Honestly that’s fair. Dude’s getting old, I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect him to voice Mario forever. I’m glad they’ve got him as an ambassador though, for now at least. I’d imagine he’ll help whoever next voices Mario get it right so his voice isn’t too radically different.
It’s just a shame he’s been downgraded to what appears to be a sideshow piece. I mean, if he’s happy doing it, more power to him. He’s been Mario for, like, 20 years? Good luck to the next Mario. Those are some big overalls to fill.
If I recall correctly, he says it is hard on his vocal chords to do the voice. Have you read something where he says he wants to keep doing the voice acting? Or might he be happy to move to an easier role?
No, not at all. Just sad cuz nostalgia is all. Cool he wants to travel and meet fans of him and the franchise, it’s just… Again, kinda feels like a bit of a travelling sideshow attraction is all. Maybe it would be better if he retired is my point of view. It would bother me to be reduced to what feels like a circus act or county fair attraction. “Come see the Bearded Lady, after that, get Charles Martinet’s autograph!” Ya know?
Edit to add: at the same time, I do get that this is apparently Martinet and Nintendo wanting to continue to work together. Hell, maybe I should take my nostalgia glasses off. He gets to travel the world on Nintendo’s dime, and get paid to do it. Probably not too bad of a retirement I guess.
Let’s hope not. But I think they’d prefer a dedicated voice actor to replace him, as the logistics of Chris Pratt recording his voice lines between his acting commitments would cost too much for Nintendo.
It’s certainly pretty conspicuous timing, but the guy is also almost 70, and been doing the job for over 30 years. It’d definitely make sense for him to just figure it’s time to pull back.
I think the thing AI can’t do is inspired delivery of lines. Mario doesn’t say much, but the way it is said is very important. I think it would be easier to replace most characters in Final Fantasy games with AI than it would Mario.
Agreed, he knocked that role out of the park but other than that, he’s very generic. I don’t dislike the guy, all said (his ad-libbed lines in P&R are some of the funniest lines in the show).
Granted, the only Mario games I’ve actually played was SMB on the NES and Odyssey, so I don’t have the same attachment to the character as some, but I still don’t get the hate Chris Pratt got for that role. The movie wasn’t anything really special, the character was fine. But people were freaking furious.
Because Pratt isn’t a good voice actor. Really though, there were few standout performances in that entire movie, so he wasn’t alone in that. It’s almost like they picked the cast based on who can only play themselves, not on who would be a good choice. Princess Peach, Luigi, and Bowser were the only real solid performances in my opinion.
It had less to do with Pratt and more to do with it being a radical departure from the established voice of a very nostalgic and beloved character. It would basically be the same thing if Pratt was chosen to voice Micky Mouse or Bugs Bunny.
It’s also compounded by the fact that the Mario fan base, for good reason, loves Charles Martinet. Just see comments here for evidence. So pulling out a generic sounding Hollywood frontman felt like they were focusing on sales over source material. Which is true, but will always upset longtime fans.
In closing, you people must realize that the public owns you for life, and when you’re dead…? You’ll all be in commercials, dancing with vacuum cleaners.
The man’s been doing the voice of Mario since 1995. Charles deserves a worthwhile retirement. It’s probably getting harder for him to do it at almost 70
i just went and rewatched the reveal trailer. it is absolutely not him in that trailer, but i really had not noticed until i listened for it. it’s…weird. i’m not ready to move on from Martinet.
He’s now going to be a Nintendo Ambassador or something. I wonder if this is just to change the voice of Mario while also effectively retiring him from voice acting so they don’t have Mario voicing Bayonetta in the next game or something.
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