Nintendo recently announced that Charles Martinet is stepping down as the voice of Mario which he has been doing since the iconic Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64 console in 1996. Nintendo said that Mr. Martinet will have a new role at the company as a Mario Ambassador, though he has said in a new interview that he is not entirely sure what the role means. However, he did say that “As we step forward into the future, we’ll all learn exactly what that is.”
“I am now a Mario Ambassador. I don’t know what that is yet. I’m not retired as it were, but I’m an ambassador. As we step forward into the future, we’ll all learn exactly what that is.”
Charles Martinet
Just let the old man live his life. I never understood why his voice was so important, that he can’t leave. I mean Mario had several voices, just as Sonic or Megaman for example.
Clearly you haven’t grown up with his voice as your childhood memories you wouldn’t have any idea.
I feel like they did this to soften the blow of replacing him as the voice of Mario. kind of like a safety measure in case that was like really intense crazy backlash because you never know. So they made it look like transition instead..but they aren’t really sure what they’re going to do with him in that role yet. but definitely replacing him in this manner was calculated to mitigate backlash.
Nintendo said Charles as the Mario Ambassador “…will continue traveling the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!” I presume he will be found during conferences like the former E3 and the current Pax East at their booth, maybe during Comic Con, Gamescom, Nintendo Live, and will give autographs, participate on interviews and panels.
How much you wanna bet Nintendo ORDERED him to say that (because your very occupation outside of VA is now NDA)
If this means he gets to travel more to things like conventions, and he’s up for it, I say go for it man.
This is a way for Nintendo to fire him so the fans won’t get upset. He’s still with the company, but now he’s just a spokesmen for Nintendo. Having your cake baked by Peach and eating it too.
Likely, Nintendo was just ready to try different Mario voice actors after seeing how well CP did in the Mario Movie. And they can probably pay a new actor less to start with.
And honestly, I’m weirdly okay with this. Just let CM occasionally due a cameo here or there and let him be an Nintendo ambassador forever.
Except Pratt refused to do a Mario voice. Doesn’t instill confidence that Nintendo cares about securing Mario’s identity, so long as big name celebrities are popular enough to get away with doing no performance at all (aside from basic acting/human emotion).
If the script says “be Mario”, then be Mario and NOT yourself. There are zero expectations for new/original or undefined characters, but people already know who Mario is.