The Pied Koopa

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"The Pied Koopa"
Production number	125
Airdate	October 5, 1989 (English) November 5, 1990 (French)[?]
Writer(s)	Phil Harnage
Plumber's Log #	50 - 24
King Koopa's alter ego(s)	Pied Koopa
Cover song(s)	"Hit the Road Jack"
Replacement song(s)	"My Frog Suit"
Title reference	Pied Piper of Hamelin
Live-action segment	"Super Plant"
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"The Pied Koopa" is the twentieth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Its corresponding live-action segment is "Super Plant." The copyrighted title for the episode in the United States Copyright Office is "Pied Koopa".

Plot synopsis

In Pastaland, the Pied Koopa uses a magic flute to lure all of the local Mushroom children away from the town, and leads them to his nearby castle.

Shortly after, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad arrive in Pastaland, unaware of the Pied Koopa's plot. Toad does not need to remind the Mario Bros. that they would love Pasta Land, as pasta naturally grows all over the place. Toad explains that everybody in Pastaland is happy, then leads the group to the town square to introduce Mario and Luigi to the mayor.

Upon reaching the town square, Mayor Fettuccine gives Mario's group the bad news about how the Pied Koopa has kidnapped all of the children. When Luigi questions as to why the Pied Koopa would want to kidnap all of the children, Mouser shows up to deliver a Koopagram stating that the Pied Koopa has imprisoned the children as a ransom for all of Pastaland's spaghetti tree crop. Mouser then charges Mayor Fettuccine four Gold Coins for the Koopagram, and leaves.

Right away, Mayor Fettuccine announces to the town that they must give their spaghetti harvest to the Pied Koopa to save the children. However, Mario refuses to let all that pasta go to waste, and insists that he and his friends will get the kids back themselves by following Mouser back to the Pied Koopa's castle.

Upon arriving at the castle, the group is spotted by the Koopa Troopa guarding the drawbridge. While they're crossing the drawbridge, the Koopa Troopa pulls a lever, dumping the four heroes into the moat. On top of that, they are attacked by from above by Albatosses with Bob-Ombs, and from the shore by Koopa Troopas with spears. Thinking about wanting a submarine sandwich, Mario gets the idea of submerging.

Mario finds a Power Block at the bottom of the moat, and uses it to blast a hole in the adjoining dungeon wall. Doing so causes water from the moat to start flooding into the dungeon, bringing Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad with it. Mario and Princess Toadstool reassure Luigi that they're safe in King Koopa's dungeon, since he doesn't know that they're there. Princess Toadstool points out that they merely have to exit the dungeon through the door at the top of the stairs to rescue the kids, and they'll be home free.

When Mario goes to open the door, he is surprised to see the Pied Koopa standing on the other side. King Koopa orders several Koopa Troopas to toss Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad back into the water, when a grate opens up, releasing several hungry Trouters. The Trouters chase Mario's group up against a wall, where Princess Toadstool spots several handcuffs hanging from a high spot, which they grab onto to stay out of the water.

Mario notices a Bob-Omb floating in the water, which he concludes had been drained into the dungeon from the moat. Mario then places the Bob-Omb against the far wall of the dungeon, so that the water can drain from the dungeon into the basement of the castle.

With the water now drained from the dungeon, Princess Toadstool easily jumps down to the floor from the handcuffs. Toad hurts his butt while falling, while Mario lands nicely. Luigi refuses to jump, due to his fear of high places. Mario comments that it isn't high down on the floor, so Luigi comes down, landing on top of Toad. Princess Toadstool reminds Mario that they still need to rescue the children, and Mario explains that they need to find where the Pied Koopa is holding them all.

Meanwhile, the Pied Koopa enters the courtyard of the castle, only to discover that the children are playing games with the Koopa Troopas that are supposed to be guarding them. The Pied Koopa reminds Mouser that his evil castle is not a nursery school, and demands that Mouser have the children locked up in the brig, and to "triple the guard."

