Mario, Nintendo’s world-renowned mascot, is known for his signature line, “It’s a me, Mario!” The video game company recently announced that Charles Martinet, who gave Mario his voice, will be stepping away from recording.
Mario, a creation of game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, initially appeared as a playable character and later as a boss in Donkey Kong. However, Nintendo soon gave him and his brother, Luigi, their own arcade game called Mario Bros. in 1983. Hence, Mario’s beginning was relatively humble, but his popularity soon doubled with the advent of the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) when players got to experience the Italian Plumber’s adventures through 1985’s Super Mario Bros.
Although most of the early Mario games were platformers, the franchise never shied away from exploring and soon experimented with genres like puzzle and action-adventure. With time, Mario even entered the realm of sports giving us titles like Mario Kart and Mario Tennis. However, voice actor Charles Martinet was associated with the video game mascot since 1991, and with Nintendo now announcing his retirement, we decided to take a look at what lies ahead.
Mario’s voice actor Charles Martinet announces his retirement
Charles Martinet is an American actor who entered the field after his friend asked him to attend acting classes to get over his fear of public speaking. In fact, the actor, who is 67 as of 2023, had several movies and TV shows to his name before Nintendo approached him with a contract to become Mario’s voice. However, Martinet was never exclusive to Nintendo, and since he continued working on other projects, fans might even recognize him as the voice of Magenta in the 2022 animated movie Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.
While with Nintendo, Martinet not only voiced Mario but was also responsible for bringing the characters of Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi to life. He began lending his voice to the Italian Plumber in 1991, and their relationship lasted through numerous games until the actor decided to step away from the recording studio in 2023. Moreover, fans might be interested to know that prior to retiring, Martinet also worked on 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, where he voiced Papa Mario and Giuseppe.
On August 21, 2023, Nintendo of America posted a Tweet on their Twitter (Now X) Account claiming they had a message for Mushroom Kingdom fans. Although the post announced Charles Martinet’s desire to step away from voice acting, the game company mentioned that he would take on the role of Mario Ambassador, which would see him touring the world and interacting with fans. On top of it, Nintendo also asked fans to stay tuned to their account for a special video message from Martinet and Mario’s creator, Shigeru Miyamoto.
Fans were quick to respond to this Tweet, and some expressed their gratitude for Martinet’s invaluable contribution. The official Twitter account for Xbox wrote, “A big Wahoo! to Charles, wherever the journey takes him,” while the Among Us’ account posted a massive “Thank You.” Likewise, there were many who claimed they were glad to have witnessed Martinet’s glorious era and could not wait to see him in the role of Mario Ambassador.
We would also like to extend our gratitude to Charles Martinet and wish him a wonderful life ahead. Meanwhile, you can click here for more content related to the Nintendo Switch.
