Mario of the Apes

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"Mario of the Apes"
Production number	144
Airdate	November 14, 1989 (English) December 6, 1990 (French)[?]
Writer(s)	Mark McCorkle Robert Schooley
Plumber's Log #	8-42
Title reference	Tarzan of the Apes
Live-action segment	"Chippie Chipmunks"
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"Mario of the Apes" is the forty-second episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. This episode is the first in the series not to have a cover song and its replacement accompany it. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Chippie Chipmunks."

Plot synopsis

Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad have travelled to Jungleland, which they are in the midst of passing through as means of a shortcut. As Mario brags to Luigi about Jungleland not being such a dangerous place, Luigi cowers over the idea that there may be ferocious beasts that could attack them. Toad also suggests that Jungleland could even be filled with lions and tigers. King Koopa then cuts in and adds Koopas to Toad's list, revealing himself to Mario's group in the process. Now wearing a hunting outfit, King Koopa explains that he wanted to go hunting, and that it is currently open season on plumbers. Mario demands for King Koopa to leave them alone, but he instead directs their attention to a flying Albatoss.

As the Albatoss swoops down from the air, Mario tells his friends to get down. While Mario, Princess Toadstool and Toad physically lie down on the ground, Luigi starts to dance. When Mario questions Luigi as to why he is dancing, Luigi explains that he is "gettin' down". Somewhat puzzled by Luigi's actions, Mario instead opts to deal with the Albatoss himself, and directs his friends to hide behind some bushes. The Albatoss then swoops down and grabs Mario in his talons before he can react, and proceeds to lift the plumber into the air. With Mario in its grasp, the Albatoss flies over to King Koopa, who jumps onto its back.

The Albatoss begins to fly upwards, while King Koopa pretends to speak like an airplane pilot, explaining that the flight is "non-stop 'til you drop". Not one to give up, Mario smacks the Albatoss's head with his plunger, causing the bird to lose control and soar downwards. Although the Albatoss manages to avoid hitting the ground, it instead flies deeper into the jungle, prompting Princess Toadstool to remind Luigi and Toad that they need to save Mario.

Meanwhile, in a nearby house that has been built within the branches of a tree, June and Ward, a gorilla couple, lament to each other that their treehouse is too quiet, and that they want to hear the pitter-patter of little ape feet. Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by the squawking of the Albatoss, whom June mistakes for Mr. Stork. The two apes run out to their front porch and see the Albatoss, whom Ward concludes really is the stork. Before flying off with King Koopa, the Albatoss drops Mario headfirst onto June and Ward's porch, causing Mario to lose his memory.

When Mario opens his eyes, he displays signs of amnesia and proceeds to ask all sorts of simple questions as he sees June and Ward looking down at him. When Mario asks June and Ward as to who they are, June states that they are the luckiest apes in the world, and Ward explains that they are his mom and pop. When June asks Ward as to what they should name their new child, Mario attempts to say his name, but cannot get further than "Ma". June figures that his name should be "Marzan", and Ward welcomes "Marzan" into their family. Not knowing any better, Mario decides to go along.

June demonstrates to Mario on how to squeeze a banana out of its peel and into her mouth. Mario then does the same thing with an armful of bananas all in one go. June then gets the impression that Mario has a big appetite for someone his size. Later, Ward directs Mario to swing down from a tree on a vine, which he immediately succeeds in doing. Mario then plays around with some monkeys, who are frightened off when a lion approaches them. The lion roars at Mario, and the two of them proceed to get into a fight. In the end, Mario manages to tie up the lion using his own tail, despite having the parts of his clothing, including the right strap of his overalls and his shirt ripped off in the process, leaving only his torn overalls. As the lion hops off in defeat, Mario bangs his chest, proclaiming himself as "Marzan, King of the Jungle".

While swinging through some vines, Mario crashes into a female monkey. After they fall to the ground, the monkey develops a crush on Mario, who is not really interested in her. After being kissed by the monkey, Mario backs off and soon finds himself with his back against a tree. However, Mario is saved when June calls him home for dinner, and he responds with a loud howl.

In another part of Jungleland, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad hear Mario's howl, which Princess Toadstool wonders what horrible jungle beast it could belong to. Luigi states that while he does not know, he hopes that it does not attack poor Mario, or themselves. Toad points out that while they may not have found Mario, that at least King Koopa has not found them. Suddenly, a spear goes flying over the trio's heads, and they realize that they have been spotted by King Koopa and four spear-wielding Shyguys. King Koopa orders the Shyguys to attack, and while they fail to hit their targets, they do force the three of them to jump into the nearby river.

