In Soviet Mushroom Kingdom, Goomba Eats You!

January 30, 2010 2:14 PM

The true story behind Comrade Mario.
posted by Effigy2000 (17 comments total)

What about his early career in the Party, when he singlehandedly defeated the rapacious capitalist gorilla and his many fast-rolling lackies?
posted by PlusDistance at 2:21 PM on January 30, 2010 [3 favorites]

There is no Princess in this short, but I understand there was a young blond woman in an American hospital calling herself "Peaches Peacherson" around this time, and they say . . .
posted by Countess Elena at 2:27 PM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

Sorry Mario, the Dictatorship of the Proletariat is in another castle.
posted by felix betachat at 2:30 PM on January 30, 2010 [16 favorites]

No fireworks??
posted by hermitosis at 2:36 PM on January 30, 2010 [1 favorite]

This made something itch at the back of my brain, and maybe one of you can scratch it: I remember reading a few years ago about an indie video game that was designed to look like a badly translated, Soviet made game based on Alice in Wonderland. It was called something like "Little Western Girl's Underground Adventure." Does this ring a bell with anyone?
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 2:44 PM on January 30, 2010

Never mind, found it: Little Girl in Underland.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 2:46 PM on January 30, 2010 [3 favorites]

I don't think that's a true story.
posted by m0nm0n at 2:50 PM on January 30, 2010

That was awesome. Thanks for posting this!
posted by strixus at 3:03 PM on January 30, 2010

I'm surprised that this is not a double as it's somewhat old, the original animation is hosted at newgrounds. Anyway, I love this kind of 'alternative' interpretation, especially in games with near to no plot like Mario.

For example, what happens after Mario goes through a level, or how Bowser is really regarded among the citizens of the kingdom. And this hilarious animation.

The music is awesome too. If anyone's wondering, it's Farewell of Slavianka performed by the Red Army Choir. (Guilty pleasure, I love this kind of march)
posted by Memo at 3:32 PM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

Hmm. At the risk of being branded a counter-revolutionary, I wish the director had foregone Eisensteinian dialectical perfectionism for a more Vertov, Kino-Pravda approach.
posted by ford and the prefects at 4:07 PM on January 30, 2010 [2 favorites]

Extended flash animations are starting to feel so old school.
posted by TwelveTwo at 4:51 PM on January 30, 2010

You know, this is a more faithful interpretation of the Battle of Stalingrad than that Pearl Harbor movie was of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
posted by Kid Charlemagne at 5:45 PM on January 30, 2010

I'm sure I've seen this on Metafilter before, probably from this post by StephenV with its now dead first link. StephenV doesn't seem to frequent Metafilter anymore.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:46 PM on January 30, 2010

Whoops: StephenV.
posted by Daddy-O at 7:47 PM on January 30, 2010

Why the surprise? Mario has always come from the Left to attack the oligarchy of the Right!
posted by yeloson at 10:04 PM on January 30, 2010 [7 favorites]

Actually, Mario makes for a poor revolutionary vanguard. Throughout the levels of the original game he blindly runs to and fro, doing the work of the nobility (the Princess and Bowser), while clearly being manipulated by them to give up his labour for free, believing that he lives in times of 'exceptional circumstances' or 'great terrorist threat'. He never stops to question the methodology of his supposedly socialist service, doesn't take issue with the fact that the masses are not only not being mobilised, he kills many of them!

A true revolutionary plumber would reject the monarchy, give a rousing red speech to the goombas and turtles, then proceed to march with them to reclaim ALL of the castles in the land for the people, equally. He would then refuse the offer to rule the land, and return to fixing those vital pipes that the land relies on for transport and water. No great hero, just man, a man of the people.
posted by Dysk at 2:59 AM on January 31, 2010 [5 favorites]

I skipped the intro, and then the game was, like, finished in about one second lol wtf?
posted by flabdablet at 3:10 AM on January 31, 2010