Charles Martinet to no longer voice Super Mario, now a Mario 'Ambassador'

[DaBigJ]

This is such a sudden announcement and I can't believe this is official.

I wonder what happens now? Who will replace Charles?

[Memelord2020]

inb4 the entire voice cast of The Super Mario Bros. Movie takes over

[Tornado]

Are Nintendo creatively bankrupt enough to have Chris Pratt and the movie cast do it from now on? Pre-Switch Nintendo I wouldn't think so, but (for example) this is definitely something Sega would do and literally have done.

[DaBigJ]

13 minutes ago, Tornado said:

Are Nintendo creatively bankrupt enough to have Chris Pratt and the movie cast do it from now on? Pre-Switch Nintendo I wouldn't think so, but (for example) this is definitely something Sega would do and literally have done.

I feel like we shouldn't jump to conclusions just yet. I'm all for giving the benefit of doubt, and seeing just who will be replacing Charles

[DaddlerTheDalek]

I really didn't expect this today...

[SupahBerry]

Given how Wario sounded in the Move It trailer, no doubt this is going for Luigi, he and Walu as well.

 

 

Now I've not really been keeping track, but Luigi's Mansion 3 was the last game I remember Charles recorded new, non-recycled voice clips. So in a manner of speaking, he's been "done" playing Mario for a while, save for promotional material. Sure, when nearly your entire vocabulary consists exclusively of "Let'sa go" and "Yahoo", you could just rotate his 30+ year library of recordings and be set for life. But if this past few years are an indication, it risks growing a bit exhausting if they'd just keep that up for another five years. So it's probably better of they brought someone new in now to avoid that.

 

Whoever this Mr "Wowie Zowie" is, I can't help by pity that guy for whatever hecklings he's about to receive just for how high a pedestal Charles landed on. I wish him luck. Cause by gum, he'll need it

 

[Blue Blood]

If he's being replaced by a sound-alike and stepped down on his own terms, I actually don't care. Mario's voice in Wonder still sounds like Martinet to me. If that's his new voice, then it's fine. 

But if this is this bring in the movie cast, fuck Nintendo so much. 

[Shaddy Zaphod]

Nah, it would be impractical, expensive and unpopular to replace everyone with the movie cast. Nintendo are stupid, but they're a different kind of stupid than that.

It's hard to have as strong opinions on Mario VAs as Sonic due to the difference in how much voiced dialogue there is, but if the Wonder trailer is a different guy, he sounds perfectly fine. I'm more wondering how Wario and especially Luigi are going to differ, and if these differences are going to change how they handle voicework in the series at all. Regardless, this is crazy news. Martinet has been in this role longer than I've been alive, and they just drop this news on us right as I get home from work. But y'know what? Good on em. Guy brought his best every time, is beloved by pretty much everyone, and made bank doing it. He deserves a comfortable retirement from acting.

[Salamander]

Thinking that Nintendo will be replacing the regular voice cast with the movie cast seems like doomsaying; you wouldn't get the movie cast for the kind of voice acting Mario has (which is to say, it's almost more like sound effects).  It's possible that the movie casting, with which Martinet was reportedly unhappy, has accelerated events a bit - but at the same time, Martinet's 67.  He was always going to have to lay down the hat someday.

[Strickerx5]

1 hour ago, Tornado said:

Are Nintendo creatively bankrupt enough to have Chris Pratt and the movie cast do it from now on? Pre-Switch Nintendo I wouldn't think so, but (for example) this is definitely something Sega would do and literally have done.

Tbf I doubt Nintendo is going to put out that much money just to get the few new Mario lines they need for a sports game or something.

 

My bet is that we get a sound alike and nothing much else changes. They’re probably already in place with Wonder.

Sad to see Charles go though. Had to happen eventually but it does feel like the end of an era.

[PickleBrows]

They're not getting the movie cast, folks.

Nintendo loves its traditions and I absolutely don't see them changing the status quo for how a standard Mario voice should sound. I can absolutely see reused voice lines being used for a while longer as needed but whoever they get for new voice lines is absolutely going to be doing a Martinet impression.

