The Ten Koopmandments

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"The Ten Koopmandments"
Production number	141
Airdate	October 31, 1989 (English) December 3, 1990 (French)
Writer(s)	Perry Martin
Plumber's Log #	1000 B.C.
King Koopa's alter ego(s)	Koop Tut
Cover song(s)	"Walk Like an Egyptian"
Replacement song(s)	"Burn Baby Burn"
Title reference	The Ten Commandments
Live-action segment	"The Artist"
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"The Ten Koopmandments" is the thirty-fourth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! This episode is based on the second half of the Judeo-Christian tale of Exodus, the second book in both the Bible and the Torah. Mario's role is based on Moses, freeing the slaves of a powerful tyrant and parting the Red Sea with his staff. In the Exodus story, Moses receives the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, to praise the God of Israel who brought them out of labor, whereupon he breaks the original tablets after seeing that the Hebrews made an idol out of the gold they took from the Pharaoh and demanded they melt it into a gold chest to carry the Commandments, after writing a second set on the same mountain. Here, Koopa has written his own set of Koopmandments which direct all glory and worship to himself. Its corresponding live-action segment is "The Artist."

Plot synopsis

Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad are riding on camels on their way to Pyramid Land, as a pharaoh named Koop Tut is causing trouble for the citizens. As Mario and co. reach a monument known as the Ten Koopmandments, they read the various Koopmandments;

• Koopmandment #1: Thou shalt give Koop Tut all your gold coins.
• Koopmandment #2: Thou shalt hire no plumbers.
• Koopmandment #6: Thou shalt eat no pasta.
• It is unclear what the rest of the Koopmandments say.

Mario becomes offended after reading the sixth Koopmandment, claiming that Koop Tut has gone too far.

As the group leave in their camels, they find a nearby Mushroom village, only to find out it was deserted. Toad assumes that all the Mushroom People living there have vanished, but Princess Toadstool points out that not all of them have, as they find three of them who introduce them as The Three Mushrooms; Curly, Larry, and Momar. Princess Toadstool asks the Three Mushrooms about the whereabouts of all the other villagers. Curly tells the group that Koop Tut has kidnapped most of them, and Larry continues that they have been turned into bricks. Momar shoves his two siblings saying that he should be the one talking and then hits them by the head, hurting them. Toad asks Mario what Koop Tut could be up to. Mario tells Toad that Koop Tut's doing could be something diabolical, sinister, and not very nice.

Meanwhile, Koop Tut is admiring the construction of his colossal Koopinx, which is made entirely out of bricks that were once Mushroom People, being nearly complete. Mouser heads to Koop Tut to tell him some bad news. Angered by this, Koop Tut pulls Mouser with his magic staff, saying that he hates bad news, and even the one who brings it. Mouser tries to change the subject by saying that it was "good news" and that he will be rewarded with a medal for bringing it. As Koop Tut prepares to abuse him, Mouser tells him that they could take the vacation cruise of the Nile. Koop Tut asks Mouser of what will become of his Koopinx. Mouser tells him that the "great part" is that the Koopinx cannot be finished; they were fresh out of bricks. Koop Tut shakes Mouser in frustration, saying that it sounded more like bad news for him and then tosses Mouser into a palm tree, leaving him disappointed that there will not be a cruise nor medal reward for him. Koop Tut commands Mouser to bring in the Koopa Pack to kidnap the remaining Mushroom People. Mouser accepts Koop Tut's command and walks off, mumbling about how there cannot be anything worse other than his boss.

Later, Mario and his friends spot Koop Tut, Mouser, Tryclyde, and a Koopa Troopa on a chariot ridden by an Ostro. Mario tells the gang that there is only one thing they can do. Luigi asks if they could run for their lives. Mario tells Luigi that they should stand and fight, leaving Luigi with no other choice.

When Koop Tut and his Koopa Pack reach the village, he commands them to take over the village until they find The Three Mushrooms, who launches pie at them with a trebuchet. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad show up holding plungers, ready to take down Koop Tut and his army. Mouser, Koopa Troopa, and Tryclyde charge into their battle positions as Mario and his friends prepare to attack. When Mouser and Koopa Troopa begin to twirl their spear and sword respectively, The Three Mushrooms launch more pie at the Koopas, only for Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad to be hit by the pies on accident. Noticing they have mistargeted, Momar grabs his two brothers by the nose, hurting them again. Koop Tut uses his magic staff to turn The Three Mushrooms into bricks and then trap Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad in a net.

Koop Tut sends Mario and his friends into a dungeon inside of a pyramid. As Princess Toadstool commands Koop Tut to let her Mushrooms go, Koop Tut declines this, proclaiming that good bricks are hard to find. Koop Tut and his pack then leave Mario and co. trapped in the pyramid dungeon. Mario points out that a Goomba Mummy is after them, in which the gang flee from it in a dark corridor where they find a Cobrat blocking their path. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad proceed to leap over the Cobrat, along with the Goomba Mummy that was chasing them. A Phanto appears out of nowhere coming after Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad, leaving the group surrounded by it and the Goomba Mummy. Mario finds an emergency exit and presses the button, which opens up a trapdoor where Mario and co. fall into it and slide down a really long slide to escape the pyramid.

