When Mario was born in ‘Donkey Kong’ as a replacement for Popeye, for whom Shigeru Miyamoto couldn’t get the rights, he didn’t expect that 42 years later he would have to define what a “Mario ambassador” is, so that the former dubbing voice of that character knows exactly what he’s going to do from now on. For now, and from what we’ve seen, it’s all about traveling around the world and telling anecdotes. What else is there to do? Ya-hoo!
Mamma mia, papa!
In a video that Nintendo showed on Twitter, we see Miyamoto and Charles Martinet hand in hand talking about their friendship. For example, we have learned that the dubber called his creator “Papa” with the mythical voice of the Italian plumber and that he once hit his head when entering a restaurant in Kyoto because he was almost two meters tall. If you play basketball, take a good look at the edges of the doors when traveling to Japan.
Now that we all know that another voice will appear in ‘Super Mario Bros Wonder‘ (probably from an impersonator, we are not yet ready to see Mario with a different accent from so many years) Martinet has been repositioned as “Mario’s Ambassador”. And what does that mean? Well, the same as “visibility payment”: something that nobody knows how to define very well, not even Mario’s creator himself.
“You have traveled all over the world visiting events and doing the voice of Mario for fans, putting smiles on people’s faces. It has always been a priority for you to spread joy, and I am sure you will be a great Mario Ambassador. For all of you watching, you should know that Charles will continue to travel the world and meet fans, do the voices at events, sign autographs and celebrate being with all of you.”
So this new job is basically travel and fun, by the looks of it. Where does one sign up? Although Martinet is 67 years old, we don’t know if that’s the reason why he has stopped playing Mario, or who is going to replace him and how. Pure video game history fading away before our eyes, mamma mia!
