Nintendo's Super Mario anime from 1986 gets a fan restoration

A random piece of Nintendo history gets some love

18 April 2022
by rawmeatcowboy 3

All the way back in 1986, Nintendo released an hour-long animated feature called Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. The film never saw an official release outside of Japan, and has only lived on YouTube in very low-quality uploads. Today that changes, thanks to the hard work of dedicated fans.

The team at Femboy Films have taken it upon themselves to restore Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach with the utmost care. The film has been color-corrected, and scanned in 4K resolution from a “16mm reduction print likely used for small, local screenings back in the day.” The team even added in 2-channel Dolby Surround from the VHS release, and added brand-new English-language subtitles to go the extra mile.

I know what you’re thinking by this point. Why bother putting so much work into something that Nintendo will likely yank from the internet? That’s a question I can’t answer for you, but at least we can enjoy this restoration for a short time. Hopefully Nintendo decides to let this restoration live on, but as you probably know, it’s best to watch this now instead of later…as later might not happen.

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Comments (3)

kingbroly

2y ago

I didn't know this was a thing.


d_says_hi

2y ago

I had seen bits from the beginning so it's nice the whole thing is up. Interesting how airships show up and Mario grabbing Bowser by the tail and spinning him, kinda foreshadows SMB3 and SM 64.


tendonin

2y ago

Regardless of what companies are involved, uploading a complete film to YouTube and expecting it to stay up is incredibly foolish. Like, "I haven't been on the internet in 15 years" foolish. Just make it a torrent and get it over with.