King Mario of Cramalot
King Mario of Cramalot is the second episode of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!. Its corresponding live-action segment is "Day of the Orphan".
Plot Synopsis
Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool are in the midst of traveling through the kingdom of Cramalot in search of Mervin the Magician, whom Princess Toadstool believes can free her kingdom of King Koopa's tyranny.
While traveling, Mario suddenly hears some bee-like buzzing, which leads him to believe a beehive and thus, bees are nearby. Unfortunately, it turns out that the buzzing isn't being caused by bees, instead, its being made by a nearby swarm of Beezos, who are preparing to attack.
Narrowly dodging the Beezos, Mario grabs a nearby Tomato and hurls it at the leader of the Beezos; after being hit, the Beezo, angry, orders another attack. Before the Beezos hit Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool though, a man dressed as a wizard suddenly appears and, with a blast from his wand, disintegrates the Beezos.
Princess Toadstool suddenly realizes that the man who saved them must be Mervin; the man says he is Mervin and invites Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to his cave home. In his cave, Mervin proceeds to tell Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool that the Beezos that attacked them were sent by King Koopa.
Mervin then tells a surprised Luigi that King Koopa became the new king of Cramalot when, after the old king died, he simply marched into the castle and took over. Princess Toadstool, after hearing Mervin's story, asks if there is anything they can do to help him free Cramalot. Mervin says there is an old legend that says that the one who can pull the Golden Plunger from the Sacred Sink of Cramalot will be able to defeat King Koopa and save Cramalot.
Taking Mario, Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to the Sacred Sink, Mervin says that if one of them can remove the Golden Plunger, they'll gain enough power to defeat King Koopa. Mario, jumping on top of the Sacred Sink, manages, after some effort, to pull out the Golden Plunger.
At his recently claimed castle, King Koopa, after hearing from one of his somewhat dimwitted Koopa Troopa soldiers that Mario pulled the Golden Plunger out of the Sacred Sink of Cramalot, sends several of his minions out to get rid of Mario.
In the town square of Cramalot, Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad, Mervin and several villagers are in the middle of celebrating Mario as the new king of Cramalot. Suddenly, King Koopa and a brigade of Koopa Troopas appear; before Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool or Mervin can react, King Koopa orders several Koopa Paratroopa to dump a net on them, trapping them.
Using his Golden Plunger though, Mario is able to vaporize the net, freeing himself and everyone else; unfortunately, Mario is unable to fight King Koopa, as the Koopa king has taken Princess Toadstool hostage, threatening to let his Beezo minions attack her if Mario doesn't cooperate. Taking the Golden Plunger, King Koopa has Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Toad and Mervin to the dungeon of Cramalot Castle.
In the dungeons, Mario begins trying to calm down a panicking Luigi, saying things could be worse-the ceiling could lower. Just as Mario says this, the spike covered ceiling begins to lower and then Mario says that the dungeon could fill with water and this does happen. Mario says, "Hey, I can think of another way things could be worse!", but Luigi stops him. It's unknown what Mario was going to say.
Before Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool or Toad are crushed/drowned, Mervin suddenly appears and, using his magic, transports everyone out of the cell and into the "Forest of Perpetual Night and Terrible Dangers".
Suddenly, lightning strikes a nearby lake, causing a hand holding a plumbing snake to rise from the water. Mervin says that the plumbing snake is Excalibur, suddenly, the hand tosses Mario Excalibur. Grabbing Excalibur, Mario is suddenly turned into Super Mario. With his new powers and confidence, Mario has Mervin lead him and Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool to Cramalot Castle.
Arriving at Cramalot Castle, Mario notices that the drawbridge of the castle is up and decides to send a resistant Luigi through the castle moat to lower it. After some trouble with hungry Trouters, Luigi manages to reach the drawbridge.
Inside the throne room of Cramalot Castle, King Koopa begins to gloat about how he is now officially king of Cramalot, now that he has the Golden Plunger. Suddenly, Mario, Luigi, Toad, Princess Toadstool and Mervin appear to challenge King Koopa. As Luigi, Toad and Princess Toadstool defeat King Koopa's Koopa Troopas, Mario begins to duel King Koopa.
Battling King Koopa atop a stairway, Mario chases after King Koopa, who has swung to a balcony and begins to get the upper-hand against him. As the two battle, King Koopa suddenly drops down onto a dining table with Mario following him. Grabbing a food covered plate, King Koopa hurls it at Mario, who easily dodges it. Shortly after his minions are defeated, King Koopa himself is; losing the Golden Plunger, King Koopa manage a desperate escape using a Magic Potion.
With the threat of King Koopa gone, Mervin asks Mario to become the new king of Cramalot and Mario accepts this offer. Unfortunately, it seems the king of Cramalot has to be trim and slim; Mario, not wanting to be forced on a diet, crowns Mervin as king and runs off.
Trivia
- "King Mario of Cramalot / Day of the Orphan" is a clear parody of the Legend of King Arthur.
- When Mario first challenges King Koopa in Cramalot Castle, King Koopa is holding a regular scepter, but when he battles Mario, he is using the Golden Plunger.
- When shown on Yahooligans! TV and on US DVD releases (even the Shout! Factory set), this episode runs at a slower pace than originally aired.
- Cramalot is a pun of Camalot.