Having spied on the courtyard through a window, Luigi fears that they'll be unable to rescue the kids if they're heavily guarded. Mario decides that they'll do to the Koopa Troopas what the Pied Koopa did to the children: lure them away with music. Mario and Luigi quickly assemble instruments out of small pipes, and head to the door leading to the brig. They inform Toad that they played in a school band for two years, before they were kicked out for eating during a concert. When Mario and Luigi start playing their instruments, they amplify their music by letting the sound travel through a pipe. Mario's plan works, as the music lures the Koopa Troopas away from their post, leaving the Pied Koopa and Mouser baffled. Mouser suggests that the Pied Koopa left his radio on, but the Pied Koopa reminds him that Pastaland is in a different time period where the radio hasn't been invented yet.

The Pied Koopa then spots Mario and Luigi leading the Koopa Troopas away, but he is unable to do anything about it. Mario kicks over a key that one of the Koopa Troopas dropped to Toad and Princess Toadstool, who use it to unlock the cage holding the children. Just before Luigi can lower the drawbridge, Mouser interferes, claiming that the music has no effect on him. Luigi responds by knocking Mouser aside with his trombone. He then lowers the drawbridge and leads the Koopa Troopas away from the castle with Mario, while Princess Toadstool and Toad escape with the children.

The Pied Koopa shouts at the Koopa Troopas to come back in vain, and announces that he's going to go out and recapture the children with his magic flute, planning to put Mouser in full charge of them afterwards. Mouser doesn't want to have to deal with the children anymore, so he purposely pulls the lever that drops the drawbridge, causing the Pied Koopa to fall into the moat. As he falls, the Pied Koopa drops and loses his magic flute, and begins to cry, stating:

"Y'know, I've been having more bad luck lately than a bad guy can take!"

After returning to the town, Mario and Luigi are each treated to a plate of spaghetti, which they graciously eat. Mayor Fettuccine then presents Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad each with a golden medal known as the Order of the Golden Meatball for their efforts. Mayor Fettuccine asks for Mario to give a speech, and Mario says:

"My only regret is that I have but one stomach to give to your country!"

With all that said and done, Mario eats the last noodle of spaghetti on his plate as everybody else laughs.

Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• Pied Koopa
• Mouser
• Mushroom People
• Mayor Fettuccine
• Albatosses
• Bob-Ombs
• Koopa Troopas
• Trouters

Cast

• Lou Albano — Mario
• Danny Wells — Luigi
• Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker — Toad, Mouser, Koopa Troopa, Mayor Fettuccine
• Harvey Atkin — Pied Koopa

Animation and continuity errors

The Bob-omb's miscolored eyes

• When Mario and his friends jump off the handcuffs they are holding on to, Toad jumps off before Mario, but when Mario jumps off, he is back on his handcuffs.
• When the army of Albatosses head for Mario's group, one of the Bob-ombs has white eyes instead of the usual red.
• At the banquet celebrating Koopa's defeat, Mario and his friends initially have spaghetti plates in front of them, but when Mayor Fettuccine presents the medals to them, Toad's plate disappears, and at the end of the episode, the big bowl of spaghetti is the only food remaining.
• Although a large number of Koopa Troopas follow Mario and Luigi across the castle's drawbridge, only three are seen in the background.
• When Mayor Fettucine gives some Coins to Mouser, they duplicate for a few frames.

Profiles

• Netflix: Armed with a magic flute that charms the children of Pastaland, evil King Koopa lures kids to his castle. But can Mario and Luigi change his tune?

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
French	L'Infâme Koopa[?]	The Infamous Koopa
German	Der gefleckte Koopa[?]	The Pied Koopa
Italian	A Pastaland[?]	To Pastaland
Portuguese	O Sequestro das Crianças[?]	The Kidnapping of Children

Trivia

• The events of this episode are followed up in the episode "Mario and the Red Baron Koopa."
• Mouser's role in this episode is somewhat fitting, as the original Pied Piper story featured rats.
• This is one of the three episodes where King Koopa uses an alter ego, but not a costume, the other two being "Hooded Robin and His Mario Men" and "20,000 Koopas Under the Sea."
• Mario's speech at the end is a reference to Nathan Hale's final words: "I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country."