King Koopa reminds Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad that while they may have eluded the spears, they have now stumbled into a river full of Trouters. The Trouters proceed to swim around in a circular fashion and manage to create a whirlpool leading down into another Trouter's open mouth. The force of the whirlpool pulls the three heroes inwards, and they are seemingly unable to swim away from it. When Luigi comments that Mario could plug the so-called drain, Mario makes his entrance by howling and swinging down from a vine, grabbing his friends out of the water on his way.

After landing on the far side of the river, Luigi thanks Mario for rescuing them, but Mario points out that he is not Mario, and is instead Marzan. Princess Toadstool questions Mario if he has lost his memory, and states that he is not Marzan. Mario ignores them, mentions that he is late for dinner, and proceeds to swing his way home. Upon hearing Mario mention dinner, Toad points out that this is the Mario he knows and wonders why the Mario he knows does not know the Mario he knows. Luigi states that they need to find Mario and try to revive his old personality, and they proceed to run off after him.

Inside a large tent, King Koopa is sitting on his throne, having just heard about the whole Marzan ordeal from a Shyguy. King Koopa asks the Shyguy that if Mario is King of the Jungle, what that makes himself. When the Shyguy is unable to properly answer the question, King Koopa picks him up and proceeds to give him a beating. King Koopa then orders the Shyguy to tell the others that he is the only king, and that if Mario thinks he is king, to dethrone him, before kicking the Shyguy out of the tent.

Walking through the jungle, Princess Toadstool tells Luigi and Toad that they have lost Mario and cannot catch up with him. Toad then discovers a trail of banana peels on the ground and prompts the others into following it. The peels lead the group to the base of June and Ward's tree, but they have no visible means of climbing it themselves. However, they resort to using several plumber's helpers as makeshift platforms and use them to slowly climb the tree. Princess Toadstool asks for Toad to toss her up another plumber's helper, but when he discovers that they ran out, he climbs back down and collects the bottommost plumber's helpers, then tosses them up to Princess Toadstool so that she can continue. Scared of heights, Luigi comments that he wants to go back down, but Toad reminds him that they can only continue upwards.

Mario then enters June and Ward's dining room, where Ward reminds him that he is late for dinner. Mario argues that he is King of the Jungle, but June points out that her banana casserole is practically ruined, and that his torn clothes are a mess. Their dinner is then interrupted by the doorbell, leading Ward to answer the door, where he sees Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad standing on the other side. Upon seeing the two humans and the Mushroom, Ward asks if it is already Halloween, and Princess Toadstool states that they are actually friends of "Marzan's." Upon seeing his friends, Mario calls them crazy people. Luigi tells Mario that the apes made a monkey out of him and tries to bring back his memory by showing him his first monkey wrench. Ward then comments that he always thought the tool was called a people wrench. Luigi decides to resort to drastic measures, pulling out a meatball sandwich.

Before Luigi can present the sandwich to Mario, the entire tree starts to shake, due to the fact that two Shyguys are chopping away at the trunk with axes. King Koopa comments that since Mario being king has gone to his head, they need to bring him down to Earth, the hard way. As Princess Toadstool identifies King Koopa and the Shyguys, June points out that she did not make enough casserole for everybody. Toad then has to inform June that her so-called dinner guests are actually home wreckers.

Mario then swings down on a vine and grabs one of the Shyguys, which he tosses aside. The Shyguy's axe then goes flying and cuts down a bunch of bananas, which fall on the other Shyguy's head, rendering him unconscious. While King Koopa continues to chop away at the tree on his own, Mario across down on another vine, and crashes into a bunch of bananas, causing them to fall out of their peels and into King Koopa's mouth. As Mario laughs, Luigi accidentally drops his meatball sandwich from the porch, and it bounces off of Mario's head before he manages to grab it in his hand.

Looking at the sandwich, Mario is reminded of meatballs and marinara sauce, and his memory comes back to him. Mario then asks himself why he is hanging from a vine and proceeds to climb up to June and Ward's porch, where Luigi is thrilled to have the old Mario back. As Luigi hugs Mario, King Koopa comments that Mario no longer has his jungle instinct, and pulls out a Cobrat. Mario then drops his meatball sandwich, which lands in the Cobrat's mouth. When the Cobrat attempts to shoot a bullet, the sandwich cancels out the attack, and instead sends both the Cobrat and King Koopa flying into a tree.

