A language expert reveals the issue with Chris Pratt's voice in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Produced by Illumination Entertainment, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be the second adaptation of the beloved Nintendo game franchise, after the negatively received 1993 live-action film. After nearly seven years of development, The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer was released last week. Though the story is largely unknown, the trailer seems to indicate that the movie will follow the game's usual story, with Mario seeking to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser's grasp.
Directed by Teen Titans Go! creators Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic and written by Minions: The Rise of Gru's Matthew Fogel, The Super Mario Bros. Movie will feature Pratt as the titular plumber, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Charlie Day as Luigi, and many others. While the trailer was lauded for its animation and much of the voice cast, fans of the Nintendo franchise were critical of Pratt's Mario voice, feeling that the actor didn't try very hard to recreate the character's iconic, Italian-accented voice. Prolific voice actor Tara Strong even chimed in, saying that the film should have used Mario voice actor Charles Martinet.
After the brief sample of Pratt's voice in the trailer inspired such disdain, a language expert breaks down the reasons that it wasn't well received. In a press release from learning language marketplace Preply, learning success manager Amy Pritchett offers some insight into the reasons for the negative public reaction to Pratt's Mario voice. Pritchett notes that online searches for both "Mario accent" and "Chris Pratt accent" have spiked since the trailer release, and states the importance of authenticity in accents and languages represented on-screen. See her analysis below:
With searches for ‘Mario accent' having spiked by 838% in the past week, it’s clear to see the huge reaction this casting has caused, and it’s important to remember that the film industry has a huge responsibility to make sure that languages and cultures are protected. Mario is a well-known Italian plumber who is a fan favourite in Nintendo games including Super Mario and Mario Kart. With the new Mario movie, we are seeing the debate of actor over character identity, especially with the accent of Mario.
Dubbing can bring huge challenges for movies, especially in the casting of a native speaker with the correct accent. Searches for ‘Chris Pratt accent’, who is the English voice actor for Mario, have increased by 214% in the past month after the trailer launched with Mario not having the iconic Italian accent that would be expected of the character.
Whilst it’s important that voice actors don’t put on an accent using stereotypes, many Mario fans are questioning why an English-speaking Italian actor wasn’t picked to become the voice and take on the character.
Can Super Mario Bros. Movie Overcome Chris Pratt Casting Backlash?
Pritchett brings up an important point about Pratt's voice backlash. Outside not sounding like the beloved video game character, he also doesn't accurately represent the character that he is portraying, which would make putting on a fake Italian accent problematic if he were to lean into an exaggerated or stereotyped version of the voice. That complication, which could have been avoided by casting an Italian actor, puts Pratt in a difficult situation when attempting to embody the iconic character, leading to the lackluster performance that viewers have been quick to criticize. However, the trailer does create high expectations for the film (outside Pratt's performance), promising a faithful adaptation of the games from its uniquely designed Mushroom Kingdom to the perfect voice performances from Key's Toad and Black's Bowser.
Given the swift changes that were made to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie after the universal online backlash to the infamous "Ugly Sonic" design, it's possible that the film's creators will take a note from that event and alter Pratt's recordings to make them closer to the source material, or even have him re-record. Even if they forge on ahead with the original recordings, The Super Mario Bros. Movie is shaping up to be a faithful and exciting tribute to the Nintendo franchise, even featuring a cameo from Martinet himself. With video game media franchises on the rise, it's possible that Illumination will have a winning formula on their hands despite the backlash to Pratt's Mario voice, depending on how the film does upon its release.
Source: Preply