Given the discussion about the voice heard in the trailers for Wonder, it wouldn't shock me if we've already heard the replacement in action.

[Plumbers_Helper]

Honestly, I'm really saddened by this news. For most of my life I've been waiting and hoping to have Charles voice his characters in something more substantial like a new cartoon series or even a fully voiced game. I thought for sure the Mario movie was finally going to be that moment with Shiguru Miyamoto overseeing everything...I just hope above all else that this is what Charles wants and isn't due to greed/lack of respect on Nintendo's part. I do wish whoever takes over his roles the best of luck - they have awfully big shoes to fill.

[Tornado]

I like how this keeps getting reported as "since Super Mario 64" and "over 25 years" when Martinet has been voicing Mario since before Sonic even had his first voice actor.

 

52 minutes ago, Shaddy Zaphod said:

Nah, it would be impractical, expensive and unpopular to replace everyone with the movie cast.

Why would it be any of these things from Nintendo's point of view?

[Sonicka]

I suppose it going to happen eventually, the voice changes and evolves as you get older and Nintendo need to be prepared should the time come that Charles is no longer around to provide more samples.

I wouldn’t be too surprised if they’ve been using his successor or utilised the help of AI to recreate the soundalike already. The Mario Bros Wonder and Warioware trailer sparked that discussion recently (I can’t tell the difference personally, which is a good thing), but with this news it does make it seem more likely.

As for the using the movie cast? That would be a weird move to make IMO (for Sonic I can understand, for Mario less so). Also it would be a far more expensive endeavour as you’d not just be replacing Mario’s VA. But, given the lukewarm reception to their casting anyway I can’t really see it happening thankfully.

[batson]

This is sad news to me. I still remember the first time I head Martinets Mario voice in Super Mario 64. It sounded nothing like the Mario voices we had heard previously, in fact it was sort of the polar opposite of the "gruff" New York cab driver type voice we had gotten used to, and yet to me it was instantly charming and in almost immediately it became the only voice I could even imagine for the character.

Honestly, the fact that Martinet came up with the voice completely on his own, and along with it Mario's general attitude, means to me that in a way Martinet is the co-creator of Mario the way we know him. Miyamoto or a board of Nintendo directors didn't come up with the idea of Mario being so impossibly optimistic and childlike that nearly everything he utters sounds like a call of pure joy; that was all martinets making. Mario in his game apperances is a man of few words, but he still feels like a defined character because of the voice that Martniet gave him, and the personality that this voice implies. So much of Mario's soul comes from that man.

Of course, the vocie in question happens to be one that many people are able to easily imitate, which is a plus in a situation like this where the original actor stops doing it for one reason or another. Mickey Mouse was/is in a similar position. Compare this with a character voice like that of, say, Homer Simpson, which is so difficult to do a good impression of that there are basically nobody on the planet that can easily replace the original voice actor without it being obvious.

So in the case of Mario, I don't doubt that the character will still essentially sound how we want him to sound even without Martinet. It's moreso just going to feel a bit sad to know that it's not what most of us will probably always consider the REAL Mario doing the voice anymore.

[Shaddy Zaphod]

1 hour ago, Tornado said:

Why would it be any of these things from Nintendo's point of view?

I'm not saying Nintendo couldn't afford them all, I just don't think they'd find it a worthwhile risk. It's not like the series would be much showcase for any of that cast's talents, Mario barely has much dialogue in the first place. They don't plaster the names on games the way they do movies, and I don't think it would really increase game sales much since the demographics who see movies with the most mainstream casts ever aren't necessarily even gamers in the first place.

[Sonicka]

Well, there we have it. Super Mario Bros Wonder (and probably Warioware Move it) is now confirmed to be the first Mario game without Charles Martinet’s involvement.

