The Traitor in the Mushroom Kingdom

In the Super Mario Bros. movie, fans were captivated by the colorful and vibrant world of the Mushroom Kingdom, the humor, and the epic battles between Mario, Princess Peach, and the villainous Bowser. But one lingering question remains: how did Bowser know so much about Mario and Peach's plans? Could it be that there was a spy feeding him information all along?

Here’s a wild theory: Toad, the lovable, loyal companion of Princess Peach and friend to Mario, was secretly working as an undercover spy for Bowser – until he wasn’t. Let’s dive into this conspiracy and break down the evidence.

Bowser’s Information Network: A Hole in the Plot?

Throughout the movie, Bowser seems remarkably well-informed. He always seems one step ahead, whether it’s about Mario’s arrival in the Mushroom Kingdom, Peach’s plans to recruit the Kongs, or the impending final battle. But how exactly is Bowser getting his intel?

Sure, Bowser has his army of Goombas and Koopa Troopas, but none of them seemed close enough to the action to gather this level of detail. This raises the question: Who could have had access to Princess Peach’s plans?

Enter Toad.

Toad’s Suspicious Loyalty

At first glance, Toad appears to be the ultimate good guy—fiercely protective of Princess Peach and Mario. He sticks by their side even when the other Toads let them go. Throughout the journey to seek help from the Kongs, Toad is constantly assisting Mario and guiding them through obstacles. But what if this seemingly unwavering loyalty wasn’t as genuine as it seemed?

What if Toad’s insistence on staying close to Princess Peach was because he was secretly reporting her every move to Bowser?

It’s possible that Bowser, ever the mastermind, placed Toad as an undercover agent long ago. Toad’s innocence, cheerful demeanor, and close relationship with Peach would make him the perfect informant. No one would suspect him, and he would always have access to the Princess’s most confidential plans.

Interestingly, there are key moments when Toad is noticeably absent, coinciding with Bowser receiving crucial information. For example, after the fight with Donkey Kong, Mario, Peach, DK, and Cranky Kong gather for a meeting, yet Toad is nowhere to be found. Why? Because he could have been relaying information to Bowser. In the very next scene, we see Bowser receiving intelligence about Mario and the gang traveling to Rainbow Road. Coincidence? Maybe not.

Why Toad Turned on Bowser

Here’s where things get even more interesting. Toad may have started out working for Bowser, but like many spies, his loyalty could have wavered. Initially, Toad stayed behind not to protect Princess Peach, but to serve Bowser. However, things changed when Bowser captured both Princess Peach and Toad, following the evacuation of the other Toads. Bowser, in his usual tyrannical fashion, threatened Princess Peach, demanding she marry him or Toad (his undercover spy) would face dire consequences.

This threat was the turning point. Princess Peach, forced to accept Bowser’s ultimatum, made Toad reconsider his loyalties. Witnessing Bowser’s cruelty firsthand, Toad had a change of heart, realizing that Bowser saw him as just another disposable pawn.

Throughout the movie, Bowser is portrayed as a ruthless tyrant who mistreats even his closest subjects. It’s easy to imagine him dismissing Toad’s efforts, showing no appreciation for the valuable information he provided. This mistreatment, combined with Princess Peach’s kindness, sparked Toad’s change of heart. He realized his true place was with Princess Peach and Mario, who treated him as a friend and equal, not as a tool.

The Bouquet with the Freeze Power-Up: Toad’s Redemption

One of the movie’s most pivotal moments involves a bouquet of flowers. Near the film’s climax, during Peach’s forced wedding to Bowser, Toad hands her a bouquet that secretly contains a Freeze Flower. Peach uses this power-up to freeze Bowser and take control of the situation.

This seemingly small act is where the theory truly clicks into place. Toad’s decision to give Peach the freeze power-up isn’t just a clever plot twist—it’s a sign of his final betrayal of Bowser. It’s his moment of redemption. After all the spying and working in the shadows, Toad fully switches sides and helps Princess Peach defeat the villain he once served.

 A Spy Turned Hero

In the end, Toad’s journey could be viewed as a classic tale of redemption. He may have started as a spy, working under Bowser’s command to gather information on Princess Peach and Mario. But over time, he realized where his true loyalties lay—with the heroes, not the villain.

Toad’s transformation from secret informant to brave ally is a testament to the idea that even those who make mistakes can choose the right path when given the chance. By the time the movie ends, Toad is no longer a spy. He’s a hero who stands with Peach and Mario, ready to protect the Mushroom Kingdom.

So, the next time you watch the Super Mario Bros. movie, keep an eye on Toad. His cheerful, innocent persona may hide a deeper, more complex story of deception, betrayal, and ultimately, redemption.

