Mario (originally known as Mr. Video and Jumpman and also known as Mario Mario or Super Mario) (JP) is a Nintendo video game character and the main character who stars in the long-running and highly successful Super Mario series. He is the mascot character for Nintendo. He and his younger twin brother Luigi are Nintendo's most renowned characters; his games have sold over 262 million units worldwide. This and other key factors has led him to become the defining video game character and Nintendo's mascot. He was originally created by Shigeru Miyamoto for the arcade video game Donkey Kong. With more than 600 million units sold worldwide, the overall Mariofranchise is the best-selling video game franchise of all time. Outside of the Super Mario platform series, other Mario genres include the Mario Kart racing series, sports games such as the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, role-playing games such as Mario & Luigi, Super Mario RPG, and Paper Mario, and educational games such as Mario Is Missing!, Mario's Time Machine and Mario Teaches Typing. The franchise has branched into several media, including television shows, film, comics, and licensed merchandise. Since 1990, Mario has been voiced by Charles Martinet.
History with the Macy's Parade[]
Super Mario (1987-1990)[]
Mario made his first appearance in 1987 his a giant balloon making him the first video game character to appear in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. he promoted "The Super Mario Super Show" as he was test flighted in 1987, this balloon was made to make it's debut year since 1987 and kept it's parade year in 1988 to 1989, this balloon made it's final appearance in the 1990 parade, this balloon was retired after this parade & was shortly disposed of that same year, since then, the Sonic balloon was the 2nd parade character that's the goodest thing to go.
Super Mario & Yoshi (1991-2006)[]
After the original balloon was retired Nintendo deciced to bring Mario in the following year this time he was riding with Yoshi to promote "Super Mario World". In 1993 to 1998 Mario was with another video game balloon, which was Sonic the Hedgehog. by 1998, high winds reaching up to 63 mph affected the Parade. The balloon's appearance was planned to make it's way down New York. When the balloon made it down Central Park West the balloon was turning to the corner of broadway. The balloon had a problem, where Yoshi's stomach busted a chamber in the bottom of the balloon from a streetlight. The balloon was lowered to the ground to provide safety, as Mario and Yoshi continued the parade without further damage, Due to this, The balloon managed to go to at 36th street before further damage could be done, as the balloon was permanently removed from the parade. A little after the accident had ended, The balloon was later deflated into a curb, and was later repaired at Macy's Parade Studio and returned to the lineup the following year, due to the extreme popularity of Mario and Yoshi at the time. Following the parade's telecast on NBC, Footage used from the 1996 parade was used during Mario And Yoshi's 8th appearance. Following the new millennium, Mario and Yoshi would ride together in the parade with a modern look for the 2000 parade, which would make a new appearance for the new Millennium, the balloon is expected to be added from the parade from it's 2000 to promote Mario Power Tennis, As well as 2004 for Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, which is until 2006 to promote Mario Superstar Strikers when the modern look was retired due to the uncertain wear in tear on them.
Builder Mario (2016-2018)[]
For information, Choose Mario (Bobby Woodbridge Version)
For Super Mario Maker for the 3DS, Nintendo created a new Mario balloon for the 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros in 2015. In the 90th annual parade in 2016, Mario went to have his test flight in Balloonfest 2016. As he went to New York, He had a builder's cap, A builder outfit, & A ? Block. The giant balloon was unveiled in a special video on the Super Nintendo World attraction at Universal Orlando Resort & Universal Studios Japan.
The balloon was constructed with a much more humanoid appearance in mind than the character's previous balloons, as to better reflect the trend of movies made on Video Game characters. The shape of the head proved especially challenging, as several internal tie-ins were used around the balloon's eye sockets to make it appear concave. The Builder Mario balloon is retired making three appearances in the 2018 Parade, & was recycled into LEGO Super Mario Balloon in the 2020 Parade.
LEGO Super Mario (2020-present)[]
To promote the celebration of "Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury", LEGO partnered with Macy's to create a new Super Mario balloon from LEGO. The balloon depicts Super Mario on a flying cloud, measuring 62 feet tall, 50 feet long and 37 feet wide, with a ON/OFF button that is coated in over 15 gallons of black paint. The LEGO Super Mario balloon marks the second time a video game character has been featured in the parade since it's previous versions, and the first time an Nintendo icon has been represented, following the Mario Bros. debut in 1983, The 4th Super Mario balloon would celebrate the pre-release of "Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury", As the balloon was placed at the Nintendo World Center in Flagstaff, AZ that Plainrock124 went to get the new Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch. The Premiere marked Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary, With a limited time only Game & Watch during the celebration of the game.
The giant balloon was unveiled in a special video on Nintendo YouTube channel to its more than 25 million subscribers, which featured behind-the-scenes footage of the balloon's conceptual stages at the Macy's Parade Studio and the Joel Naprestik designing his own Parade balloon.
