Super Mario Bros. Movie: Should Mario Talk?

Okay, Cool's Riley Little writes: "With a Super Mario Bros. film now officially in development at Illumination, many fans are wondering if Mario will finally have a fully-voiced role."

[PhoenixUp]

Obviously. You can’t have a silent protagonist or a lead character that says little words or even phrases in a movie

[NecrumOddBoy]

Wall-e

[PhoenixUp]

Yes but Wall-E was alone for a good portion of that movie while Mario will constantly be in scenarios that required him to talk like normal instead of in few phrases.

[NecrumOddBoy]

Dumbo

[PhoenixUp]

Dumbo often has that mouse speaking for him, and you can’t have a character like that for Mario in a full fledged movie like there often is in the RPGs.

Like I said Mario will be in situations that’s require him to keep a conversation. None of that M&L style dialogue on the big screen. Not to mention that your examples are of characters that are incapable of speaking while Mario is a character that is capable of speaking, and you can’t have him choosing not to for the majority of a film. That’d be even more awkward and unsettling.

What’d even be the point of adapting him to the big screen if the project doesn’t take full advantage of the medium? If Mario was going to only say a few phrases, might as well not even make the movie at all. There’s already been television shows, comics, an OVA & a live action movie where Mario speaks like a normal person, so it’d only be sensible for this new movie to follow suit.

[quent]

No, facial gestures and body language will do