The voice of Mario is "retiring" from his role after 27 years as a Nintendo character, the Japanese gaming company announced.
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Charles Martinet, 67, was the original voice of the Italian plumber, starting in 1996's Super Mario 64. He also provided other voices in the game series, including Mario's twin brother Luigi and the villains Wario and Waluigi.
In a statement posted on Monday on Twitter, recently renamed X, Nintendo said: "Charles is now moving into the brand new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will step back from recording character voices for our games, but will continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with all of you!"
"It has been an honor to work with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him.".
"Please keep an eye out for a special video message from [video game designer and Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will be releasing at a future date.".
Martinet wrote: “My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! Woohoo!!!!!!!”
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The announcement came after fans began speculating online that the American actor had been replaced as Mario for the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder game, with some noting that the character's voice sounded different in promotional videos. Nintendo confirmed that Martinet did not voice Mario in the new game, but has yet to reveal who the new voice is.
Martinet once said that he based his voice for the character on Petruchio, a character from Shakespeare's play "The Taming of the Shrew.".
“I want to do the voice of Mario until I drop dead,” he once said, during a gaming conference in 2021. “If one day I think I’m no longer capable of doing it, I’ll tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else.”.
Martinet did not voice the character in the 2023 animated film The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Guardians of the GalaxyChris Pratt voiced the eponymous character, opposite It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia actor Charlie Day as Luigi. But Martinet did voice two supporting characters, including the brothers' father, in the film, which grossed more than $1.357 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing video game adaptation of all time.
Martinet has also voiced characters in games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time.
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source of information:theguardian.com
