“Take On Me” by A-ha was in The Mario Bros. movie because it was the Number 1 hit the day the NES/Mario released in NA.
https://bestofdate.com/1985-10-18
by EvolutionIXMR
33 Comments
cheese120_
When I saw the movie in the theater, I actually kinda got excited when they started playing that song, mainly because I just think it’s a fun catchy song in general. Now, I realize that maybe they should’ve used different music, but it didn’t ruin the movie for me, so it probably doesn’t matter.
JoelHatesGolf
The Angry Joe Show crew was hating on the song bad in their review because they felt it was random. Glad there was a good reason why they used the song. 👍🏼
Gameaholic99
Imagine that same scene but with Donkey Kong Country theme on orchestra
tlacct
Still felt out of place to me even if it was an interesting Easter egg.
I guess we should be glad that Illumination chose actual good 80s songs though. In an alternate universe the world might have been subjected to Mario and friends racing to Ice Spice.
BodhiRukhKast
That’s all well and good, but the scene would’ve been much better IMO if [“Drivin’ Me Bananas”](https://youtu.be/fSMFdQU745Q) had been used instead. That music was *actually* written for the scene (and sounds fantastic)—for instance, the music stops briefly toward the end to match up with the characters momentarily disappearing offscreen, before picking back up once they re-emerge, yet “Take On Me” just continuously plays.
Epic-Dude000
Holy crap that explains it
Hisgoatness
I like how the spoiler is the title of this thread
CoconutHeadFaceMan
I genuinely doubt they put that much thought into it. Odds are it was a case of Illumination’s focus groups and/or algorithms selecting a handful of iconic 80s songs to throw in to give the parents in the audience a cheap nostalgia hit. Ever since the early 00s, it’s been standard practice for CG animated flicks.
WebModeratorSyndrome
I thought it was slapped into the movie solely as mandate by Illumination executives because “normies need pop references!”
DorkGlitch
Seems like a lame reason to throw in a way overplayed song in your pandering ass movie.
metalflygon08
Neat, I assumed it was because “Take on me” sounds like “Take Kong Me”
NoSirI_DontLikeIt
Oh that’s actually kind of cool. But knowing most American animated films, It could’ve been worse honestly. If this was given to some other different studio or if Nintendo wasn’t involved with the production, they would’ve forced some random trendy pop song in the film even if doesn’t have anything to do with the movie.
atollerantperson
THANK YOU. Every other song in the movie is related in theme or by a pun in the title (i.e. Thunderstruck for Mario Kart) and I’ve been racking my brain trying to understand why Take On Me was in the film lol
TheDude810
I don’t care, scrapping “Drivin’ Me Bananas” in favor a pop song is a monumental Illumination L.
01kos
Spoiler tag but puts spoiler in title
Karl_Mo_Waumon
I hope there is a cut of the film without any licensed music. Bramble Blast would have slapped on during that opening kart scene
wookiewin
I love shit like this
Mash_Ketchum
Okay cool take it out of the movie
bhare418
I feel like this is a cope. They used it because 80s nostalgia has been insanely popular since GOTG. It might seem fine to the random family, or Nintendo fan, or casually interested movie-goer. But to someone who goes to the movies regularly, and thinks about them more critically, it was an insane eye rolling moment. I had no idea about it replacing DKC music. I just thought “Great, ANOTHER FUCKING movie with 80s music and 80s references. As if I don’t see this on a near regular basis.” I know it’s a little different since the movie is set in the time period, but I had watched Tetris the same day I saw Mario, and some of the songs they used are literally exactly the same. If they’re gonna do the 80’s thing, I wish they would find unique music that was more thematically relevant. I watched a video recently that talked about why Take on Me in Mario didn’t work, but why Running up that hill in Stranger Things did work, and I couldn’t agree more, even if the video was pretty film bro tier.
HolyCowEveryNameIsTa
Also it’s straight fire
EurofighterLover
That’s fucking awesome
wwbillyww
Ah! OK. This makes sense because the music does NOT match the scene very well.
SuspiciousBaka89
Drivin’ Me Bananas still better
iiRockpuppy
Where on earth does it say they used that song for this reason? Blatant misinformation without any real context other than this coincidence
OoTgoated
I love that song I didn’t mind it at all. A lot of the music in the movie was 80’s stuff I think.
PM_ME_YOUR_MASS
Near fact. The needle drop still got me like a sack of wet potatoes in the theater
Pengking36
cope
More-I-am-gamer
Thought so
colins_left_nut
More like illumination already had the rights …
Tomrr6
Feels weird to put a song related to NES Mario in the section about Donkey Kong’s world. It should’ve been saved for a different scene about Mario’s world, or even the credits.
