Koopa Klaus
- This article is about the episode in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! For the alter ego King Koopa uses here, see King Koopa's alter egos § Koopa Klaus.
| The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode | |
|---|---|
| "Koopa Klaus" | |
| |
| Production number | 140 |
| Airdate | October 23, 1989 (English) November 29, 1990 (French)[?] |
| Writer(s) | Jack Olesker Perry Martin |
| Plumber's Log # | 12 - 25 |
| King Koopa's alter ego(s) | Koopa Klaus |
| Cover song(s) | "Jingle Bell Rock" |
| Replacement song(s) | "What Goes Up" |
| Title reference | Santa Claus |
| Live-action segment | "Little Marios" |
| << List of episodes >> | |
"Koopa Klaus" is the twenty-ninth episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, serving as the animated series' Christmas episode. This is the only episode where Mario does not wear his normal plumber outfit and the only one that does not immediately begin with the Plumber's Log. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Little Marios."
This episode came with the Super Mario World episode "The Night Before Cave Christmas" on the Super Mario Bros. Super Christmas Adventures! VHS tape. Additionally, King Koopa's plan to kidnap and impersonate Santa Claus would later be reused in Inspector Gadget Saves Christmas and Sonic Christmas Blast.
Plot synopsis
In an icy castle somewhere in the North Pole, King Koopa, going by the alias of Koopa Klaus, is overseeing the production of toys being loaded onto a conveyor belt, only to be smashed by a machine resembling an evil nutcracker. Koopa Klaus rants about his hatred of the spirit of Christmas, and admires the destruction of the toys. Tryclyde, dressed in a cheap reindeer costume, tells Koopa Klaus that Ice Bombs have been loaded on his sleigh. Glad to hear the news, Koopa Klaus reveals that he plans to use said Ice Bombs to freeze Santa Claus's workshop, which will in turn cause everyone will have an unmerry Christmas. After reprimanding Tryclyde for making a joke, Koopa Klaus takes off in an Albatoss-driven sleigh.
Meanwhile, Mario (dressed in tropical-themed clothing) and friends arrive in a very snowy landscape via digging a tunnel, prompting Luigi to point out that they have not arrived in Hawaii Land as planned, with Toad (who was in charge of navigating) sheepishly admitting they made a wrong turn. Princess Toadstool then reads a nearby sign that tells them they are near the North Pole, so Toad suggests they pay a visit to Santa Claus's workshop. Mario finds this suspicious and asks if Toad deliberately brought them here, but Princess Toadstool agrees to it, since it is Christmas Eve. On the way over, though, it becomes clear that all Toad can think about is receiving presents. Princess Toadstool decides to present Toad with an early gift - a snowboard. Toad eagerly accepts the snowboard and then promptly begins playing with it without bothering to thank the Princess.
Just then, Princess Toadstool and the Mario Bros. spot Koopa Klaus in his flying sleigh up above. Upon seeing Mario's group, Koopa Klaus orders his Albatoss to drop Bob-Ombs down at them before continuing onward. Mario's group manages to avoid being harmed by the Bob-Ombs, but Toad gets knocked off of his snowboard and gets upset that Koopa Klaus may have damaged it. This upsets Princess Toadstool, who scolds Toad for not caring about their safety. Mario, meanwhile, figures out that Koopa Klaus is on his way to Santa's workshop as well, so he, Luigi, and Princess Toadstool take it upon themselves to save Santa, although Toad's more concerned with saving the presents.
Arriving at the workshop, Mario's group learn that they were too late to stop Koopa Klaus from freezing the workshop with his Ice Bombs, but they arrive just in time to see him flying off with a captive Santa in tow. Toad begins to cry, as he worries that he will never receive another Christmas present if Santa is missing.
However, Mario tells Luigi to load a heavy ice block from a nearby igloo onto the see-saw in the Elves' playground. After doing that, Mario makes Luigi leap onto the see-saw from his shoulders, catapulting the block at Koopa Klaus' sleigh, hitting it dead on and causing both Koopa Klaus and Santa to fall to the ground. Holding Santa with one hand, Koopa Klaus uses an empty sack to parachute downwards.
Without his sleigh, Koopa Klaus is forced to make off with Santa on foot with Mario's group in hot pursuit. He manages to gain a slight boost by using his empty sack as a wind sail. The Marios start throwing snowballs at him, so Koopa Klaus opts to collect the snowballs in said sack and throws it at the Bros. Following that, Koopa Klaus slides down a snowy hill and onto a frozen ice pond using Santa as a sled. Mario and Co. follow Koopa Klaus onto the ice, where he calls out some Flurries on skates to attack by carving a block of out ice from the pond and knocking it towards them. The Mario Bros. and Toad manage to defeat the Flurries by shoving their ice block back at them.
Koopa Klaus then drags Santa into a nearby cave, so Mario's group follows him. Before entering, Luigi remarks that the cave is quite dark, but Princess Toadstool reminds them that the world will look very dark without Christmas. Toad then brings up his desire from presents, as well as rescuing Santa, so the enter the cave. The cave proves to be a bumpy ride for the quartet, and they end up falling off a cliff at the cave's exit and onto a snowbank. Koopa Klaus, who apparently did not endure the same ride they did, holds Santa over the edge of the cliff, threatening to drop him into the icy water below.
