The Ugly Mermaid
| The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode | |
|---|---|
| "The Ugly Mermaid" | |
| |
| Production number | 122 |
| Airdate | November 3, 1990 (English) November 15, 1991 (French)[?] |
| Writer(s) | Perry Martin Sean Roche |
| Opening curtain | Water Land |
| Featured song | "Never Kiss a Mermaid" |
| << List of episodes >> | |
"The Ugly Mermaid" is the eighteenth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired alongside another episode entitled "Mush-Rumors." This is the only episode where Mario and his friends are in the same powered-up form throughout the entire episode. The episode's name is a reference to The Little Mermaid, a Danish fairy tale.
Plot synopsis[edit]
The episode begins as King Koopa swiftly pilots his Doom Sub through the ocean, planning to conquer the underwater world of Mertropolis, which he plans to turn into Kooptropolis. Already aware of his plans, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad pursue the sub, aided by Frog Suits.
Hip and Hop Koopa notice them and inform Koopa, who orders his Rocky Wrenches to attack. The Mario Bros. manage to catch some of the wrenches that are thrown at them, and throw them back, damaging the Doom Sub's propellers. The submarine spins out of control, firing strange beams in all directions. As Mario tries to protect the Princess from the blasts, he is hit by one of them himself. His body is encased in a block of cement, which causes him to begin sinking.
When all seems lost, a mermaid named Holly Mackerel comes out of a Warp Pipe and swims over to save Mario. She introduces herself as the mermaid princess of Mertropolis and brings Mario to the submerged city, which is covered by a dome. Luigi and the others follow, and try their best to revive the now-unconscious Mario. When he regains consciousness, Holly tells him that her fortune teller claimed a frog prince would "come hopping into my life". Believing Mario to be that prince, she falls in love with him and tries to get him to marry her. After some brief dodging and running away, Mario directly confronts her and tells her that they just are not compatible. Leaving her in tears, he and the rest of the team head back to the pipe leading to the ocean.
However, before entering the pipe, Mario cannot bring himself to go back. His near-death experience has made him dreadfully afraid of the water, and he refuses to leave. The others try to convince him to go, but he makes it clear that he will not go into the water ever again. Suddenly, the Doom Sub appears over the city, and Koopa shouts his demands through a loudspeaker, declaring that if the city is not surrendered in seventeen minutes, he will destroy it. King Mackerel shows up, and worries about Mertropolis being destroyed.
Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad jump into the exit pipe, but Mario is still too afraid. Toadstool tries to convince him that everything will be okay, but it does not do any good. Suddenly, two Boomerang Brothers enter through the pipe and start attacking the city. Mario defeats them, but just as soon as they are gone, more arrive. After Mario's group battles the small troop of Boomerang Brothers, Koopa announces that he has more to come. As before, Mario is too scared to leave the city. Princess Toadstool tells him to stay behind, while she, Luigi, and Toad stop the Doom Sub.
Holly sees that Mario is still there, and misinterprets his staying as a sign of love for her. King Mackerel still sees Mario hanging around, and warns Mario about King Koopa's threat. Holly, who was mistaking a Warp Pipe for Mario's "solid build", notices and introduces Mario to her father, and plans to prepare a wedding ceremony, much to Mario's dismay.
Onboard the Doom Sub, Hip and Hop spot Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad returning, and Koopa responds by firing Nasty Nets at his three foes, capturing all of them. Back in Metropolis, Holly tells Mario about how she is inviting all of the citizens to their wedding. However, Holly's plans are cut short when Koopa announces that he is going to throw them a wedding shower.
Koopa then drops a Bob-omb onto the city's protective dome, blasting a hole in it, which causes water to pour in and start flooding the city. Mario regains his courage, realizing he is the only one who can rescue his friends and the city—that, and he wants to get away from Holly. He swims up the advancing flood of water, and fixes the hole in the ceiling on his way out with a manhole cover.
The Doom Sub fires a Chain Chomp at Mario, but Mario grabs ahold of the chain and uses the Chomp to cut open the Nasty Nets that are holding his friends. Mario and Luigi then take one of the nets to capture a school of Jelectros, and hurl the net at the Doom Sub. The Jelectros electrocute the Doom Sub, forcing the Koopa Troopas to retreat.
Later on, back in Mertropolis, King Mackerel presents Mario with a medal for his heroic deeds. Holly, still infatuated with Mario, arrives and puts a wedding-day helmet on him. The helmet, however, distorts his facial appearance, and she shrieks in shock, saying that she cannot marry him because he is "the ugliest-looking frog [she's] ever seen". With that resolved, the heroes cheerfully leave before Holly has a chance to get over her fear.
