The Super Mario Bros Movie was one of the most-anticipated films of 2023, especially for animated film audiences. Super Mario is one of the world’s most popular and successful game franchises owned by Nintendo. With the help of advanced animation technology, viewers experienced some of Nintendo’s favorite characters and Kingdoms.
With a $100 million production budget, The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed over $1.36 billion at the Box Office. In between the thrill and excitement surrounding the movie was its surprising runtime. Here’s a look at the runtime of The Super Mario Bros Movie and how it relates to the film’s pacing and storytelling.
What Is The Runtime of The Super Mario Bros Movie?
With the film’s teaser trailer released on October 6, 2022, expectations were high for The Super Mario Bros. Movie release. However, upon its release, there were mixed reactions about the movie’s runtime. The Super Mario Bros Movie has a runtime of 92 minutes (1 hour 32 minutes).
How The Super Mario Bros. Movie Compares To Other Animated Films
A good place to start with the comparisons is the first-ever feature-length film based on Nintendo’s Super Mario video game series. Although not an animated film, the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros film had a runtime of 104 minutes (1 hour 44 minutes). Placing it beside a few other popular, high-grossing, computer-generated films based on/inspired by video games, The Super Mario Bros Movie‘s runtime still has less runtime than theirs.
The 2019 Pokémon Detective Pikachu movie had a runtime of 104 minutes (1 hour 44 minutes), while Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) had a runtime of 122 minutes (2 hours 2 minutes). However, the 2020 Sonic the Hedgehog had a far lesser runtime with 99 minutes. Other non-video game-based computer-animated films include 2013 Frozen (102 minutes), Finding Nemo (100 minutes), Coco (105 minutes), Moana (107 minutes), Ratatouille (111 minutes), and The Incredibles (115 minutes).
How The Super Mario Bros Movie Compares To Other Animated Films From The Same Production Company
Universal Pictures, Illumination, and Nintendo jointly produced The Super Mario Bros Movie. Founded and owned by Chris Meledandri, Illumination has produced several successful computer-animated films before The Super Mario Bros Movie. So far, Illumination has produced 13 released feature films. A closer look at the runtimes of most of the films reveal they fall into the same runtime range as The Super Mario Bros Movie. Notable examples include the Despicable Me film series with an average runtime of 94 minutes (1 hour 34 minutes), Minions (91 minutes), and Minions: The Rise of Gru (87 minutes).
Others are The Secret Life of Pets (86 minutes) and its sequel, The Secret Life of Pets 2 (86 minutes), and The Grinch (85 minutes). Evidently, Illumination isn’t known to produce computer-animated films with longer runtimes. The only animated feature film they’ve produced that has crossed the 100-minute mark has been the 2016 Sing and its sequel, Sing 2, with 107 minutes and 110 minutes runtimes, respectively.
How The Super Mario Bros Movie’s Runtime Impact Its Storytelling And Pacing
Arguably, fans of Nintendo’s Super Mario characters would have preferred a longer runtime to watch their beloved game characters in a feature-length film. The Super Mario Bros Movie is created as an origin story of the Italian-American plumber brothers, Mario and Luigi. It also features Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom and Bowser, leader of the Koopas.
Most of the fears and concerns of creating a feature film with less than 100 minutes is a failure to explore each of the main characters’ in-depth stories. If extra care isn’t taken, the storyline may seem rushed and disjointed. However, a streamlined runtime also has its benefits. Adapting a video game-based story like Super Mario could result in long-drawn, unnecessary scenes, trying to introduce all the known characters.
However, the 92-minute runtime of The Super Mario Bros Movie ensured the film’s pace and plot stayed focused on the main iconic Super Mario characters. Despite its runtime, The Super Mario Bros Movie became Illumination’s highest-grossing computer-animated film and the third-highest-grossing animated film.
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