Princess Toadstool tries to reconcile with Koopa Klaus about wrecking Christmas, but he then makes the mistake of shouting about his holiday hatred, causing an avalanche. Mario tells Luigi, Princess Toadstool and Toad to take shelter in the cave, and notes that he will try to rescue Santa with his plumber's snake. Mario manages to lasso Santa away from the incoming avalanche with his plumber's snake; Koopa Klaus, on the other hand, is forced to dive into the water, and he ends up climbing onto an iceberg, where he laments about his foiled plans to ruin Christmas. Asking himself about what else could go wrong, he turns his head back in response to a loud roar, and learns that the iceberg is inhabited by an angry polar bear.
Back at his workshop, Santa thanks Mario's group for rescuing him from Koopa Klaus. Unfortunately, Santa's rescue does not change the fact that his workshop is still frozen, and he fears he will not be able to make his Christmas deliveries this year. Toad at first does not care, since he already got his present, but after some prompting from Princess Toadstool, he decides to give his snowboard to Santa, saying that he will at least have one present to give. The warmth of the Christmas spirit spread by Toad then manages to melt the ice around Santa's workshop, thus saving Christmas.
Afterwards, Santa and his Elves have finished loading presents onto his sleigh, when Mario's group comes running up to them. Santa then announces that he would like to give them all a special present, and allows them to ride in his sleigh with him as he delivers the presents, even letting Toad sit alongside him in the front seat. As the sleigh takes off into the sky, Santa wishes a "Super Mario Christmas to all, and to all a good night!".
Characters
- Mario
- Luigi
- Princess Toadstool
- Toad
- Koopa Klaus
- Randolph the Red-Nosed Tryclyde
- Albatosses
- Bob-Ombs
- Flurries
- Santa Claus
Cast
- Lou Albano — Mario
- Danny Wells — Luigi
- Jeannie Elias — Princess Toadstool
- John Stocker — Toad, Santa Claus
- Harvey Atkin — Koopa Klaus, Tryclyde
Animation and continuity errors
- In one scene of Koopa Klaus flying away with Santa Claus, Santa's clothes are orange instead of red.
- In some scenes after Mario and his friends arrive in the North Pole, Mario and Princess Toadstool's luggage are missing.
- When Koopa Klaus pulls one of Tryclyde's noses, his costume is missing.
- When Mario and Luigi run to the playground, Koopa Klaus quickly flies over, but when Mario and Luigi launch the ice cube, he flies slowly over it.
- When Mario and his friends watch Koopa Klaus fly away, Koopa Klaus's sleigh shakes.
- When Koopa Klaus walks over to his sleigh, the sleigh is light-green, but in the next shot, it is dark-green.
- When Koopa Klaus laughs at the beginning of the episode, one of his horns flashes.
- When Princess Toadstool reads the sign at the beginning of the episode, her dress is white instead of pink. This also happens when she has to tell Luigi to enter the cave.
- When Princess Toadstool tells Toad that she has a present for him, her dress flashes.
- When Toad rips the present open, some pieces fly onto the ground, but in the next shot no wrapping can be seen.
- When Mario and his friends see Koopa Klaus flying in the sky, Luigi is behind Mario, but in the next shot, he is beside him.
- When Princess Toadstool becomes upset at Toad, Luigi disappears.
- In one scene at the beginning of the episode, Mario's hat flashes.
- When Koopa Klaus laughs after kidnapping Santa Claus, his hat flashes.
- Throughout his time in Koopa Klaus's sleigh, Santa Claus's bandanna changes color several times, and after Koopa Klaus falls out of his sleigh, the bandanna disappears for the rest of the episode.
- When Mario picks up Luigi, Luigi's footprints are missing.
Profiles
- Netflix: Christmas is in serious trouble when the scroogey Koopa Claus[sic] sets out to stop it. But can Mario and Luigi fight back with holiday cheer?[1]
- Showdown in Brooklyn DVD: When the evil Koopa Klaus (Bah Humkoop!) tries to stop Christmas, the Mario Bros. come to Santa's rescue and Toad learns the true spirit of giving.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| French | Le Père Koopa[2] | Father Koopa | |
| German | Koopa Klaus[3] | - | |
| Italian | Attila Natale[4] | Koopa Christmas; pun on "Babbo Natale" (Santa Claus, lit. "Father Christmas") and "Attila" (King Koopa) | |
| Portuguese | O Natal do Mario[?] | The Mario's Christmas | |
| Spanish | Koopa Klaus[5] | - |
Trivia
- When discussing his plan to Tryclyde, Koopa Klaus mentions that "everyone will have a very unmerry Christmas." Tryclyde follows up be saying, "And an unhappy New Year!", referencing the English Christmas carol "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
- Mario and his friends' dialogue when they spot Koopa Klaus is a reference to, "It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!" a famous catchphrase from the 1940s Superman animated film series. The dialogue is as follows:
- Princess Toadstool: Look, up in the sky!
- Mario: It's a bird!
- Luigi: It's a plane!
- Koopa Klaus: It's Koopa Klaus!
- This catchphrase would later be referenced in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode "Super Koopa."
