If you’re wondering why The Super Mario Galaxy Movie feels like it just borrows themes from its namesake instead of adapting it, that’s because series creator Shigeru Miyamoto thinks that wouldn’t have been “fun”.
When the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie was finally announced last year, its jump to Galaxy took everyone by surprise. If Nintendo wasn’t just going to call it The Super Mario Bros. Movie 2, then going for Galaxy instead of something like Land, World, or even Sunshine seemed like a big step forward, especially since Yoshi was already teased in the first movie’s post-credits.
The trailers for the Mario Galaxy Movie quickly made it clear that it wasn’t going to be a straight adaptation of Super Mario Galaxy, and instead just borrow themes and locations from it, along with the general idea of travelling to different worlds. That lack of focus has let some fans down, but two of the movie’s leads have recently tried to explain why that’s the case.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Didn’t Fully Adapt The Game Since It Wouldn’t Be “Fun”
“One Could Have Assumed That We Might’ve Just Gone To Super Mario World”
As pointed out by My Nintendo Everything, Polygon recently had the chance to chat with Super Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri about The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. When asked about the movie’s title and use of Galaxy, Miyamoto noted that the discussions with Illumination after the first movie never “framed it as a sequel”.
Instead, both parties wanted it to be “the next movie”. Illumination then suggested Galaxy as the theme, which Miyamoto liked since it could expand the world and have a lot of potential. That being said, it was decided that recreating or more strictly following the game wasn’t ideal, as Miyamoto noted that “wouldn’t be fun”.
Miyamoto goes on to say that there were elements of the movie that “really align with the game itself”, even if it wasn’t trying to adapt it. Meledandri followed up by noting that the team could have gone for World or Odyssey, but that the “cinematic possibilities” and “more dramatic aspects” of Galaxy were what drew the team to that backdrop.
Of course, while this is a fair explanation and does actually explain a lot about how Galaxy is viewed in relation to the game, it doesn’t quite quell all the annoyance about the movie’s plot, which doesn’t focus much on Rosalina and jumps between a ton of different Mario themes. Maybe going for World and having a bit more focus might have helped the reception a bit.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie
- Release Date
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April 1, 2026
- Runtime
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98 Minutes
- Director
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Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Pierre Leduc, Fabien Polack
- Writers
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Matthew Fogel
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Anya Taylor-Joy
Princess Peach
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