Headscratchers / The Wizard

• Just how did Jimmy figure out where the warp zone was?
  • Some viewers have speculated that he might be psychic. Then again:
  • Fridge Brilliance: The original Super Mario Bros. game had a similar way to access its warp zone.
  • Also, that flute was basically "imported" to the Mario franchise from The Legend of Zelda, so once he'd found it, the kids would probably have intuited from having played those games (among others) that he's supposed to use it to warp somewhere.
  • How'd the other kids know to yell advice to Jimmy about how to get the flute? It's the first time both in and out-of-story that anyone had actually seen SUPER! MARIO BROTHERS! THREE!! before, so perhaps they were psychic too.
  • A possible in-universe explanation: Early on in the film just prior to the "Send Me An Angel" montage, Haley tells the boys that she got some "Power magazines" to help teach Jimmy the secret tricks of each game. Kind of a throwaway line, but given these were likely Nintendo Power magazines, this troper always assumed they might have found the information there in some sort of preview article.
  • On that note of "Send Me An Angel" montage about the "Power magazines", while Nintendo Power didn't go into detail about Super Mario Bros 3 until the March/April 1990 issue, the earlier issues still talked about Super Mario Bros 3. Other magazines at the time (plus mom and pop video game stores rented the famicom version of Super Mario Bros 3 with an adapter) also went into great detail about Super Mario Bros 3. It is pretty easy to see that Jimmy would have at least known about the game if he was studying that much about it, even with Nintendo's official magazines.
  • All of which contradict the big reveal of SUPER! MARIO BROTHERS! THREE! at the competition, along with the kids complaining that it's a new game they haven't had a chance to study up on. The simplest answers: They put it in there as a free tip for the kids in the real-world audience, and it's... kind of a dumb movie.

• If the family was driving back to Utah from LA, why did they drive past the Cabazon Dinosaurs outside of Palm Springs, which are nowhere near I-15?
  • Hollywood Geography; and dinosaurs are cool.
• Why is Haley so worried about a "New Game" when Super Mario Bros 3 is announced? Jimmy's strength is new games he has never played before (e.g. getting 50,000 in Double Dragon on his first go). Lucas is only a master because he owns all the games, it's he who should be complaining about the new game.
  • The gang spends a lot of time studying up on all Nintendo games, as seen by their repeatedly consulting Nintendo Power for tips. Haley is worried because all of that preparation is wasted. They have to rely solely on luck and Jimmy's natural ability, having no idea how well that will stack up against their opponents.
  • Also, while he doesn't complain so much about it aloud, Lucas certainly doubts his own gaming prowess enough to try to sabotage the kids' bid for the prize by pointing Putnam in their direction; which maybe he would have done anyway, but it demonstrates how at his age he prefers to do something about his problems rather than just complain about them.
  • And, as the RiffTrax crew rightly points out, the final challenge being a game none of them have played before is actually the complete opposite of unfair, since all contestants are guaranteed to be on equal footing.
• If you're going to put a Hollywood Autistic child in an institution because he keeps running away, shouldn't you pick an institution that doesn't just let children wander in and out willy nilly?
  • That seems to have been rather the plot point being addressed when the parents were talking to their counselor; they were thinking to move their kid from her institution (from which he could wander away so easily) to somewhere more attentive and secure.
• Why doesn't Putnam just negotiate contracts where he gets paid for his work regardless of who returns Jimmy? Competing with a missing child's own family is blatantly counterproductive, especially when all the adults have the same goal of seeing Jimmy kept safe.
  • Mostly because he's a dick, and so are they.
• Haley is apparently a psychic-level craps player, and the best way she can think to make money is with a kid who's good at NES games?
  • Haley would know enough about craps to know that playing the game "right" gives you some of the best odds in a casino game, but it still has a house advantage. On the other hand, Jimmy is virtually guaranteed to defeat any opponent, so betting on him is much safer.
  • Also to the above, she took advantage of the situation that she found herself in. It would have been easier to use Jimmy and his arcade abilities to make money than it would be for her to find a craps table outside of Utah. Not to mention, she is underage to legally gamble at a casino, which was why she had to ask a friend of her father to do the gambling for her (and not all adults would either take her word on her craps abilities, let alone give her half or all of the money after winning, as we've seen adults steal money from her and the boys).
• How is it that either Sam or Christine (or both) forget about their trip with Jimmy and Jennifer to Cabazon Dinosaurs in the 1st place?