Cast[edit]
- Walker Boone — Mario
- Tony Rosato — Luigi
- Tracey Moore — Princess Toadstool
- John Stocker — Toad citizen
- Dan Hennessey — singer #1
- Gordon Masten — singer #2
- Stuart Stone — Hip Koopa
- Tara Charendoff — Hop Koopa
- Diane Fabian — Holly Mackerel
- Rod Coneybeare — King Mackerel
Animation and continuity errors[edit]
- Throughout the episode, the nostrils on Princess Toadstool's Frog Suit disappear several times.
- When King Koopa says that Mertropolis will be his, the rings around the spikes on his shell are briefly colored orange instead of green.
- In the same scene, he speaks without moving his mouth.
- When Mario and his friends dodge the wrenches, Toad's eyebrows turn the same color as his Frog Suit.
- In several scenes, gloves appear on Princess Toadstool. This also happens to Toad when King Koopa fires the Nasty Nets.
- When Mario almost drowns, his sideburns can be seen, but elsewhere in the episode, they are hidden by his Frog Suit. In addition, in one scene, they are black instead of brown.
- Mertropolis's citizens are unable to breathe air, but they live in an air-filled city.
- When Mario's friends place him on a table, Princess Toadstool's Frog Suit covers her hands.
- When Holly Mackerel says that Mario is afe, her bracelets turn completely white.
- In some scenes, King Mackerel's head is skin-color instead of purple, while his gloves turn completely green.
- When Mario says that he is afraid of water, his eyes are green like Luigi's instead of blue.
- Inversely, when Luigi says that King Koopa will get even with him and his friends, his eyes are blue like Mario's instead of green.
- When Luigi says that Holly wants to marry Mario, his mouth does not move. This also happens with Mario when he says he will be a coward forever.
- In several scenes, Toad's arms are not covered by his Frog Suit.
- When Princess Toadstool tells Mario to come, the eyelashes on her Frog Suit disappear.
- When Mario watches his friends leave, a Spiny Cheep Cheep disappears into thin air.
- In the same scene, Toad can be seen with Mario's friends despite him not leaving through the pipe.
- When King Koopa tells the Koopalings to fire the nets, Hop's hair turns completely pink while his eyelids are colored black like his glasses instead of green.
- When King Koopa walks over to the cockpit, he appears out of thin air.
- When the Mario Bros. throw the net of Jelectros towards the Doom Sub, the eyes on their Frog Suits are colored white instead of yellow.
- When King Mackerel awards Mario with a medal, it passes through him.
- When Holly tells Mario to put on his helmet, Mario's medal disappears.
Holly's miscolored bracelets
Hop's miscolored hair
King Mackerel's miscolored head and hands
Dub edits[edit]
- In the Chinese dub, King Koopa discusses taking over the entire ocean floor instead of just Mertropolis.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese (simplified) | 丑陋的美人鱼[1] Chǒulòu De Měirényú |
The Ugly Mermaid | |
| Finnish | Ruma merenneito[2] | The ugly mermaid | |
| French | La vilaine petite sirène[3] | The Naughty Little Mermaid | |
| German | Die Meerjungfrau[?] | The Mermaid | |
| Italian | La principessa sgombro[4] | The Princess Mackerel | |
| Korean | 못생긴 인어[5] Motssaenggida Ineo |
The Ugly Mermaid | |
| Polish | Wstrętna syrena[6] | The ugly mermaid | |
| Portuguese | A Sereia Feia[7] | The Ugly Mermaid | |
| Romanian | Sirena cea urâtă[8] | The ugly mermaid | |
| Russian | Безобразная русалка[9] Bezobraznaja rusalka |
The ugly mermaid | |
| Spanish | La Sirena Fea[10] | The Ugly Mermaid |
Trivia[edit]
- The opening music is different from normal, as this episode uses the water level theme instead of the standard Water Land theme.
References[edit]
- ^ 【720P高清修复】超级马里奥兄弟3 TV版动画【1990年】【中文语音字幕】【全26集】
- ^ Super Mario bros 3 episode 22 (finnish)
- ^ Les aventures de Super Mario Bros 3 022 La vilaine petite sirène
- ^ Le avventure di Super Mario 2x18 - La principessa sgombro
- ^ The Adventures of Super Mario Brothers 3 Korean Dub 슈퍼마리오 3 VHS Volumes 1 - 6.
- ^ Nowe Przygody Braci Mario Odcinek 18 - Wstrętna syrena
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 - A Sereia Feia (Dublagem Herbert Richers)
- ^ May 20, 2015. "The Ugly Mermaid", dubbed in Romanian by KidsCo. Odnoklassniki (OK.ru). Retrieved January 4, 2016.
- ^ Приключения братьев Супер Марио 3 (все серии) (6+)
- ^ Las Aventuras de los Super hermanos Mario: 14 - La Sirena Fea
