Mario Movie Producer Explains Why Pratt Won't Use Classic Mario Voice
You might have been wondering how on Earth Star-Lord was going to be able to recreate the classic high-pitched tones of the iconic Italian plumber. Well, it looks like Mario will have a completely new voice altogether.
The announcement that Chris Pratt will be slipping into the dungarees and playing Mario didn't exactly have fans yelling "wahoo!". While the casting of Jack Black (School of Rock) as Bowser and Anya Taylor-Joy (Last Night In Soho) as Princess Peach had fans excited, it's safe to say Pratt's casting was surprising to some. One of the main reasons is whether Pratt would be able to successfully replicate Mario's classic tones.
However, it now seems that Pratt is going down a completely different route to tackle Mario's voice. That's according to Chris Meledandri, co-founder and CEO of Illumination, which is the production company behind the upcoming film.
Why Won't Chris Pratt Be Using Classic Mario Voice?
After Meledandri arrived at Los Angeles International Airport, he was approached by a reporter for TooFab when he spilled the beans about Pratt's accent. During the interview, Meledandri said: "All I can tell you is the voice that he's doing for us, and Mario, is phenomenal." He added: "I can’t wait for people to hear it."
Another reason that Pratt's casting caused some controversy was the debate from fans as to why an Italian actor wasn't hired for the role instead. When asked about the topic, Meledandri replied: "As an Italian American myself, I understand. You know, I understand the comments. Charlie Day, who's playing Luigi, actually comes from Italian heritage. Yeah, so that's our nod." However, this reply hasn't had the best reception from fans.
You might be wondering how, for the love of Toad, Illumination will be able to get around the change in Mario's iconic voice. Although, Meledandri explained: "We cover it in the movie. So you’ll see that we definitely nod to that, but that’s not the tenor of the performance throughout the film."
What Else Do We Know About The New Mario Film?
Meledandri didn't go into any further detail about the upcoming Mario film during the interview. We don't know a great deal about the movie in terms of its story or whether Illumination, the animator behind Despicable Me and Dr. Seuss' The Grinch, will be working to make the graphics as authentic to the Mario games as possible. Pratt even went as far as to tease fans with an exclusive first look of the film on Instagram.
We do know that the currently untitled Mario movie is set for release on December 21, 2022. The cast is rounded off by Seth Rogan and Keegan-Michael Key as Donkey Kong and Toad, but this might not be the end.
Pratt has a busy time ahead of him, as he'll also be voicing Garfield in an upcoming film about the lasagne-loving, Monday-hating tabby cat. Not to mention, if being part of the MCU wasn't enough, it looks like Pratt could be part of a Mario cinematic universe with news of a Donkey Kong spin-off. We hope the lead has been practising his Koopanese.