Forget the voice, what's going on with Mario's body?

A screenshot from The Super Mario Bros. Movie trailer
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

Unless you've been living under a mushroom, you've probably heard the news that there's a new Super Mario film coming out – and the trailer dropped last night. As expected, much of the online discourse surrounds Chris Pratt's decidedly un-Italian voice. But fans have other concerns too. 

On the whole, the animation for The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks pretty great – the colours are vibrant, the faces expressive and everything looks like a heightened yet faithful version of the game universe. Except for, apparently, Mario's arse. (Looking for inspiration? Check out our ultimate guide to character design.)

When the first poster for The Super Mario Bros. Movie dropped this week, fans noticed that the famously portly plumber was looking a little, er, less cheeky than normal. As Polygon puts it, "Mario’s got absolutely nothing going on in those overalls of his."

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Some fans have even taken things into their own hands, putting their Photoshop prowess to noble use by reimagining a more anatomically acceptable depiction of Mario's derrière. Could a Sonic-style redesign be on the cards here?

A fan-made edit of an official image of Super Mario with the buttocks enlarged

(Image credit: @arvalis on Twitter)

While you might think there are bigger issues in the world, Twitter is decidedly unhappy about butt-gate. Mario's lack of buns has been described as a "war crime," "mortally offensive," and "the worst thing that's ever happened, ever". Let's just hope people can put the whole thing behind them soon.

Still, history has taught us that any tweak to a beloved character design is guaranteed to get people riled up. From Minnie Mouse to the Green M&M, plenty of new looks have drawn the internet's ire over the last few months. If you want to experience Mario in his less, er, flat form, take a look at today's best Nintendo Switch deals below.

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Daniel Piper
Senior News Editor

Daniel Piper is Creative Bloq’s Senior News Editor. As the brand’s Apple authority, he covers all things Mac, iPhone, iPad and the rest. He also reports on the worlds of design, branding and tech. Daniel joined Future in 2020 (an eventful year, to say the least) after working in copywriting and digital marketing with brands including ITV, NBC, Channel 4 and more. Outside of Future, Daniel is a global poetry slam champion and has performed at festivals including Latitude, Bestival and more. He is the author of Arbitrary and Unnecessary: The Selected Works of Daniel Piper (Selected by Daniel Piper).