Just today an Instagram user had got word that the LEGO Super Mario balloon will be visiting to Macy's 95th Parade, He will glimmer in the sunlight again. His return will be just in time for the franchise's 35th anniversary and for the promotion of Universal's Super Mario Movie & Nelvana Limited's LEGO Super Mario: Adventures With Mario for 2021 and 2022.
The LEGO Super Mario balloon is currently expected to make appearances through the 2022 Macy's Parade, now being flown down the traditional 2.5-mile Parade route by joining the all-new Pikachu & Eevee balloon, using the standard group of 90 handlers, the flight management team, and one utility vehicle. as of 2021, this balloon still exists at the Macy's Parade Studio Warehouse for today.
In 2021, The balloon was given a repaint job due to faulty fabricating, and has been taking a day with plumbing, Now having a shiny look in his clothes, and a new eye color, Dark Blue, This would be like what he looks like in the Movie, following The Super Mario Movie in 2022, originally scheduled to be relased in the 4th quarter of 2022, but was delayed to April 5th, 2023.
The reason the balloon would make an appearance was in the LEGO Super Mario: Adventures With Mario Season 2 episode, A forever thanksgiving for Bowser, archival video footage of the LEGO Super Mario balloon in the 2021 Parade was shown during the credits, with ominous music playing over the footage, referring to the season 2 end near for this episode before the Season 2 finale in the episode, A Christmas Market as a Christmas Special.
Songs Featured[]
During most appearances of a Super Mario float, the float would stop at Herald Square and perform a song for the NBC telecast. Below, you will find a list of characters that have appeared on or alongside the float, in addition to their NBC telecast performance numbers.
Additionally, the song performed at the 2019 Parade was nominated for "Outstanding Original Song" in the 2022 Video Game Awards.
| Year | Song | Characters |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | "Feel This Moment" | Pitbull (ft. Christella Agulera) |
| 2016 | "Sucker" | Jonas Brothers |
| 2017 | "Party Rock Anthem" | LMAFO (Rock Anthem) ft. Lauren Bennett |
| 2018 | "Jump Up - Super Star" | Kate Higgins |
| 2019 | "Born to Live" | About A Mile |
| 2020 | "Only wanna be with you" | Post Malone |
| 2021 | "Reach For The Stars" | Tomoya Othani Band |
Trivia[]
- Joel Naprstek Created LEGO Super Mario's model before fabricating the balloon into a painted model, this was when Joel from his run towards 2020 left Macy's creating the last 3 balloons he made, currently working on various commissions and art pieces, Will Coss later joined Macy's 1 year later.
- Mario was the 2nd Record Holder balloon to make 5 variants of all Versions.
- The balloon's model was used for the 3D project as the balloon's model was made of wood, The LEGO Super Mario balloon was later used in 2 occasions, 1 as a test flight balloon at Balloonfest 2020, & The other at The 2020 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Incidents[]
- In 1998, Yoshi's stomach busted a chamber in the bottom of the balloon before reaching times square, The balloon was lowered to the ground to provide safety, due to this, The balloon was permanently removed from the parade shortly before it's NBC telecast.
- In 2006, the second balloon's left foot was torn open by a tree, as the handlers nearly lost grip of it. Despite the accident, they stayed afloat for the rest of the Parade..
- In 2018, Mario's ? Block was slightly ripped as 36th street, where it was unknown on how the ? Block was deflated.
- In 2023, in addition to his left leg almost getting gouged by a tree at the start of the Parade, LEGO Super Mario's mustache was noticeably ripped, despite of this, He managed to continue the Parade route, and was later repaired for the 2024 Parade
Defects[]
- In 2021, Despite due to the high winds, Mario had his left fist bent, Possibly due to the balloon not being able to stabilize properly.
- In 2022, LEGO Super Mario's Buttons were deflated.
- In 2024, Mario's left arm ended up deflated.
Background Music[]
Listed below are the music tracks that played during the balloon's appearances on the NBC telecast.
- "Generic Macy's Music", composed by Milton Delugg (1987-1988)
- "Super Mario Bros.: Super Show" - Theme Song (Instrumental) (1989-1990)
- "Super Mario World" TV Show - Intro Theme (Instrumental) (1991-1999)
- "Mario Tennis" - Title Screen Remix (2000-2006)
- "Super Mario Bros." - Theme Song Remix (2016)
- "Jump Up Super Star" (Instrumental) (2017-2018)
- "Super Mario Party": Move To The Rhythm (2020)
- "Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury": Vs. Fury Bowser (2021-2022)
- Super Mario Bros. - Evolution (The Mario Movie) (2023-Present)