Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas

The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode
"Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas"
Production number	101
Airdate	September 8, 1990 (English) September 6, 1991 (French)
Writer(s)	Bruce Shelly Reed Shelly
Opening curtain	Giant Land
Featured song	"Ninja Man"
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"Sneaky Lying Cheating Giant Ninja Koopas" is the first episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired alongside another episode entitled "Reptiles in the Rose Garden."

This episode is notable for being the first time in the Super Mario cartoons where King Koopa is referred to as "Bowser Koopa" when Mario says that he is not taking over any land. He is also referred to by this name in "Princess Toadstool for President", "Reign Storm", and "Crimes R Us". It is also notable for being the only episode in the series to show parts of it during the credits, with the scene with Mario and Luigi being chased by the Angry Sun and collecting a Super Leaf being used. In addition, it contains a few references to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, most notably the title. Big Mouth Koopa also references the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles catchphrase "I love being a turtle!" from their first film by saying "I love being a Koopa!"

Plot synopsis

Inside King Koopa's castle, the Koopalings are roughhousing and fighting amongst themselves. Eventually, the Koopalings are called into attendance for a "Koopa Family Meeting" by King Koopa, who says that it is time the Koopalings do something exceptionally dastardly. He goes on to tell a nearby Goomba wearing a headband to pull a rope to open a curtain for the life-size portrait of the person they are going to attack.

The portrait is of an extremely large Mushroomer; Big Mouth Koopa identifies the man as Prince Hugo, the new ruler of Giant Land, who is described as being the bravest and strongest prince ever and "giant, even for a giant." A vain Bully Koopa says that the prince is no big deal and elbows Big Mouth to the floor; King Koopa begins to say that Prince Hugo is a big deal, but he will cut Hugo down to size, by changing him into a miniature poodle with one of his wands, but he will need a volunteer to get Hugo so he can be transformed.

A panicking Bully is suddenly pushed forward by Kootie Pie Koopa. As King Koopa prepares to zap the protesting Bully with his wand, he orders Big Mouth, Cheatsy, and Kooky von Koopa to step forward. As Kootie Pie, Hip, and Hop Koopa back away, King Koopa zaps Bully, Cheatsy, Kooky, and Big Mouth with his wand, turning them gigantic and inexplicably giving them weapons and ninja costumes. King Koopa then commands his colossal children to go out and kidnap Prince Hugo so he can conquer Giant Land.

Prince Hugo with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool.

In Giant Land, Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool are attending a meeting with Prince Hugo and the Royal Parrot. Asking Prince Hugo why he called this meeting, Prince Hugo says that his armies have been defeated by the giant-sized Koopalings and that they are now coming for him. Mario reassures Prince Hugo, saying that they will stop the Koopalings; soon after making this remark, the Royal Parrot begins to criticize Mario and Luigi. Wanting to show-up the uppity Royal Parrot, Mario and Luigi set off in a Warp Tube to defeat the Koopalings.

Outside, Big Mouth, Cheatsy, Bully and Kooky, while rampaging through Giant Land, begin to head for Prince Hugo's castle. Exiting the other end of the Warp Tube, Mario safely falls to the ground and prepares to catch the falling Luigi. Unfortunately, Mario fails to catch Luigi and says the reason for this was that the sun was in his eyes. Insulted, the Angry Sun suddenly charges towards Mario and Luigi in rage; running from the Angry Sun, Mario and Luigi hit a nearby block which releases a Super Leaf. Touching this Super Leaf, Mario and Luigi gain raccoon powers and begin to fly through the air.

As Mario and Luigi fly, they are approached by the Angry Sun, who proceeds to ask them if they saw where Mario and Luigi went. Mario and Luigi, bemused by the Angry Sun's obliviousness, say that they went and hid behind a cloud, and the Angry Sun then flies off and begins to search for Mario and Luigi. With the Angry Sun gone, Mario and Luigi head to Prince Hugo's castle.

Bully, about to grab Toad and Toadstool.

The Koopalings, having reached Prince Hugo's castle, begin to try and break into it. Managing to do so, Bully and Big Mouth proceed to grab Toad and Princess Toadstool, while Kooky and Cheatsy grab Prince Hugo. As the Koopalings prepare to leave, Mario and Luigi appear and begin trying to feebly attack the Koopalings. Big Mouth, annoyed, easily defeats Mario by simply blowing him away.

