really is something you had to have "been there" for. We appreciate it for what it was and what it was trying to do. I think anyone can respect that.

So, you work for the site, huh? Set up an RSS feed please.

I'll talk to Ryan (the webmaster) about that but for now I suggest registering at the forums. We have seven or so interviews coming up that should be updated on the site nearly every weekend.

And... I'm not sure where I read this, or if it is even true. But, you might know. I think I read once that whoever designed the Goombas and Koopa Troopas in this movie also designed the 1998 Godzilla (or just "Zilla").

I'm not sure about that offhand but we can look into it. We do have interviews set-up with several people that designed, built, and operated the Goombas so we can definitely ask about it.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I'm not sure about that offhand but we can look into it. We do have interviews set-up with several people that designed, built, and operated the Goombas so we can definitely ask about it.

I only mentioned it because, if true... I think its kinda interesting. Both films are "cult classics" that are misunderstood and panned by fans of the franchise; probably biting off more than it could chew - and yet, for me at least, totally enjoyable.

Also, I enjoyed the interview. Keep 'em coming

 

[Redstar]

I do know offhand that the set designer and several other people had previously worked on Blade Runner, a considerably better-received cult classic.

 

[TRIFORCE89]

I do know offhand that the set designer and several other people had previously worked on Blade Runner, a considerably better-received cult classic.

Oh. Really?

I know they were going for a Blade Runner look, didn't know they went so... all out to do it. Wow.

 

[Redstar]

Yeah. Well, originally they had a much more fantasy-oriented script that was almost completely faithful to the games (or perhaps more-so the cartoon shows) but they scrapped those over time for some reason or another, most likely the state of special effects of the time.

The Blade Runner-look we got instead is interesting, to say the least. There's some indication that deleted/extended scenes would have amped up the Blade Runner-look to a greater extent, but who knows?

(On future interviews, if you join the forums you can suggest questions to be asked if you have such an interest. We'll be creating a thread for community questions on our next interview this weekend)

 

[Redstar]

Alright, two weeks later I've conducted my own interview with Mark Jeffrey Miller and Michael Harding. Mark played both the 'fried Tweeter vendor' that you can see in the background of some of the Koopa Square scenes and a 'Lizard Man' that was cut from the final film. Mike was one of the four lead actors that acted as a Goomba.

I conducted this nearly hour-and-a-half interview myself and spent three days transcribing the entire conversation before finally being able to put it up on the site. But it was certainly worth it. This interview reveals many stories involving the cast and crew, including the turmoil of production, the agonizing time it took to film something only to have it removed from the final film, the near death of several actors, and the mutual dislike towards directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel.

This interview is everything fans of the movie have come to expect from those involved: a deeply personal experience of both friendliness and sheer disgust at how the production went. The way Mark and Mike reminisce almost brings us into the production ourselves and makes us a part of the experience. It's just a brilliant look into the past from two men that were there and saw it all from their own perspectives.

So, here we go. The interview can be read on the site here and discussed on the site forums here.

 

[Redstar]

Super Mario Bros. Movie Interviews

It's been awhile since I've posted in this thread but the project is still ongoing. We've had several high-profile interviews in recent months, but unfortunately have yet to post them onto the site because we need to wait for the interviewees' next availability to finalize things.

However, we have had a couple of minor interviews since that might be of interest.

The first is with Dave Nelson, the engineer that headed the project to build Yoshi. His answers are a bit sparse, but he was able to relate the startling fact that the Jurassic Park production had actually visited their shop to see what they were doing and were considering hiring them all to outsource some dino-work. Didn't work out, though. It can be read here.

Our next interview is a lot more informative and certainly more fascinating. Rob Burman, the designer that molded the various de-evolved Koopa prosthetics, shared his full experiences and many photos of the prosthetics. No matter your feelings on the movie, you can't deny how cool T. rex-Koopa looked. They put a lot of work into something that ultimately only had 13 seconds of film-time. It can be read here.

 

[abnegation]

Thread revival, however I'm going to leave this open if you wish to keep updating it. In future though, refrain from reviving threads over a month old.