You Ever Notice...and What's the Deal...

[minor muppetz]

So what's the deal with this recent internet meme that says "doesn't believe in (insert thing here), still does his/her job"? Is it a reference to something in the news?

 

[charlietheowl]

So what's the deal with this recent internet meme that says "doesn't believe in (insert thing here), still does his/her job"? Is it a reference to something in the news?

I'm fairly sure it's a reference to Kim Davis, the county clerk in Kentucky who was refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples due to her religious beliefs, which led to her being briefly imprisoned.

 

[Drtooth]

So, the creator of Super Mario came out and confirmed Mario's last name

...and it's still Mario.

Yep. After basically tapdancing around as much American Mario lore as possible (I love Yoshi's Island, but HATE how it implies Luigi and Mario are twins born in the Mushroom Kingdom all along), he basically just accepts the outside media's slight canon here. And yes, this was in that horrible movie, but it actually predates the film. Mario's last name being Mario was first brought up in the Shabba-Doo episode of Super Mario Bros. Super Show.

All I can say is NOICE!!! Finally. Something from the American Nintendo branch (one that acknowledges outside fiction, no less) that the Japanese creator embraces. Too bad he also can't embrace Mario being the older brother and them being Brooklyn born and transported to a magic land.

 

[D'Snowth]

Can I just say I don't understand why people find it hard to swallow that Mario's last name (and Luigi's, for that matter) would be Mario? I mean, the title of the games and the franchise in general is the Super Mario Bros. That would indicate that these two brothers' last name is, well, Mario . . . does it not stand to reason that their last name would be Mario?

 

[Drtooth]

Japanese language translation inconsistency probably? I know the comic book actually addressed this. An Ask Princess Toadstool column had a complaint letter from Luigi about how everywhere they go someone says "Hey! It's the Mario Brothers!" and how he wanted to be referred to as the Luigi Bros for a change. It's all about living in his brother's shadow in that case.

I'm surprised that the revelation wasn't that it took the full name of the warehouse owner Mario was named after. But anyway, DIC was on the curve of this, revealing their last names to be Mario to being with. Unless that was something NOA came up with in some style guide or something. I dunno. But it's so strange for Mario's creator to embrace something from the American lore. Nintendo doesn't particularly get close to their American fiction for the characters (cartoons, comics, whatever). They even refuse to acknowledge their weird 1986 Mario Bros Rescue Princess Peach movie.

 

[D'Snowth]

You ever notice that it seems like every week, DirecTV is in the news for dropping this channel and that channel, including local affiliates? It makes me wonder how DirecTV can be such a great alternative to cable if they don't even have anything to watch?

 

[minor muppetz]

In the past few (maybe a lot more than I think) years, there's been quite a few Mario toy collections. And I've noticed that a number of them have included Lakitu. And yet it seems like there haven't been any toys of Spinies. What gives? The Spinies should be as popular as Lakitu (considering how popular the games are, is there such a thing as an "obscure Mario character"? Hmm, maybe if it's a non-boss character who only appeared in one or two levels in one game...). I don't think their spikes would be an issue (there are toys of Bowser, who has spikes on his back). I recently saw some mini three-packs of Mario figures, an ideal three-pack would include Lakitu (who was in two of the three-packs I saw, one being part of a series of gold-colored figures), Spiney, and a Spiny egg (a mushroom was included in one of the three-packs).

 

[minor muppetz]

Maybe I've asked before, but what's the deal with the opening scene for Mrs. Doubtfire, where Daniel quits because the cartoon he's in glorifies smoking? He objects because it's a children's cartoon, the rest of the staff doesn't show his concern (and it's already animated, so it's too late to change it) and they even say it's a children's cartoon. One that allows smoking. By the time the movie came out, smoking was something that often wasn't allowed in children's cartoons. I think smoking was often (but not always) censored from classic cartoons by then. The production staff acts as if smoking was normal in a modern children's cartoon, and I assume it was for television and not a theatrical short.

In fact I think there's a deleted scene where Daniel and Miranda talk about him getting fired from this, he said they were promoting smoking and needed to be responsible for the kids, and she said he needed to be responsible for their kids, seemingly not caring that he was against smoking. Hard to determine which kind of responsibility is more important, or to process why he would be more responsible for the children of the world while doing irresponsible things with his kids.

On a side note, when I first saw the movie, I misunderstood the opening scene. For some reason, I thought Daniel was improvising lines glorifying smoking, and that the director was the one against smoking (don't know what to have thought about the cigar being animated). That sort of would make more sense.

 

[D'Snowth]

What's the deal with Donald Duck's tail? Why is it always subjects to misfortune? It's been nearly eaten by a gorilla and a shark, it's been nearly burned by Pete, it's been burned by a witch and while on a Hawaiian vacation, it's been stung by bees . . . gee, no wonder people make such a big deal about him not wearing pants.

 

[mr3urious]

What's the deal with Donald Duck's tail? Why is it always subjects to misfortune? It's been nearly eaten by a gorilla and a shark, it's been nearly burned by Pete, it's been burned by a witch and while on a Hawaiian vacation, it's been stung by bees . . . gee, no wonder people make such a big deal about him not wearing pants.

Because the rump is the meatiest part of the duck.