This scene works great with the cut song from the soundtrack, but someone on Twitter showed it works *even better* with “Welcome To The Jungle.” It took some editing and retiming, so it wouldn’t work in the final version of the scene. But if the scene was meant for this song from the beginning, it would have been really fun! I’ll post a link to the tweet if I can find it, but it’s probably copyright reported at this point
ooahpieceofcandy
Now that’s interesting
Echo1138
So why not just have it playing quietly on a joke box in Brooklyn somewhere? You didn’t have to shove it into a scene that it really didn’t need to be used for.
ytctc
This is emblematic of most of the major problems with the movie. Sacrificing good filmmaking in favor of Easter eggs.
33 Comments
When I saw the movie in the theater, I actually kinda got excited when they started playing that song, mainly because I just think it’s a fun catchy song in general. Now, I realize that maybe they should’ve used different music, but it didn’t ruin the movie for me, so it probably doesn’t matter.
The Angry Joe Show crew was hating on the song bad in their review because they felt it was random. Glad there was a good reason why they used the song. 👍🏼
Imagine that same scene but with Donkey Kong Country theme on orchestra
Still felt out of place to me even if it was an interesting Easter egg.
I guess we should be glad that Illumination chose actual good 80s songs though. In an alternate universe the world might have been subjected to Mario and friends racing to Ice Spice.
That’s all well and good, but the scene would’ve been much better IMO if [“Drivin’ Me Bananas”](https://youtu.be/fSMFdQU745Q) had been used instead. That music was *actually* written for the scene (and sounds fantastic)—for instance, the music stops briefly toward the end to match up with the characters momentarily disappearing offscreen, before picking back up once they re-emerge, yet “Take On Me” just continuously plays.
Holy crap that explains it
I like how the spoiler is the title of this thread
I genuinely doubt they put that much thought into it. Odds are it was a case of Illumination’s focus groups and/or algorithms selecting a handful of iconic 80s songs to throw in to give the parents in the audience a cheap nostalgia hit. Ever since the early 00s, it’s been standard practice for CG animated flicks.
I thought it was slapped into the movie solely as mandate by Illumination executives because “normies need pop references!”
Seems like a lame reason to throw in a way overplayed song in your pandering ass movie.
Neat, I assumed it was because “Take on me” sounds like “Take Kong Me”
Oh that’s actually kind of cool. But knowing most American animated films, It could’ve been worse honestly. If this was given to some other different studio or if Nintendo wasn’t involved with the production, they would’ve forced some random trendy pop song in the film even if doesn’t have anything to do with the movie.
THANK YOU. Every other song in the movie is related in theme or by a pun in the title (i.e. Thunderstruck for Mario Kart) and I’ve been racking my brain trying to understand why Take On Me was in the film lol
I don’t care, scrapping “Drivin’ Me Bananas” in favor a pop song is a monumental Illumination L.
Spoiler tag but puts spoiler in title
I hope there is a cut of the film without any licensed music. Bramble Blast would have slapped on during that opening kart scene
I love shit like this
Okay cool take it out of the movie
I feel like this is a cope. They used it because 80s nostalgia has been insanely popular since GOTG. It might seem fine to the random family, or Nintendo fan, or casually interested movie-goer. But to someone who goes to the movies regularly, and thinks about them more critically, it was an insane eye rolling moment. I had no idea about it replacing DKC music. I just thought “Great, ANOTHER FUCKING movie with 80s music and 80s references. As if I don’t see this on a near regular basis.” I know it’s a little different since the movie is set in the time period, but I had watched Tetris the same day I saw Mario, and some of the songs they used are literally exactly the same. If they’re gonna do the 80’s thing, I wish they would find unique music that was more thematically relevant. I watched a video recently that talked about why Take on Me in Mario didn’t work, but why Running up that hill in Stranger Things did work, and I couldn’t agree more, even if the video was pretty film bro tier.
Also it’s straight fire
That’s fucking awesome
Ah! OK. This makes sense because the music does NOT match the scene very well.
Drivin’ Me Bananas still better
Where on earth does it say they used that song for this reason? Blatant misinformation without any real context other than this coincidence
I love that song I didn’t mind it at all. A lot of the music in the movie was 80’s stuff I think.
Near fact. The needle drop still got me like a sack of wet potatoes in the theater
cope
Thought so
More like illumination already had the rights …
Feels weird to put a song related to NES Mario in the section about Donkey Kong’s world. It should’ve been saved for a different scene about Mario’s world, or even the credits.
This scene works great with the cut song from the soundtrack, but someone on Twitter showed it works *even better* with “Welcome To The Jungle.” It took some editing and retiming, so it wouldn’t work in the final version of the scene. But if the scene was meant for this song from the beginning, it would have been really fun! I’ll post a link to the tweet if I can find it, but it’s probably copyright reported at this point
Now that’s interesting
So why not just have it playing quietly on a joke box in Brooklyn somewhere? You didn’t have to shove it into a scene that it really didn’t need to be used for.
This is emblematic of most of the major problems with the movie. Sacrificing good filmmaking in favor of Easter eggs.