Charles Martinet will no longer be voicing Mario, Nintendo has announced.
In an official tweet, the company stated that Martinet – who has voiced the mascot for over 25 years – will be stepping down from voice acting duties and will instead be taking on a new role of ‘Mario Ambassador’.
“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario inNintendogames for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64,” the statement reads.
“Charles is now moving into the brand-new role of Mario Ambassador. With this transition, he will be stepping back from recording character voices for our games, but he’ll continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!
Update21st Aug 2023 / 6:50 pm
Nintendo has confirmed that Martinet will not voice any characters in the upcomingSuper Mario Bros. Wonder.
“Character voice actors will be credited in the game credits, so please wait for the game to be released,” a spokespersonsaid.
“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we want to thank and celebrate him. Please keep an eye out for a special video message fromShigeru Miyamotoand Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
Speculation about Martinet’s role as Mariogrew in June, following the announcement of several new Mario-themed games, includingSuper Mario Bros WonderandWarioWare: Move It.
Both these trailers featured soundbites from characters traditionally voiced by Martinet, but some believed they didn’t quite sound like him, to the point where ‘Charles Martinet’ was one of the trending topics on Twitter following the announcements.
My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!#woohoo!!!!!!!https://t.co/3YWYewlnXt
The debate around Mario’s voice in the games was exacerbated by the fact that Martinet, who used to post fairly regularly on Twitter, didn’t post anything between March and July.
Martinet broke his silence by quote-tweeting Nintendo’s announcement, saying: “My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart!”
The decision may have been accelerated by the release of The Super Mario Bros Movie, and the controversy aroundthe decision to cast Chris Pratt as Marioand reduce Martinet to cameo roles.
