Mario (1991 film)

Mario (Slovene: Marjo: Pustolovščine v Kraljestvu Gob in Dvoreki, literally "Mario: Adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom and Dvoreki) (Chinese: 超級瑪利歐) is a 1991 Hong Kong-El Kadsreian-Malichkan fantasy adventure family comedy film directed by Marko Dugandžić and produced by RTVM's film production division and five other film studios, one from El Kadsre and two from Hong Kong.

The film's $59 million dollar budget was spent mainly on making miniature models of the Mushroom Kingdom where 2/3 of the film takes place. It was also based on Nintendo's Super Mario franchise.

Plot
Mario Aoba (Željko Ivanek) is a Malichkan-Italian plumber working in a company in Dvoreki run by his brother Luigi (Hideki Hamasaki)'s mafia. But with a magical hat, he turns into Super Mario, an adventurous hero exactly like the video game character of the same name.

One day he decides to visit the Mushroom Kingdom, where he realizes that he had been working undercover for Peach (Marija Kocijančič) all his life, which he had completely forgot; that explains how he never ages at all, neither physically nor mentally. Surprised at the revelation, he meets his friend, a Toad played by Shinji Crawford, whom he forgot about while he was living in Dvoreki.

He meets Bowser (Raymond Wong) who has forgiven Peach and agrees to remain friends instead of lovers. Mario, pleased at the agreement, then strikes a deal with Bowser that they will never be enemies again. The next day, Luigi comes to visit and puts on his own hat, reverting to his video game counterpart. He said that he too was working undercover for Peach, and he, like Mario, forgot about it over time.

At this point yet another revelation comes in: Mario and Luigi were sent to Dvoreki after Bowser was defeated, and the hats, when taken off, gave them civilian form. If the hats are re-worn, they revert to their video game form. Mario and Luigi return to Dvoreki where they meet a boy, Philip (Macaulay Culkin), who loves playing Super Mario in a local arcade in the suburbs of Dvoreki.

Philip is autistic and is the only one who can see Mario and Luigi in their true forms, as his abusive and spoiled step-parents can only see him in their civilian form, thinking they are trying to fix the plumbing system of their house, which is relatively new despite their arrivals. Philip says they are his video game idols disguised as plumbers, but his parents don't believe him.

Mario and Luigi help him overcome his abuse and the resulting trauma by letting him play with them in the living room, taking him to a few pizza parlors, and forbidding his parents from forcing Philip to do a long list of strenuous chores. The more he lives with Mario and Luigi, the more confident he becomes, and the more optimistic he becomes, reaching a point where he evolves into a happy and humble version of himself.

As the duo prepares to return to the Mushroom Kingdom, Philip arrives and agrees to let them stay with him. Mario and Luigi gently accept his request to let them remain in his house. Philip bids farewell to his parents, and his mother Rose begins to cry in anguish as Peach arrives and watches his parents being taken away by members of the Malichkan Child Care and Social Welfare Department.

A year later, Peach and Mario have adopted Philip and renamed him Roberto, and have given him a blue version of Mario's costume. He now lives with them in the Mushroom Kingdom with his adoptive uncle Bowser and adoptive brother Toad. Mario has also become the mascot of the Malichkan Society for Autistics. In a post-credits scene, his father Carlton has nightmares of a floating Mario head and Philip's face transforming into that of Mario's, then Luigi's. He wakes up screaming.

Characters (main)

 * Željko Ivanek as Mario
 * Hideki Hamasaki as Luigi
 * Marija Kocijančič as Princess Peach
 * Raymond Wong as Bowser
 * Macaulay Culkin as Philip/Roberto