What do you think? Was Toad really Bowser’s spy? Let me know your thoughts on this theory!

Final Post of 2023

This year might have presented its challenges for many, but for me, it brought forth a plethora of positive moments. As this marks the final post of 2023, I wanted to make it special by recounting the nerdy highlights that I am grateful for. While I might have overlooked some events, the essence of this post is to emphasize that this year has been remarkable, notwithstanding the trials, and that amidst adversity, there were still moments of joy. 

1. The Year of Sanderson:

   One of the standout nerdy moments of the year was the "Year of Sanderson," during which Brandon Sanderson not only published four secret project books, and Defiant, but also surprised us with a novella he had written in college. You can read about the Secret Projects on our blog posts from throughout the year.

1. "Tress of the Emerald Sea" blog post by Michael
2. "The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England" blog post by Rob
3. "Yumi and the Nightmare Painter" blog post by Michael
4. "The Sunlit Man" blog post by Michael

2. The Boy and the Heron:

   Another unexpected delight was Hayao Miyazaki's release of a new film, The Boy and the Heron. Known for animated masterpieces like Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl's moving Castle. Miyazaki had previously declared retirement. The announcement of The Boy and The Heron was a pleasant surprise, and the movie lived up to expectations. The dub cast featuring Christian Bale, Dave Bautista, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Hamill added to the enjoyment.

3. David Tennant's Return for the Doctor Who 60th Anniversary:

   In a unique turn of events, David Tennant reprised his role as the Doctor and assumed the role of the Fourteenth Doctor. Notably, Catherine Tate also returned as Donna for these three Doctor Who specials, creating excitement among fans. The specials are available for streaming on Disney+. 

4. The Super Mario Bros. Movie:

   Personally experiencing this movie in theaters left a positive experience. Surprisingly well-made, the film boasted a great dub cast, an enjoyable Bowser's Peach song, and a decent plot. If you haven't watched it yet, you're missing out—it's a highlight of 2023. 

5. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom:

   Shifting focus from books and movies, let's not forget the highly anticipated game release of the year: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Serving as a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this game merges the mechanics of its predecessor with elements of Minecraft, offering an open-world experience where players can construct anything they desire. It's a brilliant fusion and well worth the wait.

 

Looking back, what nerdy highlights from this year brought you excitement, and what are you eagerly anticipating in the coming year?

Plots part 1/3: And then . . .

 

Recently, I watched a video on YouTube from the creatures of South Park, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, giving helpful advice about developing good plots. I personally don’t like South Park, but I thought their advice sounded good and I supported it, but then I realized that there are surprising exceptions where a movie breaks this rule and still does very well in the box office. In this post I will go over their advice and give examples of how true and false their advice is.

In the video, Matt Stone and Trey Parker plot advice is “take the beats of the outline and if the words ‘and then . . .’ belong between those beats . . . you got you something pretty boring. What should happen between every beat that you’ve written down is either the world therefore or but.” 

So basically if you are describing a movie and use the words “and then this happens and then this . . .” that should be a pretty boring movie. Here are two examples of movies that follow "and then" advice, both did well in the box office, but one disappointed me more than the other.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker 51% / 86% Rotten Tomatoes (*Spoilers*)

In the movie Klyo Ren has a Sith wayfinder and then find Palpatine alive and then Palpatine shows a massive amount of star destroyers and then tells Klyo to kill Rey. Rey is looking for a Sith wayfinder and goes to Pasaana and then find Lando and then finds a Sith dagger and then Kylo finds her. And then Rey and most of the gang escape and travel to Kijmi to reboot C-3PO’s so he can tell them the location of a wayfinder. And then on a moon in the Endor system Rey realizes the dagger is a map and then she confronts Kylo. And then Kylo is redeemed because his mother died. And then Rey and the gang face Palpatine and then she finds out she is a Palpatine and then he is defeated and then she decides that she is a Skywalker.

I could have kept talking about the plot and kept adding more “and then” statements, but I believe this makes my point clear; that the sequel trilogy has the wrong beats and to me was disappointing.

I personally am tired of Star Wars, and this validated my explanations on why the movie failed and then I recently watched another movie, and I enjoyed it a lot, but like Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker if I took the beats of the movie the narrative follows the “and then” outline. So the question is why is this movie better?

