Mario (TV series)

Mario (Japanese: マリオ, sometimes referred to as Super Mario: The Series or Mario: The Series, also titled Super Mario in other countries) is an American computer-animated action television series developed by Shigeru Miyamoto and directed by Satoru Iwata. It is produced by Nintendo with animation services by Bardel Entertainment, Inc. and was aired by Cartoon Network.

The series first came to mind after The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 came to an end in the 1990s. Shigeru Miyamoto became interested thanks to Bardel Entertainment's works in CGI animation and agreed to collaborate with Cartoon Network.

The series premiered on March 20, 2001 and sparked critical acclaim from critics and audiences, including fans of the original video games. Hailed as the greatest video game television series of all time, it is ranked no. 7 on Rotten Tomatoes' Best TV Shows of the Past 20 Years. The show aired from March 20, 2001 until March 10, 2011.

Overview
Mario is set in the fictional Mushroom Kingdom in the United States. In Princess Peach's Castle, a plumber, Super Mario (voiced by Charles Martinet) has been informed that Princess Peach (Jen Taylor) was kidnapped by King Bowser (Kenneth W. James).

Mario, with his brother Luigi (also voiced by Charles Martinet), always manage to rescue her, though Bowser always makes it harder and harder each time he kidnaps Peach. Along the way, Mario and Luigi encounter a green dinosaur named Yoshi (Kazumi Totaka), who was trapped in question blocks thanks to Bowser's evil doings.

In each question block, there are different power-ups for Mario and Luigi, though most of the time, the question block just has a coin. Mario and Luigi, with the power-ups obtained from the blocks, can turn into Fire, Cape, Frog, or Raccoon.