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-confirms-charles-martinet-is-not-involved-in-super-mario-bros-wonder

 

[Blue Blood]

29 minutes ago, Sonicka said:

Well, there we have it. Super Mario Bros Wonder (and probably Warioware Move it) is now confirmed to be the first Mario game without Charles Martinet’s involvement.

https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-confirms-charles-martinet-is-not-involved-in-super-mario-bros-wonder

 

And there we have it.

I'm going to guess this is an age thing. Either Martinet probably just isn't able perform the job to standard Nintendo wanted anymore, or there's every chance that he might be finding the job too difficult now. I sincerely hope this has nothing to do with the movie, because it already was a big shame that Martinet and everyone else got replaced by bankable Hollywood names instead. 

But yeah, maybe it's because deep down I'm just not a huge a Mario fan, but this news really doesn't cut me up. The voices of Mario and Co are so iconic any integral to the games that Nintendo are never going to outright change them as we see with Sonic ever so often. They're going to get sound-alikes to go their best Martinet impressions, same as Disney do for Mickey Mouse. 

[Danj86]

I figured he'd have to retire eventually. I hope it was his choice at least. Some voice actors aren't treated so kindly when they get replaced.

I did grow up with Mario and Sonic so having an ever presence like Charles Martinet being no longer in a role does leave me with an air of sadness. I've had to come to grips with changes that had always been there for the longest times, no longer being around over recent years. I hate change, but I hope that Charles enjoys his new role and it's nice that he's sticking around.

[PC the Hedgehog]

Definitely a sudden and shocking announcement. Martinet has pretty much been Mario for most of my life, but I got used to him after listening to the old DiC cartoons, and I'll get used to his replacement as well--which will be much easier since they're going the soundalike route.

One thing does confuse me, though. A few years back, Martinet said he wanted to voice Mario till he dropped dead. Why the change of heart, I wonder? Feels like there's more to this story than he simply wants to retire...

[Austroid]

5 hours ago, PC the Hedgehog said:

One thing does confuse me, though. A few years back, Martinet said he wanted to voice Mario till he dropped dead. Why the change of heart, I wonder? Feels like there's more to this story than he simply wants to retire...

Yeah I agree. Something else must be going on. I came across a comment on YT saying they met Martinet at a convention recently and asked why Mario sounded different in the SMB Wonder trailer. He said "I'm not at liberty to say." Besides that, the commenter also mentioned that Martinet seemed less energetic than he usually was compared to other times they met him...

I truly hope he's not going through an illness. He's such a kind and wonderful person and deserves nothing but the best <3

[Shaddy Zaphod]

It's kind of funny how Mario and Metroid, with very sparse voicework, clearly had a lot of attention paid to fitting the characters, when Zelda has hours more voiced dialogue and has sounded like shit for two massive games now.

 

Anyway, now that we know for sure it's not Martinet, I wonder who this new guy is. Obviously it's not really possible to tell from just a couple whoohoos and hahas in the trailer, but you need both talent and a certain natural voice tone to even be in the running, and I'm sure they wouldn't bank on some no-name. Any ideas?

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

On 8/21/2023 at 9:20 AM, Tornado said:

Are Nintendo creatively bankrupt enough to have Chris Pratt and the movie cast do it from now on? Pre-Switch Nintendo I wouldn't think so, but (for example) this is definitely something Sega would do and literally have done.

What about the use of AI voice synthesizers? You think they’d use that instead?

I don’t know if I’m reaching a new level of cynicism to think that it wouldn’t be too tempting even for them if they really wanted to maintain the iconic voice and not use the movie cast.

And boy would that open up a whole new kinda shitstorm…

[Plumbers_Helper]

I was just about to remind everyone that years before Charles started regularly voicing Mario in the games (as far back as 1991) he played Mario for special events where guests could interact with a virtual Mario in real time. I was going to say whoever takes over Charles' roles is also going to have to be charismatic and decent at improv to continue his legacy...but then I found out starting in 2021 they've replaced Charles in these live events with an AI. I have no words.

 

[KayDen]

game devs's friends and family used to do the voices in the 90s with psx games, what would  mario would've been like if they just got an intern or devteam member to do the voice?