Mario Meets Koop-zilla

This article is about The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! named "Mario Meets Koop-zilla". For the VHS of this episode, see Mario Meets Koopzilla (VHS).

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"Mario Meets Koop-zilla"
Production number	118
Airdate	October 19, 1989 (English) October 2, 1990 (French)
Writer(s)	Perry Martin
Plumber's Log #	22 - 38
King Koopa's alter ego(s)	Koop-zilla
Cover song(s)	"The Jolly Green Giant"
Replacement song(s)	"Speedy Gondola"
Title reference	Godzilla
Live-action segment	"Fortune Teller"
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"Mario Meets Koop-zilla" is the twenty-eighth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, being based on the 1954 film Godzilla. Official summaries for the episode spell it "Mario Meets Koopzilla", without the hyphen. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Fortune Teller."

This episode is the first time when one of the commercial bumpers says, "Mama-mia! It's a Super Mario Brothers cartoon!"

Plot synopsis

In the oriental city of Sayonara, Mario, Toad, Princess Toadstool, and Luigi, who is pulling the cart Mario, Toad, and Princess Toadstool are riding, are searching for a weapon that can help them defeat King Koopa, Super Sushi. Asking Princess Toadstool what is so special about Super Sushi, Toad is informed by her that, once Super Sushi is eaten, it will cause the eater to grow two times larger and more powerful; Toad is also told by Mario that Super Sushi makes excellent spaghetti sauce, who proceeds to tell Luigi to go faster. As Luigi becomes somewhat irritated by Mario's demands, the ground begins to shake sending him, Mario, Toad and Princess Toadstool into the air and then on to the ground. Noticing various people fleeing in panic, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool begin to wonder what is going on, only to notice an earthquake is actually King Koopa, who has grown gigantic in size, stomping towards them.

Rampaging through Sayonara, King Koopa begins to chase after Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool, destroying their cart as well. As he runs, Luigi begins to wonder how King Koopa got so big, a question which Mario answers by saying that the only person who can tell them is the inventor of Super Sushi. Having reached a building with a satellite on it, Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool meet Dr. T. Garden, the inventor of Super Sushi, in it. After Princess Toadstool states to Dr. T. Garden that it is an honor to meet him, Dr. T. Garden states that it is an honor to meet Mario and Luigi, two of the world's greatest plumbers; after accidentally hitting his head against Mario's when the two bow to one another, Dr. T Garden is asked by Princess Toadstool how he believes King Koopa attained his gigantic size. To answer Princess Toadstool's question, Dr. T Garden decides to show her, Mario, Luigi and Toad footage of how King Koopa became colossal on his laboratory camera.

A nearby television screen lowers from the ceiling and displays a video of Dr. T Garden finishing another batch of Super Sushi, wishing he claims to be his most powerful yet. As Dr. T. Garden admires his work, King Koopa barges into his laboratory and demands Dr. T. Garden give him his Super Sushi, before trying to wrestle the platter of Super Sushi from him. After a brief fight, King Koopa manages to knock Dr. T. Garden to the ground and begins to messily devour the Super Sushi, flinging food everywhere and disgusting the observing Toad, who refers to King Koopa as a pig due to his eating habits. Finishing off what remains of the Super Sushi with a lick to the platter, King Koopa is told by Dr. T. Garden that he ate to much of the Super Sushi and will grow too much. King Koopa tells him that that was his plan all along before suddenly growing through the ceiling. Eventually, King Koopa becomes so huge he bursts through the roof of Dr. T. Garden's laboratory roof. The final scenes of Dr. T. Garden's video displays King Koopa rechristening himself Koop-zilla, then laughing as he steps on a car and pushes a skyscraper to the ground. Turning off his recording of how Koop-zilla came to be, Dr. T. Garden admits to Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool that it was his fault that Koop-zilla is now destroying Sayonara; after Dr. T. Garden sadly states this, Princess Toadstool tells Mario that he cannot allow Koop-zilla to cause anymore damage.

Outside, as people flee from him, Koop-zilla grabs a parked car and proceeds to start eating it, only to be attacked by a pair of missile firing planes. Annoyed by the assaulting planes, Koop-zilla simply swats at them, causing them to crash and the pilots of them to evacuate using parachutes. Watching as the planes explode some distance away, Koop-zilla is attacked by an armada of tanks, which begin blasting him; Koop-zilla swiftly defeats these tanks by simply blowing them away, and promptly laments afterwards that destroying a city can be hard work. Nearby, Luigi, who is driving a motorcycle Mario is on as well, tells Mario that he hopes his crazy plans works; Mario responds to Luigi's worries by saying that his crazy plans always work and that all they need to do is find Koop-zilla, whose roar Mario hears just after exclaiming this.

