The many faces of Mario

It’s a frequently cited fact that Mario is more recognized worldwide than Mickey Mouse (whoever that is), meaning everyone everywhere should know what he looks like, even if his official look has matured over the years.

 But in his near three decades of existing, not every official or officially licensed representation of the mild-mannered jumping guy has stuck with the program. History is rife with Mario drawings that are off, laughably bad or just plain wrong. Take our trip down memory lane to see the Mario you’re supposed to forget.
 

Above: The real Mario, over 20 years of changes
 

When Mario first appeared, he was just Jumpman, who - believe it or not - jumped over things. Aside from the idea that he had a mustache, a red hat, red pants and a big nose, all bets were off. Here was Nintendo’s first go at it, versus the updated version they want to make the truth now.

Here's two more akwardly different Marios from the same arcade cabinet:

But just because he looked that way there didn’t mean that's how he would stay; there were home versions to be made by others. Like the shifty looking Mario on arcade fliers for DK, seemingly caught here declaring that DK is gonna get it. Maybe he should open his eyes - it would help him dodge barrels.

Above:  “I’ll save you with my eyes closed, Pauline!” 

When it came time to make console versions of Donkey Kong, his portrayals range from oddly realistic:

to the acid hallucination:

With the wild, ape-like success of Donkey Kong, merchandising was sure to follow, marking Mario’s first appearances outside of games. It was also the first time that the dopes in charge of making the products took big design liberties, the start of a long tradition in Mario commodities. At least then Jumpman’s look wasn’t that defined.

That’s him in the short lived Saturday morning Donkey Kong cartoon. Poor guy is exasperated to even be seen like this.

And look at these stickers; though taking a page from the above flier, they barely kept that model correct, not even drawing the hammer the same way twice.

Our favorite bit from this era has to be the DK cereal. We don’t know how you kids eat today, but a trip to a 1980s grocery store wouldn’t pass without begging our moms to buy us some video game cereal. The concept behind this cereal is pretty strange; most had you eating marshmallow versions of the characters, while DK’s gives you a spoonful of barrels in every bite.

That image of Mario on the left is not from the box, but a cel from the surprisingly well-animated commercial for this part of a balanced breakfast. But the ad portrays Mario in a strange way; he seems far more interested in smashing barrels than saving Pauline, insanely so.

Above: “Barrels, barrels, RARGGG!!”