As the Koopinx's construction has been completed, Koop Tut becomes exhausted from all his hard work and takes a nap on his throne. As Koop Tut falls asleep, Mario sneaks up to his throne to rob his magic staff. He then uses it to turn the Koopinx back into Mushroom People and leads them out of where the Koopinx once was.

When Koop Tut finds out that the Koopinx has mysteriously disappeared, Mouser tells him what had happened while he grabs and pounds him into the ground. Furious, Koop Tut commands Mouser to go after Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, and all the Mushroom People they have freed and jumps at Mouser, throwing him into another tent.

When Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, and the Mushroom People make it into the Red Sauce Sea, Mario uses the magic staff to part the sea, creating a path for them to come across safely. Koop Tut finds the group making their way out of the sea and prepares to charge after them. As the entire colony of Mushrooms have made it out of the Red Sauce Sea, Princess Toadstool points out Koop Tut and his pack relentlessly coming after them. Mario throws the magic staff into the sea, causing it to collapse with Koop Tut and his minions in it. Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, and the Mushroom People all cheer in victory as Koop Tut, Mouser, Trycyde, and Koopa Troopa all swim away in defeat. With Koop Tut and his Koopa Pack gone, Princess Toadstool asks Mario on what they should do for an encore. Mario decides that they should have the biggest spaghetti feed in history and ponders where they can get a hundred billion tons of pasta.

Characters

"Koop Tut"

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• Koop Tut
• Mouser
• Tryclyde
• Koopa Troopas
• Ostro
• Goomba Mummy
• Cobrat
• Phanto
• The Three Mushrooms
• Mushroom People

Cast

• Lou Albano — Mario
• Danny Wells — Luigi
• Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker — Toad, Mouser, Koopa Troopa, mushroom #1, mushroom #3
• Harvey Atkin — King Bowser Koopa, mushroom #2

Animation and continuity errors

• When Mario and his friends look at the Ten Koopmandments, Toad is larger than normal.
• When Mouser first approaches Koop Tut on his throne, his necklace is missing.
• When the Koopa Pack returns to the village, Koopa Troopa's face is completely yellow. This also happens when they are washed away by the Red Sauce Sea.
  • In the same scene, the Ostro's head plume is missing.
• When Koop Tut uses his staff to turn The Three Mushrooms into bricks, he, Tryclyde, and Mouser are standing on thin air.
• When the Koopa Pack starts laughing at Mario and his friends, Koopa Troopa and Tryclyde's mouths do not move.
• When Mario finds the emergency exit, it reads, "EMERGENCY EXT: PUSH", but in the close-up shot of the exit, it reads, "EMERGENCY EXIT: PUSH!"
• In some scenes of Mario sneaking to steal Koop Tut's staff, the Koopinx is depicted as still undergoing construction despite being completely finished.
• When Mario is about to use Koop Tut's staff, Toad is missing, but in the next shot, he is in front of Princess Toadstool.
• When Koop Tut manhandles Mouser after learning the Koopinx's disappearance, Mouser's head disappears for a few frames.
• When Koop Tut orders Mouser to command the Koopa Pack to attack, his shell turns the same color as the rest of his body.
• When Koop Tut kicks Mouser against his tent, the stripe on Mouser's loincloth is missing.

• 

  The layering error

• 

  The floating characters

• 

  Koopa Troopa's miscolored head

Quotes

“Magic staff, do your trick! Turn these mushrooms into bricks!”

—Koop Tut

“Ultra bad news! We're trapped between a mummy and a weird face!”

—Toad

“I hate bad news, and I hate the guy who brings it!”

—Koop Tut

“I'm warning you, let my mushrooms go!”

—Princess Toadstool

“Never! Good bricks are hard to find!”

—Koop Tut

Profiles

• Netflix: Deep among the sands of Desertland, the evil Koop-Tut is holding the Desertlanders hostage with a strict set of rules: the Ten Koopmandments.

Dub edits

• With the Plumber's Log removed from the French dub, and Pyramid Land not mentioned anywhere else, this leaves the location the episode takes place ambiguous in the French dub.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
French	Koopa et les Dix Commandements	Koopa and the Ten Commandments
German	Koopas zehn Gebote	Koopa's Ten Commandments
Italian	I Dieci Comandamenti di Attila	Koopa's Ten Commandments
Portuguese	Os 10 Koopandamentos	The 10 Koopmandments
Spanish	Los 10 Koopamandamientos	The 10 Koopmandments

Trivia

• According to writer Perry Martin, the original premise for the episode was named "Koop-Tut" where King Koopa "turns everyone into bricks" to build a "Koopinx," but it was rejected by DIC executives, allegedly due to being "too imaginative." Not wanting to waste the premise, Marin rewrote the script as a more straightforward film parody, having remembered that Andy Heyward wanted a parody of The Ten Commandments, and got the script approved.