Mario in the movies: Why does the Nintendo hero wear a mustache?

Created in 1981 by Japanese creator Shigeru Miyamoto, the famous Italian plumber Mario is now getting his own animated feature film, in theaters from Wednesday.

From his first appearance on the arcade terminal (in the early 80s) to the present day, this little character, who is one of the most famous people in pop culture, has an instantly recognizable look. Overalls, a red hat, a nice mustache and a pair of white gloves (which might look quite surprising for a plumber).

As we recently looked at his name, today let’s talk about the origin of his iconic physique. A meticulously thought-out look to give Nintendo’s future mascot a look adapted to his role in the game, but primarily due to the technical limitations of the time.

on an arcade machine Donkey Kong, marking his first foray into the world of video games, Mario (who was still called Jumpman at the time) must climb a scaffold and rescue a damsel in distress captured by a giant gorilla. To do this, he must combine two basic actions: running and jumping.

As explained by the lecturer Alexis Blanche (Cinema and Audiovisual Department of the Sorbonne Nouvelle University) On the waves of French cultureMario’s appearance is directly derived from his role in the game, so he had to wear a red hat because he needed to run and Miyamoto wanted to avoid animating his hair in the wind.

As for his mustache, this made it possible to clearly separate his nose and mouth, giving the player a better read of his face while the pixels were being numbered.

Mario’s clothes were born from the same imperative, as Alexis Blanche explains in the program “Mario Kart is 30 years old: Why does his mustache still make us shiver?” :

“The jumpsuit provides a flat color that allows the movement of the arms to be quite visible on the sides of the character, giving us the sense that the character is really designed around the concept of movement.”

Of course, Mario isn’t the only mascot that’s been built around technical limitations. Long before that, Disney and Warner’s first animated characters – like Mickey Mouse or Bugs Bunny – practically all wore white gloves. A good way, in black and white, to highlight the difference between the characters’ hands and their bodies.

(Re)discover the trailer for ‘Super Mario Bros’, currently in cinemas…