History WesternAnimation / SuperMarioBros

* AdaptationDyeJob: Princess Toadstool's appearance is a fairly good direct rendition of her early game sprite: a more Daisy-like redhead.

* CompositeCharacter: King Koopa, the cartoons' version of Bowser, appears to be a mix of both Bowser and Wart (especially in the ''Super Show'').
** Specifically, King Koopa has Wart's crown, green skin and {{Mooks}}.

* ADayInTheLimelight: All three shows have at least one episode focusing on Luigi - "Quest for Pizza" in SMBSS, "Life's Ruff" in [=SMB3=], and "Mama Luigi" in SMW.
** Especially notable is that Luigi is the ''only'' one of the four heroes to be in "Life's Ruff".

* OffModel: [[PunctuatedForEmphasis Every. Freaking. Thing.]] There are countless animation errors, all around sloppy animation quality, and some blatant inconsistencies between drawings! (note, for example that in the "Night Before Cave Christmas" episode, [[YourSizeMayVary that Mario inexplicably grows large between cuts when he's talking to Oogtar about being "good".]] And the ''Super Mario World'' cartoon is probably the least frequent offender.)

** Luigi's status as a CowardlySidekick debuted here. Toad's oddly screechy voice is eerily similar to the gibberish sound Toadfolks make in recent games.

* Website/YouTubePoop: A prime source, especially the ''Super Mario World'' cartoon.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suSSdHr8sog "I'D SAY HE'S HOT ON OUR TAIL"]] is the {{Trope Maker|s}}.

** Luigi's CowardlySidekick personality debuted here. Toad's oddly screechy voice is eerily similar to the gibberish sound Toadfolks make in recent games.

* DesignatedLoveInterest: Massively subverted, likely due to the fact that Mario & Luigi are middle aged in these cartoons(they'd have to be since the live action segments establish it) and Toadstool is young enough to be Mario's daughter(the production bible gives her age at the start of the series as 17). In fact, there was never an attempt to give Toadstool a love interest, or really much attempt in these cartoons to have romance at all.

* CowardlySidekick: Luigi, decades before ''VideoGame/LuigisManion'' would establish his cowardly personality, and later Yoshi.

* CowardlySidekick: Luigi, and later Yoshi.
** This became canon as of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]

** "Fire Sale", the first episode of ''Super Mario World'', takes place almost entirely in Ice Land, a location from ''Super Mario Bros. 3''.[[note]]In terms of the shows' game counterparts, fire-spitting Piranha Plants exist only ''Super Mario Bros. 3'' and not ''Super Mario World'' as well, suggesting that this episode may be a RecycledScript from the previous show.[[/note]]

Saturday morning cartoons titled ''TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' were later made (without live-action segments) and would air alongside ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' on Creator/{{NBC}}. All three shows are now available on [=DVD=]. See also ''WebAnimation/SuperMarioBrosTheParodySeries'' for TheAbridgedSeries version.

* CanonImmigrant: Luigi's CowardlySidekick personality debuted here. Toad's oddly screechy voice is eerily similar to the gibberish sound Toadfolks make in recent games.
** The games version of Bowser shares several traits of King Koopa from game to game (eg. DeadpanSnarker moments, a loyally CardCarryingVillain, genuinely love for his offspring).

* {{Flanderization}}: Big Mouth seemed to originally earn his moniker from being an ObnoxiousSnarker (a role that was admittedly sorta redundant between him and the other mouthy Koopa Kids). By SMW he is a LargeHam MotorMouth who drives his siblings crazy by ''never shutting up''.

* AbortedArc: The ''Super Show'' constantly reminds us that the Mario Brothers are [[BigApplesauce from Brooklyn]], with the live action segments representing their past lives there and the ExpositoryThemeTune to each episode documenting how they were sucked through a pipe into the Mushroom Kingdom. Many episodes, such as "Brooklyn Bound", focus on their [[TheHomewardJourney attempt to return home]]. By the time ''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'' rolls around, RefugeeFromTVLand is a common plot device, with the Mario Bros. themselves traveling to "The Real World" in many episodes, but they don't seem particularly interested in staying there anymore.

** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suSSdHr8sog I'D SAY HE'S HOT ON OUR TAIL]]" is the {{Trope Maker|s}}.