Grabbing a water tower, Koop-zilla begins to drink the water in it while saying that all the destruction he has been causing has worked up his appetite. After saying this, Koop-zilla begins eating a radio tower he had been holding; as Koop-zilla eats, Mario and Luigi drive up to and park near his feet and Mario, using a megaphone, begins to taunt and threaten Koop-zilla; becoming enraged by Mario's jeers towards him, Koop-zilla tries to crush him with his foot, only to miss when Mario and Luigi drive away. As Koop-zilla chases him and Luigi, Mario says that their plan has worked. Up ahead, Toad has just finished preparing a trap for Koop-zilla, consisting of a gigantic net to be dropped on him; as Toad finishes some last minute adjusting on the net release, Princess Toadstool tells him that he finished setting the net up just in time, as Koop-zilla is approaching. Managing to lure Koop-zilla to the exact position under the net, Mario has Luigi stop the motorcycle so he can get off, which he does to alert Toad to drop the net. Hearing Mario, Toad releases the net, which falls on Koop-zilla, surprising him and knocking him over.

Struggling to escape from the net, Koop-zilla begins to threaten Mario, only to be informed by him the net he is trapped in is made of solid steel and unbreakable. Koop-zilla proves this assumption of Mario's wrong when he, after a lot of struggling, manages to break the net confining him; as Princess Toadstool and Toad flee after telling Mario and Luigi to run themselves, Koop-zilla begin to resume chasing Mario and Luigi, who frantically try to escape him on their motorcycle. As Koop-zilla tells Mario and Luigi to stop moving, Luigi asks Mario how they will escape the pursuing Koop-zilla; responding to Luigi's question, Mario has him stop and jump into a manhole ahead of them, which Princess Toadstool and Toad are in. Seeing Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool duck into the manhole, Koop-zilla sticks his arm into the manhole and begins trying to grab one of them. With Koop-zilla's hand trying to grab them, Mario grabs a pipe out of the wall. Using this pipe, the end of which is broken and pointed, Mario jabs one of Koop-zilla's fingers with it, causing Koop-zilla to yell in pain and leap through the air, landing nearby. His finger having become swollen and red, Koop-zilla, enraged, decides to ignore Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool for the time being and go back to destroying Sayonara.

Koop-zilla and Giant Mario fight.

At Dr. T. Garden's laboratory, Dr. T. Garden has just finished another batch of Super Sushi for Mario to eat. Giving the Super Sushi to Mario, who hastily eats it with spaghetti, Dr. T. Garden, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool watch as he transforms into Giant Mario, destroying Dr. T. Garden's building in the process, much to his chagrin. Elsewhere in Sayonara, Koop-zilla is tearing a building apart when he notices Mario leap towards him. Seeing that Mario has become as large as he is, Koop-zilla begins to grapple with him; after some fighting, Mario manages to toss Koop-zilla over his shoulder and into a nearby building. Before Koop-zilla can get up, Mario grabs his tail and begins swinging him around before tossing him into a pile of collapsed buildings. As Mario taunts him, Koop-zilla gets up and grabs a pair of telephone poles to be used as weapons. As Koop-zilla approaches him, Mario grabs a train and begins using it as a weapon.

As Mario and Koop-zilla's battle intensifies, Toad, who is in Dr. T. Garden's shoddily rebuilt laboratory, states with some irony that if the battle continues, Mario may save the city, but there will be no city left. After Toad exclaims this, Dr. T. Garden unveils to him, Luigi and Princess Toadstool that he has created an antidote to the Super Sushi, which can be used to shrink Koop-zilla. As Mario and Koop-zilla fight, Princess Toadstool, Luigi and Toad approach with a large needle filled with Super Sushi Shrinker. After dodging a billboard tossed at him by Koop-zilla, Mario lands in front of him and manages to pull the street out from under Koop-zilla's feet like a rug, knocking Koop-zilla to the ground. Getting up, Koop-zilla begins to charge towards Mario, only to be jabbed in the ankle by Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool's Super Sushi Shrinker filled needle. Having shrunk back to his original size, Koop-zilla, enraged, uses a Magical Potion to open a portal to a Warp Zone, which he leaps into.

Glad that Koop-zilla is gone, Princess Toadstool, Luigi, Toad and Mario, who has also returned to normal, return to Dr. T. Garden's laboratory, where Dr. T. Garden thanks them for saving Sayonara. Having become hungry from fighting Koop-zilla, Mario, while looking through some containers in Dr. T. Garden's laboratory, finds a large pill and eats, only to be informed by Dr. T. Garden that the pill was his newest invention, Shrinking Sukiyaki. After eating the Shrinking Sukiyaki, Mario shrinks to minuscule size and, panicking, asks Dr. T. Garden to give him the antidote, only to be told by him that there is no antidote and that he will have to wait a week for the effects of the Shrinking Sukiyaki to wear off. Unhappy with this, Mario decides that as long as he is this size, he could at least eat his own weight in pasta as Luigi, Toad, Professor, and Princess Toadstool laugh.

