Leave a Comment / January 23rd, 2024 / Abbie Maxwell

Two artists share concept art from The Super Mario Bros. Movie

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It’s been almost an entire year since The Super Mario Bros. Movie first aired. The film was a massive hit, plus the presence of easter eggs and fun callbacks for big-time Nintendo fans is nice as well. All of the artists who worked on the project are undeniably extremely talented, and thanks to Megan and Travis Ruiz on Twitter, some early concept art for the movie has been revealed.

 

Concept designs for Mario Movie’s Brooklyn

 

Kicking things off with Mario & Luigi’s hometown of Brooklyn, Travis Ruiz shared a handful of interesting pieces. Starting with a collection of designs for the iconic duo’s bedroom that is absolutely jam-packed with small details many might not notice. 

 

 

The fan-favorite Punch-Out Pizzeria and the sewer tunnel entrance featuring bricks broken in the shape of Mario’s head also had their early designs shown off. 

 

 

 

Wrapping up the section is the scene where Mario & Luigi discover the warp pipe, and a design for the Brooklyn 1-1 side-scroller sequence.

 

 

 

Concept designs for the Mario Movie’s Mushroom Kingdom

 

Moving away from Brooklyn and into the Mushroom Kingdom, Megan showed off plenty of nice designs that can be found here. Kicking things off is a painting depicting the scene of Baby Peach entering the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time, along with some additional sketches in the replies.

 

 

What would the Mushroom Kingdom be without mushrooms? A handful of mushroom drawings were provided, and they’re quite neat. They really help to sell the “Mushroom” part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

 

 

Going hand-in-hand with the mushrooms (kind of) comes plants. The Mushroom Kingdom is known for its beautiful scenery, and these topiaries and hedges capture that perfectly. 

 

 

 

What’s the Mushroom Kingdom without anything involving Princess Peach? To finish off this section Megan shows off a handful of sketches of Peach’s garden. Additionally, there’s a couple of unused fountain designs that look amazing. 

 

 

 

Everything Toad in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

 

From the Mushroom Kingdom to its residents, next up are the always-lovable Toads. Megan on Twitter posted an entire thread of Toad outfits, which really help capture the diverse lives these little guys live. 

 

 

Outfits weren’t all that were experimented with for the film early on however, as sketches of various Toad body types were also shared. While the final film only featured variation in outfit, it’s very interesting to know how different the Toads may have looked.

 

 

Lastly for the Toad section is a series of very early scenes for Toad going shopping. While nothing crazy, we think it is nice to have a little window into the routine and lives of the Toads, even if it didn’t make it into the final film.

 

 

Other concepts created for the Mario Movie

 

To wrap this up are a handful of concept pieces that depict various other events. First up is the Mario Kart scenes. A sketch of the group racing made by Megan can be seen, as well as a glorious Rainbow Road design.

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least are these unused scenes from very early in the movie’s development. Even though these didn’t make it into the final product, the paintings look incredible and are very interesting nonetheless!

 

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Abbie Maxwell

Written by Abbie Maxwell

Lifelong Nintendo fangirl, Abbie holds a special place in her heart for video games. She has always strived to provide tips and tricks to make the experiences of those who share her passions that much better.