The Super Mario Bros. Movie 59% / 95% Rotten Tomatoes (*Spoilers*)

At the beginning of the movie, Mario and Luigi started a plumbing business that is struggling and then the city got flooded and they try to fix the plumbing problem to gain cliental and then they are sucked into a warp from a pip separating the two brothers. Mario ends up in the Mushroom Kingdom and wants to find his brother and then finds toad and then meets Princess Peach and then trains to rescue his brother and help save the mushroom kingdom. And then goes to Jungle Kingdom and then Mario faces Donkey Kong and wins and then the Jungle kingdom allies with the mushroom kingdom. And then they use go karts to head back to the Mushroom Kingdom and then Bowser’s army ambushes them on Rainbow Road and peach is taken away. And then a wedding happens and Mario crashes it to save Luigi and Peach. And then they go back to Brooklyn and Mario and Lugi face Bowser and win.   

Again, I could have added more plot points increasing the number of “and then” statements to this summary. But the point that I am making is that both movies have the same style of beats. Some of you may like Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker over The Super Mario Bros. Movie. While others like me like the latter more. The reason I like the latter more is because it was supposed to be a fun adventure with light plot points and that is exactly what I got from watching it. I expected the sequel Star Wars trilogy to be more complex having consequences that play into the plot, but that never happened.

When I listened to these creators talking about plot, I agreed with them 100% until I found an exception to their reasoning. I believe that story telling generally does better when there are “but and therefore” in the beats of the summary. However, there are miracles of when plots with “and then” perform well. 

In the next part I will discuss a way of how these movies could have been different if the format supported but and therefore. The final part I will go over one movie that executes this well.

Why You Should Be Excited For Super Mario Bros.

 

The super Mario Bros movie is coming out April 5^th and this could be the best video game film to ever be released. In this post I will go over 5 reasons why you should be excited for the Mario movie.

1) Chris Pratt Voicing Mario

I have heard some controversy about him voicing Mario over Charles Martinet, the original voice actor from the games. We don’t have much detail on why Charles Martinet wasn’t hired to voice Mario, it could be his age (being over 67) or his availability. However, he will be voicing Mario’s Dad. Either way, Chris Pratt is the second-best option after him. He has shown to be successful as a voice actor as evident in Lego Movie and Onward. Both movies were entertaining and very well received. Also, While listening to the trailers he does a good job being his own voice, but also sounding like Charles Martinet Mario.

2) Nintendo’s Animation Studio

Another reason that this movie has the potential being the best video game adaptation it is being released by Nintendo's own animation studio! 

 

Sonic 06 image from game. Yep they Kissed

In my opinion the best video game adaptation has been Sonic so far. The Sonic movie was released by Sony pictures, but the games is made by Sega. It may have been better if Sega made the movie instead of outsourcing it to Sony, however Sega has been known to produce awful sonic games. . . . I’m talking about you Sonic 06.

I believe that since Nintendo is in charge of making this movie and this is the first movie coming from their animation studio that they will do there best to make this movie successful. If it is then more Nintendo adaptations might come out, Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, etc. How fun would it be to see these beloved games being made into decent movies?

3) It is Fully Animated

One solution that could have made the Sonic movie better is to have made it fully animated. There is so much that can be done in animation that looks awkward if it was live action. I am so grateful that the Mario movie will be fully animated. The movie looks just like the video games which is awesome. I love seeing the 3D Mario stages that has been teased in the trailer as well as the Mario Kart scene, and Luigi Manson references. The animation looks beautiful!

Honestly, I hope that this upcoming movie will make a reference to the live action Super Mario Bros. that was made in 1993. Whether it's by breaking the 4^th wall  making a live action Mario movie reference or stating that Mario’s last name is Mario. Any reference to that awful movie will make me laugh.

4) Voice Actors Cast

I have already talked about how Chris Pratt is a great choice to voice Mario. I should also give a shout out to the other cast members because they are great choices for this movie. Most of them are fans of the franchise and you know that they will be performing their best. For example, Jack Black is going to voice Bowser. Initially I thought that was a weird casting choice, but after watching the trailer I am confident that he will do well as the voice of Bowser. Also, the comedian Keegan-Michael Key who is known for substitute teacher skit will be voicing toad. I bet he will have some comedic relief in the movie.

5) The Story

The last reason why this movie could be the best video game adaptation is the story could be good. The movie seems to have a similar story from the video games, but also be unique. Like the video games Mario gets ready to fight against Bowser to stop his plans from conquering the world, but what is new is Princess Peach will be helping Mario instead of being captured.

I also think that there will be some side stories that will be told that true fans have been speculating about, but have not been confirmed yet. Like something about Mario and Donkey Kong history with each other.

I haven’t seen a movie in theaters in years since the pandemic but this movie I am planning on seeing in theaters with my spouse. I think this will be visually appealing, having a good cast and story, and being released by Nintendo itself. If you want Nintendo to make more movies, then you may want to show support by seeing this movie in theaters.