Super Mario Odyssey’s “Jump Up, Super Star!” was an absolute hit back in 2017. The catchy tune even made it on stage and performed live at The Game Awards that same year. We still hear the piece in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, or even in a playlist thanks to iTunes. What we weren’t expecting was to hear a plagiarized version of it in an animated film from China.
An interpretation of the Aesop fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” Tortoise Hare Battle looks like an attempt at a shonen competitive cycling anime.
While the movie came out last December, it’s making the rounds today thanks to a two-minute video showing off the film and its “original” theme song and user NS新闻速报 posting about it on Weibo.
Rest assured, the top comment there isn’t pleased with this shameless rip-off.
Chinese cartoon "Tortoise Hare Battle" uses "Jump Up, Super Star" as their own theme song. pic.twitter.com/dWL1E3I9ik
— Chinese Nintendo (@chinesenintendo) February 21, 2019
Chinese Nintendo signal boosted it on Twitter today as well as translating the music credits to show who is responsible for the blatant theft.
Lyrics: Liu Fangyi
MUSIC: SHANG PENG
Sang by: Wang Yalin pic.twitter.com/vIAbb6yxI4— Chinese Nintendo (@chinesenintendo) February 21, 2019
First, a piece of music from Yoshi’s Island is used for a game promoting recycling commissioned by the U.S. government and now Mario and Mayor Pauline are being dragged into this chaos. Hopefully, Nintendo has the Wright Anything Agency’s phone number on speed dial.
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Written by Jennifer Burch
Illustrator, designer, writer and big Nintendo geek, you can find Jennifer with an N3DS within reach 24/7. As the oldest of three, she has survived many Mario Party, Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart sessions intact in addition to getting her brothers hooked on some really weird games. (Cubivore anyone?)