** The intro meanwhile has some very good animation that one can think it wasn't for the show.

** ''WhatAnIdiot/WheelOfFortune'' is referenced twice. King Koopa hosts a spoof in ''Super Show'' and he spies on a family watching the show in ''Super Mario World''.
** ''StarTrek'' gets a reference in every cold open to the ''Super Show'' in the form of the "Plumber's Log" Mario narrates to himself at the beginning of each episode.
** Documenting ''all'' the ShoutOuts in the ''Super Show'' would be a task daedalian in scope. Nearly every episode is a reference (either a full-blown WholePlotReference, or an InNameOnly reference in the form of a PunnyName title) to a film (such as "The Mark of Zero" for {{Zorro}}, "Toad Warrior" for ''MadMax 2: The Road Warrior'', or "Crocodile Mario" for ''CrocodileDundee''), and the ones that aren't are usually a reference to folklore, literature, celebrities or something else.

** "Rock TV" opens with King Koopa reminiscing on what he learned "while [he] was in the Real World." Presumably, he's talking about his [[RefugeeFromTVLand experiences]] in many episodes of ''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3''.

* BigApplesauce: This interpretation of the Mario Bros., arguably more than any other. They've got the accents, and their New York origin[[note]]Flatbush, Brooklyn, to be precise.[[/note]] is the source of many jokes.

* ContinuityNod: Uncommon, but it happens:

* TheHomewardJourney: A common plot device in the ''Super Show'' is the Mario Bros. trying (or at the very least, ''wanting'') to return to their home of Brooklyn. Especially in the episode [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Brooklyn Bound"]]. [[spoiler:[[StatusQuoIsGod They]] [[YouCantGoHomeAgain never do]].]]

* PlanetOfHats: ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show'' has a new one OncePerEpisode, always denoted by a name like "[Hat] Land." There's Caveman Land, Car Land and {{Rap}} Land, just to name a few! [[note]]Interestingly enough, this was ''[[OlderThanTheyThink before]]'' the Mario games themselves started using PlanetOfHats-style themed worlds with names like Grass Land, Desert Land and Water Land, a practice which started in ''SuperMarioBros3''. So the wild and crazy PlanetOfHats Lands featured in the ''Super Show'' can seem like more of an AffectionateParody of the ''Mario'' series in retrospect than they were originally written as![[/note]]

* RefugeeFromTVLand: A common gimmick in ''The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3'' has the Koopas traveling to [[BreakingTheFourthWall "The Real World"]] to cause havoc, and the Marios following to fix it. Doesn't really show up in the other shows, though Koopa [[ContinuityNod flashes back]] to his time spent in the Real World at the beginning of the ''Super Mario World'' episode "Rock TV."

* TitleThemeTune: ''Super Mario World'' gives even the most excessive TitleThemeTune a run for its money. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTSUvoTKRwI intro theme]] consists almost entirely of "Super Mario, Super Mario, Super Mario World" being repeated incessantly by a chorus of deep voices. So much so that it forms the bassline to the song!

* WholePlotReference: The usual template for an episode of the ''Super Show'' has the heroes traveling to a PlanetOfHats themed around a reference to a certain medium, and then engaging in a WholePlotReference to said media. For example, "Star Koopa" parodying ''StarWars'' and "Toad Warrior" parodying ''MadMax 2: The Road Warrior''. This type of story was mostly dropped for the next two series.

Saturday morning cartoons titled ''TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' were later made (without live-action segments) and would air alongside ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' on Creator/{{NBC}}. All three shows are now available on [=DVD=]. See also ''SuperMarioBrosTheParodySeries'' for TheAbridgedSeries version.

* DubNameChange: The writers made up their own names for the Koopalings, called the Koopa Kids in the actual show, before the English version of [[AllThereInTheManual The Manual]] was final. That, and some of the references Nintendo ended up using would likely go over most kids' heads anyway.

* TagalongKid: Toad in first two series and Oogtar in Super Mario World.

Saturday morning cartoons titled ''TheAdventuresOfSuperMarioBros3'' and ''WesternAnimation/SuperMarioWorld'' were later made (without live-action segments) and would air alongside ''WesternAnimation/CaptainNTheGameMaster'' on Creator/{{NBC}}. All three shows are now available on [=DVD=]. See also ''SuperMarioBrosTheParodySeries'' for the AbridgedSeries version.

* DistressedDamsel: Toadstool 90% of the time in SMBSS; in [=SMB3=] and SMW she took on a more active role.

* YouTubePoop: A prime source, especially the ''Super Mario World'' cartoon.
** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suSSdHr8sog I'D SAY HE'S HOT ON OUR TAIL]]" is the TropeMaker.