Crashing to the ground, Mario is bitten by a Piranha Plant and loses his Raccoon powers; Luigi also loses his powers after being jabbed by Big Mouth, who grabs the now powerless Luigi. Opening the cage of the Royal Parrot, Big Mouth roughly grabs the bird and tosses it aside so he and Bully can place Toad, Luigi and Princess Toadstool in the cage.

As Bully begins to try and grab him, Mario leaps onto the back of the Royal Parrot and tells it to fly away. At first the parrot is hesitant to leave without its cage, but it finally does fly away when Mario promises to eventually get its cage back. Unconcerned with the fleeing Mario and parrot, Big Mouth says that he and his siblings should just take Prince Hugo, Princess Toadstool, Toad and Luigi to King Koopa and get all their well deserved praise.

Prince Hugo as a poodle.

Having transported Prince Hugo, Toad, Princess Toadstool, and Luigi to King Koopa's throne room, the Koopalings, after being told they did a great job by King Koopa, hold Prince Hugo in place while King Koopa uses a wand to transform him into a poodle. After doing this, King Koopa, after grabbing his "ninja wand" off the wall, prepares to change Bully, Cheatsy, Kooky and Big Mouth back to normal, but is convinced otherwise by Big Mouth, who says with their new size and skills, conquering other kingdoms will be easy.

After picking up King Koopa, Big Mouth and his siblings leave while Mario and the Royal Parrot, having somehow entered King Koopa's Castle, approaches the cage containing Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad. After briefly whispering something to Princess Toadstool, Mario begins to enact a plan; going over to the rack containing King Koopa's wands, Mario switches the jewels atop the wands, effectively mixing them up; after doing this, Mario goes back into hiding in the shadows.

After a few minutes of mocking Prince Hugo, King Koopa is returned to his throne by Big Mouth and begins trying to think of which kingdom he should take over next. After ignoring suggestions from Cheatsy and Kooky, King Koopa is suddenly approached by Mario, who demands that King Koopa releases Princess Toadstool, Toad and Luigi and that he change Prince Hugo back to normal.

Mario, facing King Koopa.

King Koopa, believing Mario to simply be bluffing, asks what he will do if he does not give into his demands. Mario tells King Koopa to let his friends and Hugo free and he will tell him why next Tuesday. King Koopa has Big Mouth grab Mario. Princess Toadstool says from the cage that King Koopa will probably do something horrible to Mario, like turn him into a poodle like Prince Hugo. Thinking that to be a great idea, King Koopa grabs a wand off the wall and zaps Mario with it; thanks to Mario's tampering with the wand though, the wand burns Big Mouth's fingers and causes him to drop Mario; landing on the ground, Mario transforms into a gigantic, ninja version of himself, calling himself "Good Truthful Honest Giant Ninja Mario".

Mario, now gigantic with ninja gear

After freeing Princess Toadstool, Toad and Luigi, Mario prepares to fight the Koopalings while his friends rush at King Koopa, causing him to flee and drop his wand; as King Koopa hides behind the giant Kooky, Princess Toadstool, after grabbing King Koopa's wand, transforms the Koopalings back to normal as they rush at Mario. Having regressed back to normal, the panicking Bully, Kooky, Big Mouth, and Cheatsy run away at the sight of Mario. While Luigi changes Prince Hugo back to normal, the Koopalings and King Koopa tremble at the sight of Mario.

An enraged Royal Parrot about to attack Mario.

As Mario begins advancing on King Koopa and the Koopalings, King Koopa decides to abandon his children and hits a nearby block, which causes a Warp Tube to appear out of the floor. Diving into the Warp Tube, King Koopa is quickly followed by the Koopalings; after the Koopalings enter the Warp Tube, it disappears.

Prince Hugo, extremely grateful to Mario, thanks him and shakes his hand as Mario is transformed back to normal by Princess Toadstool. Suddenly, the Royal Parrot appears and begins to become extremely upset at the sight of his cage, which was wrecked by Mario when he freed Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool from it. Grabbing King Koopa's wand from Princess Toadstool, the parrot makes itself slightly bigger and gains ninja gear, which Mario calls "Miserable Squawking Angry Giant Ninja Parrot," and begins to chase Mario, demanding he fix his cage.

Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• King Koopa
• Bully Koopa
• Big Mouth Koopa
• Kooky von Koopa
• Cheatsy Koopa
• Kootie Pie Koopa (no dialogue)
• Hip Koopa (no dialogue)
• Hop Koopa (no dialogue)
• Prince Hugo
• The Royal Parrot

Cast

• Walker Boone — Mario
• Tony Rosato — Luigi
• Tracey Moore — Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker — Toad
• Harvey Atkin — King Koopa
• Dan Hennessey — Bully Koopa
• Michael Stark — Kooky von Koopa, the Royal Parrot
• James Rankin — Cheatsy Koopa
• Gordon Masten — Big Mouth Koopa
• Greg Morton — Prince Hugo
• Stuart Stone — Singer
• Ernie Anderson — Opening Narrator

Animation and continuity errors

• At the beginning of the episode, Hip and Hop are jumping on a chair, but when King Koopa calls for a family meeting, the chair disappears.
  • In the same scene, Bully and Kooky's snouts are the same color as their skin. This also happens to Bully when the Koopalings return back to normal.
• When King Koopa is walking near the Goombas, his shackles and shell's spikes are white instead of orange.
• When Bully knocks over Big Mouth, the bottom of Big Mouth's feet are light-brown instead of dark-brown.
• When King Koopa says he is going to turn Prince Hugo into a poodle, his eyes are layered over his snout.
• When King Koopa asks who will bring him Prince Hugo, he can be seen using his wand despite not actually using it until later.
• When King Koopa orders Cheatsy, Big Mouth, Kooky and Bully forward to be transformed into giant ninjas, his crown is missing.
  • Also, the Koopalings do not move forward; the other Koopalings move back.
    • In the same scene, Cheatsy's eyelids are the same color as his head.
• After the Koopalings become giant, Bully's eyes appear on his glasses.
• Throughout the episode, King Koopa's wands and the Royal Parrot's feathers change color several times.
• When Mario says that he and his friends will protect Prince Hugo, the "M" on his cap has its colors reversed, and shortly after, Prince Hugo's right arm is layered behind him for a frame.
• When Luigi says that Koopalings will arrive at Prince Hugo's castle any minute, he is smiling.
• When the Angry Sun flies away, he disappears into thin air.
• When the Koopalings approach Prince Hugo's castle, Kooky flashes, and shortly after, Cheatsy's head is olive and has yellow hair instead of green with blue hair.
  • In the same scene, they have weapons, but in the next shot, they disappear.
• In some scenes, Kooky's nostrils are missing. This also happens to Cheatsy when he and Kooky suggest the kingdom they should take over next.
• When the Koopalings begin breaking into Prince Hugo's castle, Kooky's head is orange instead of green while Cheatsy's underbelly is white instead of yellow.
• When Bully pushes Prince Hugo, his head is the same color as his snout. This also happens after King Koopa turns Prince Hugo into a poodle.
  • Initially, he is the one holding them, but when the Mario Brothers appear, Big Mouth is holding them.
• When Mario hits a pipe, his raccoon tail and ears are miscolored.
  • In the same scene, after Raccoon Mario turns back into his normal form, he still has raccoon ears for a short time.
• When Cheatsy holds Prince Hugo before the commercial break, he is not wearing his ninja outfit.
• When Big Mouth takes the Royal Parrot out his cage, his star is not colored in briefly, while a side of his face turns the same color as his snout for a few frames.
• When Mario tells the Royal Parrot that riding on him is the only way to save Prince Hugo and his friends, his hand suddenly jerks behind the parrot's back, and shortly after, the parrot's eyes are colored yellow instead of blue.
• When Big Mouth and Bully start running towards Mario, Bully briefly appears running in midair.
• When Mario flies off on the Royal Parrot, the edge of an animation cel can be seen.
• When Kooky suggests the Koopalings return to Kastle Koopa, his shell is colored orange instead of green.
• When King Koopa says he will return the Kooaplings back to normal size, the wand he holds is briefly layered behind his hand instead of inside it.
• When Mario sneaks over to the cage, he has four fingers on each hand instead of five.
• When the Koopalings praise their father while walking around in circles, Cheatsy and Kooky are briefly depicted as Bully.
• When Mario hides behind King Koopa's throne, his hair is colored red like his cap instead of black.
• When Big Mouth suggests which place to conquer next, one of his nails turns the same color as his skin.
• When Kooky suggests to King Koopa that they attack Water Land, he has Bully's voice.
• After Mario says that Koopa is not taking over any land, Cheatsy's eyelids are the same color as his snout.
• When the Koopalings run to grab Mario, Big Mouth’s voice is heavily high-pitched.
• When Princess Toadstool says that King Koopa is mean enough to turn Mario into a poodle, Luigi is colored like Mario. This also happens when Mario lets them out.
• Throughout most of its time at Kastle Koopa, the cage is to the right of the throne, but when Luigi says that King Koopa does not realize that he has been tricked, it is to the left, and shortly after, it disappears.
• When King Koopa asks who tampered his wands, two black lines briefly appear and the screen shakes.
• When Mario opens the cage, black dots briefly appear on and around his left hand and his undershirt is missing.
• When King Koopa hides behind Kooky's leg, Kooky's underbelly briefly disappears, and in the following shot, the Giant Koopas shrink slightly.
• When Mario stands his ground, the symbol on his headband is missing.
• When the Koopalings return to normal, their ninja outfits are still present for a short time.
  • In the same scene, Big Mouth's shell is green instead of purple.
    • Additionally, from this point onward, when they speak, some of their voices are missing.
• When Luigi turns Prince Hugo back to normal, the light round him is misplaced. This also happens with Mario when Princess Toadstool turns him back to normal.
• When the Koopalings beg King Koopa to save them, only Cheatsy and then Kooky's voices are heard.
• When King Koopa abandons his children, Big Mouth's snout is the same color as his head.
• When Prince Hugo thanks Mario, Mario's pants are cream-colored instead of white.
• When Mario turns back to normal, his normal cap can be seen on the ground before his transformation finishes.

