Here’s a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet regarding the change of Mario’s voice actor, announced on 8/21.
Here’s a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet regarding the change of Mario’s voice actor, announced on 8/21. pic.twitter.com/4mOpD2Cx3a
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 7, 2023
by Turbostrider27
34 Comments
Aww, that made me tear up.
This is a happy ending. Looking forward to more!
Miyamoto is everyone’s daddy
Man’s got that relaxed, “ready to take it easy as I prepare for retirement” long hair going on. Good for him.
Seeing Charles call Miyamoto Papa is just adorable. End of an era. I love Miyamotos childlike wonder, which Charles shares. It will be a sad day when we lose either of them
well that was just lovely and nice
In 2021 Charles said [“I want to voice Mario until I drop dead,”](https://www.eurogamer.net/charles-martinet-i-want-to-voice-mario-until-i-drop-dead) although he added that “If someday I think I am no longer capable of doing it, I will tell Nintendo to look into finding someone else.” I guess he doesn’t think he’s capable of doing it for the games anymore, although he’s still going to be traveling the world and doing the voices at events.
Hopefully him stepping away wasn’t solely a decision made by Nintendo where they asked him to retire from the role.
I was kinda expecting this with the Mario direct. Probably didn’t wanna make the showcase bitter sweet. But it’s still nice.
For some reason I thought they were going to announce the new VAs. Very cute message overall and I’m glad he’s still working with Nintendo 🙂
I love that Charles calls Miyamoto “Papa”. It’s very sweet.
That was a lot of words to say absolutely nothing lol. Joy, traveling the world, meeting fans, and more joy.
It’s great they did this. But the whole situation from a corporate perspective seems like a David Hayter MGSV moment to me.
These men put a huge smile on this cynical father’s face. The pure joy and happiness they’ve shared with me and millions of others will never be forgotten. Thanks Charles!
Oof, that one hurt.
Maybe because we never get to hear it from the source but damn if that didn’t make me tear up.
Mario 64 was my first real game that I was able to actually play and became obsessed with.
If you get the chance, meet Charles. I had the pleasure at a local comic con. He’s a giant and a gentleman. Apart from my own joy at meeting him, being in the queue and seeing him interact with everyone was a delight. He was especially great with kids and those with learning differences giving every one time and attention.
Why do I feel like Miyamoto saying the “voices of some Mario characters have become new” is also referring to the likes of Daisy and Peach… I feel like the cast might be getting a soft reboot, probably just tripping, but I swear Peach and Daisy’s voices in the Wonder footage sound off too…
Aw, this is sweet. I hope the new actor(s) are respected just as well as Charles is.
This was wholesome
I cant say goodbye yet 🤧🤧
It’s nice that they are publicly giving him their blessing to essentially represent the company, even if in a small way, at comic-cons. I wonder if Nintendo will do more ‘Nintendo Live’ type events in the future? And maybe Charles will take part?
This was classy. If Nintendo were an American company you’d probably just hear on CNN “Charles Martinet fired as Mario.” This is a better transition.
As sad as this news is he’s still a joy to watch. I hope he enjoys a long retirement
New game coming out in a month, we’ve heard voices from it but they haven’t announced anybody. Makes me wonder if going forward they will all be AI voices.
This is wholesome, but it didn’t really explain anything. Why isn’t Charles voicing Nintendo characters anymore? Who’s the new actor(s)?
When he said thank you papa to Miyamoto I choked up a little.
Thank YOU Charles.
As bittersweet as this is, I don’t expect the games to be impacted very much. It’s not like when Sonic changed VAs since he’s a way more talkative character. Mario always speaks in few-word phrases so finding someone new doesn’t sound all that bad.
In the end, I’m just glad Charles is finally able to relax.
Why is Charles leaving? Why this was released by IGN? Who’s going to replace Charles?
I mean really how much work does he do as far as voice over? I’m not saying he doesn’t do anything but realistically how many Mario recording sessions does the guy do a year? Legit question. Hoping he secured the bag and got a huge golden parachute. Luckiest dude ever being the voice of mario
This was cool and unexpected. Though I can’t help but “wonder” if this was in some way influenced by the Helena Taylor voice actor PR problem of Bayonetta 3 (not that Charles’s would request a boycott), but more so of a beloved voice changing actors.
In order to not have a smidge of a similar connotation/backlash for changing Mario’s voice they are making a big show of his (well deserved) praise and gratefulness so the fans transition well into the change. Very tactfully done.
Ever watch a video where it feels like theyre holding a guys daughter with a gun behind the camera and everyone’s like “good for him!”? Not saying this video is that video, but maybe they share the same vibes.
On day they will AI Charles voice and have perfect pitch Mario voice back.
This is so nice! 🙂
Imagine being demoted and then having to make a public video acting to be excited about it, yikes
Mixed feelings here.
It is cool that they have so much trust in him that he is literally “ambassador” thus representing a piece of Nintendo wherever he goes, they clearly trust he won’t tarnish there name.
But it is also sad that we lose the voice actor and worst not even for a new personality like him and replace him with… nothing? Posibly AI Voice at some point? It just lacks the personality at that point.
Regardless, as others said at least his legacy, the way he played Mario and other iconic characters, will live on.