Characters

"Koop-zilla"

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• Koop-zilla
• Dr. T. Garden

Cast

• Lou Albano — Mario, Guy #1
• Danny Wells — Luigi
• Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker — Toad, Guy #2, Dr. T. Garden
• Harvey Atkin — King Bowser Koopa

Animation and continuity errors

• When Mario says that Super Sushi makes for great spaghetti sauce, his cap's visor is layered in front of his head.
• When Toad points out Koop-zilla, he is to the left of Luigi, but in the next shot, he is to the right of him.
  • In the same scene, he speaks through Koop-zilla's mouth.
• Initially, Koop-zilla's feet are as large as buildings, but later, he is the size of a building.
• When Mario tells his friends to run for it, his mouth moves before he actually starts speaking, and shortly after, the cart they came in is much larger than normal.
• Throughout the episode, the number of fingers Dr. T. Garden has on each hand switch between five and four several times.
• It is unknown how Dr. T. Garden's laboratory is rebuilt so quickly during Koop-zilla's rampage.
  • The hidden camera still works despite Koop-zilla demolishing the laboratory when escaping.
• The Super Sushi switches direction whenever it is taken out of the microwave.
• When King Koopa licks the sushi plate, the fork on his tongue is missing.
• When the planes head to Koop-zilla, the yellow plane has a blue nose, but in the next shot, its nose turns yellow.
• When Koop-zilla says that destroying a city makes him hungry, one of his spikes turns the same color as his shell's rim.
• After the commercial break, Koop-zilla's leg is missing.
• When Luigi asks Mario how they will escape Koop-zilla, part of the strap on his goggles are missing, and shortly after, the goggles completely disappear.
• When Koop-zilla reaches into the manhole, it is larger than normal.
  • In the same scene, the motorcycle is missing.
• When the scene transitions to Dr. T. Garden's laboratory, Luigi's eyes freeze.
• When Mario mixes his spaghetti with the sushi, he has a fork, but in the next shot, it turns into a spoon.
  • In the same scene, the bib and the symbol on his cap are missing.
• When Mario walks over to Koop-zilla after throwing him a second time, he has buttons on the back of his overalls.
• When Mario dodges the building Koop-zilla throws at him, it changes color.
• As Luigi mentions how he and his friends can stop Koop-zilla with the Super Sushi Shrinker, the trims on Princess Toadstool's dress are light-pink instead of dark-pink.
• After Luigi injects the Super Sushi Shrinker into Koop-zilla, the needle disappears.
• As Mario rubs his stomach as he mentions that all of the fighting with Koop-zilla made him hungry, his left hand overlaps one of the Shrinking Sukiyaki containers.

• 

  Mario's cap error

• 

  Luigi's goggles error

• 

  Mario's overalls error

Profiles

• Mario's Monster Madness VHS and Mario's Greatest Movie Moments DVD: Giant hot-air-breathing reptile flattens the City of Sayonara.
• Netflix: After sneaking a bite of Super Sushi, Koopa grows into a towering monster named Koop-zilla and sets out to destroy Sayonara.
• Mario Meets Koopzilla VHS: King Koopa has eaten Dr. T. Garden's secret weapon—Super Sushi—and has been transformed into the huge monster "Koopzilla". Koopzilla is terrozing the city of Sayonara, squashing buildings, swatting planes, and causing tidal waves until Mario scarfs down some Super Sushi and grows to match Koopzilla's giant size. The two gigantic combatants then clash in an earth-shattering battle.

Dub edits

• In the Chinese dub, Mario's voice remains normal after being shrunk by the Shrinking Sukiyaki.
• In the Latin American Spanish dub:
  • The dub adds a line of Dr. T. Garden saying "Super Sushi" when it appears on the oven.
  • King Koopa speaks in a high-pitched voice after being shrunk by the Super Sushi Shrinker. In the original, he speaks normally.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
French	Mario Rit Jaune	Mario Laughed Yellow
German	Mario trifft Koop-zilla	Mario Meets Koop-zilla
Hebrew	תריו פוגש את קופדגילה Trv fvgsh t kvfdglh	Mario Meets Koop-zilla
Italian	Attilazilla[?]	Koop-zilla
Portuguese	Mario encontra Koop-zilla	Mario meets Koop-zilla
Russian	Марио знакомиться с Купзиллй Mario znakomitʹsja s Kupzillj	Mario meets Koop-zilla
Spanish	Mario conoce Koop-zilla	Mario meets Koop-zilla

Trivia

• The events of this episode are followed up in the episode "Karate Koopa."
• Mario grabbing Koop-zilla's tail and swinging him around before throwing him is similar to King Kong (as well as Mechagodzilla III) performing that act on Godzilla.
  • The Bowser battles in Super Mario 64 and Super Mario 64 DS also feature Mario (as well as Luigi and Wario in the latter) performing the same move on Bowser, though predated by approximately seven years and by fifteen years, respectively.