• 

  King Koopa's miscolored spikes

• 

  Cheatsy's miscolored eyelids

• 

  Luigi's miscolored clothes

Profiles

• King Koopa Katastrophe VHS/DVD: King Koopa plans to capture Prince Hugo, the Huge^[sic] of Giant Land, and turn him into a minature^[sic] poodle!

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Chinese (simplified)	卑鄙巨人酷霸忍者 Bēibǐ Jùrén Kùbā Rěnzhě	Despicable Giant Ninja Koopas
Dutch	Liegende reuze Ninja's	Lying giant Ninja
Finnish	Petollisesti jättiläis ninja Koopa	Deceptive giant ninja Koopas
French	Les Koopas Ninjas Géants	The Giant Ninja Koopas
German	Super Ninja Mario	-
Italian	I Terribili Guerrieri Ninja	The Terrible Ninja Warriors
Polish	Podstępne kłamliwe wielkie Koopa Ninja	Cunning lying giant Koopa Ninjas
Portuguese (NOA)	Ninjas Gigantes	Giant Ninjas	BKS dub
	Os Terríveis Ninjas Koopas Gigantes	The Terrible Giant Ninja Koopas	Uniarthe dub
Romanian	Ninja Koopa Uriași, Ticăloși, Vicleni Și Trișori	Giant, Villainous, Sneaky And Cheating Ninja Koopas
Spanish (NOA)	Los Tramposos Mentirosos e Intrigantes Koopas Ninja Gigantes	The Cheating Lying and Intriguing Giant Ninja Koopas
Spanish (NOE)	El tortuoso, mentiroso y tramposo gigante ninja	The devious, lying and cheating giant ninjas	original dub
	Los Tramposos Mentirosos y Conspiradores Koopa Ninjas Gigantes	The Cheating Lying and Conspiring Giant Ninja Koopas	re-dub

Trivia

• The Koopalings share similarities to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: they are brothers, teenagers, based on turtles, ninjas, and each of the members' personalities reflect that of a certain turtle:
  • Bully is the team's angry member, similar to Raphael.
  • Kooky is the team's smart member, similar to Donatello.
  • Big Mouth is the team's bothersome member, similar to Michelangelo.
  • Cheatsy is the team's neutral member, similar to Leonardo.
• This episode, along with "Reptiles in the Rose Garden", are the only two episodes that use a different scene transition style, where some scenes transition with a pink border around them with no black screen appearing before fading to the next scene. This transition style does not appear in later episodes, likely due to these episodes being produced first. However, there is a exception for one scene; the scene transition from the Mario Bros. being transported by a Warp Pipe to the Koopalings approaching Prince Hugo's castle uses a green border instead of a pink border.
  • Something to also note is that these episodes are the only episodes to have no drop shadow for title card's text.