The sandwich itself goes flying into the air, and Mario rushes to climb down a vine and rescue it in midair. Hanging from the vine, Mario grabs the sandwich in his mouth. Ward then points out that he is their Marzan, King of the Jungle, and Princess Toadstool fears that Mario thinks he is Marzan once again. As Mario chews away at the sandwich, Luigi tells Princess Toadstool not to worry, because Mario knows who he is, and that he has always gone ape for meatballs.

Characters

King Koopa, as seen in hunting clothes

• Mario/Marzan
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• King Koopa
• June
• Ward
• Albatoss
• Shyguys
• Trouters
• Cobrat
• Monkeys
• Monkey lady

Cast

• Lou Albano — Mario/Marzan
• Danny Wells — Luigi
• Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool, Shyguys
• John Stocker — Toad
• Harvey Atkin — King Bowser Koopa
• Greg Morton — Ward
• Diane Fabian — June

Animation and continuity errors

• At the beginning of the episode, when Mario and Luigi peek out of the bush, Luigi's eyes are blue like Mario's instead of green.
• In several scenes, the spikes on King Koopa's tail are colored orange instead of white.
• When Mario pushes his friends to safety at the beginning, Toad is missing.
• In one scene when Mario and King Koopa fly on the Albatoss, Mario's mouth moves, but his voice cannot be heard.
• When June and Ward step out onto the porch, their door has only one diamond on it, but later in the episode, there are three diamonds.
• When Marzan squeezes some bananas, his shirt is missing. This also happens in one shot while he swings on a vine.
• When Marzan falls with the female monkey, his shirt is intact despite it being ripped by the lion. This also happens when he saves his friends.
• When the female monkey grabs Marzan, he appears out of thin air.
• When King Koopa tells a Shy Guy to tell its comrades that he is the only king, the steam from his tent is repeating.
• When Mario's friends are pulled into the whirlpool, Princess Toadstool is behind them, but in the next shot, she is by them.
• When Luigi says Mario's wrench will bring his memory back, his mouth does not move.
• When Toad explains that King Koopa and his minions are cutting down the tree, his vest is missing while Princess Toadstool's dress is miscolored.
  • In the same scene, he speaks through King Koopa's mouth.
• In one scene when King Koopa tries to cut down the tree, June's lipstick is missing.

• 

  Mario's missing shirt

• 

  Princess Toadstool's miscolored dress

• 

  June's missing lipstick

Profiles

• Netflix: When Mario gets a foggy head in the thick of the jungle, a pair of caring apes take him under their wing and raise him as "Marzan."

Dub edits

• In the Brazilian Portuguese dub:
  • Ward mistakes Mario's friends as being pure fantasy instead of trick-or-treaters.
  • When Luigi shows Mario's first monkey wrench, June says he thought he would show him and June a car jack. In the original, he thought the monkey wrench was called a "people wrench."
    • In the Latin American Spanish dub, he says he thought the monkey wrench was called an adjustable wrench.
• In the Latin American Spanish dub, June's banana casserole is referred to as banana pudding,
  • On a related note, her casserole is not mentioned to be ruined, unlike the original.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
French	Mario Ne Fait Pas le Singe	Mario Does Not Make the Monkey
German	Mario der Affe	Mario the Ape
Italian	Mario, re delle scimmie[?]	Mario, King of Apes
Portuguese	Mario, o Rei da Selva	Mario, King of the Jungle
Russian	Марио из то Обезьян[?] Mario iz to Obezyan	Mario of the Apes
Spanish	Mario de los monos	Mario of the apes

Trivia

• The events of this episode are followed up in the episode "Raiders of the Lost Mushroom."
• Marzan is a parody of the fictional character Tarzan.
• This is one of the two episodes where King Koopa uses a costume, but not an alter ego, the other being "Jungle Fever".
• Toad mentioning lions and tigers before being interrupted by King Koopa saying "...and Koopas, oh my!" at the beginning of the episode is a reference to the line, "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" from The Wizard of Oz.
• The 2014 and 2019 YouTube uploads by WildBrain has the jingle from the DIC logo heard over the Cookie Jar logo.
• When King Koopa realizes that Marzan is the king of Jungleland, he says, "If that wrench monkey is the king of the jungle, what am I?" This is a reference to "I know you, but what am I?", a quote Pee-wee Herman would say when others insulted him.