32 Years ago, Charles Martinet crashed an audition for an Italian video game protagonist hosted by a rising video game development company. But after all that time, today, we finally say goodbye to the original voice of our hero Super Mario; as he hangs up his many hats one last time.
Today, on the 21st of August, 2023; Nintendo released an announcement on their Social Media that Charles Martinet is retiring from the voice acting role he has embodied for so many years.
We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023
Since Mario Teaches Typing in 1991, Mario has had this wonderfully wacky, high-pitched and energetic voice, thanks to Martinet! Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Whomps and Thwomps also owe their voice to Charles Martinet, not to mention that one commercial for Isle Delfino in the intro of Super Mario Sunshine! Mario is arguably the most iconic protagonist in video game history, holding many top spots in “Best Video Games of All Time” lists since his debut in the eighties, and the news that his iconic voice is being replaced after all this time has hit the gaming world hard.
Some people, however, already saw this coming a long way off.
It all started with the announcement of Chris Pratt as the voice of Mario in the hit Illumination adaptation of Super Mario for the big screen. Many saw this as the first sign that things were changing, though it was easy to chalk this up to numerous other reasons, so it all died down for a while, until the Super Mario Bros. Wonder trailer dropped. The online scene exploded with people claiming that Mario sounds different from usual; dissecting the audio clip by clip to confirm their suspicions. We have no way to confirm as of yet that the voice heard in this trailer was indeed the new voice actor for Mario, but now that the announcement of Charles Martinet’s retirement has occurred, we can’t help but take another look at that footage… maybe people were right after all.
Do not fear, however! Charles Martinet isn’t gone for good. In fact, Nintendo has confirmed that “he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!” – so it’s very likely that Martinet will be staying on with nintendo as an Ambassador for the main man Mario and his friends, which we’re SUPER relieved to hear.
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Get it? Super?
Take a moment to appreciate your favourite performance of Charles Martinet, share some of your favourite moments featuring Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, etc. in the comments below, or tag us on social media!