Summary

Charles Martinet, the longtime voice of Mario, will no longer be voicing the character in Nintendo games. Martinet’s role as Mario will be taken over, but he will continue to interact with fans and promote the franchise. Martinet has been the voice of Mario since 1991 and is closely associated with the character.

The iconic actor behind Mario, Charles Martinet, will step away from voicing the beloved character, Nintendo has confirmed. Taking to social media to share the news, Nintendo revealed that Martinet will instead take the position of ‘Mario Ambassador,’ which will see him travel the world and share the joy of the character, the video games, and everything else in the franchise. You can read the statement from Nintendo below.

“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in the Nintendo games for a long time, as far back as Super Mario 64. 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!”

After sharing the news, Nintendo continued, revealing that Charles Martinet himself will soon release a video alongside the announcement, which will also feature Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

“It has been an honor working with Charles to help bring Mario to life for so many years and we wat to thank and celebrate him. Please keep an eye out for a special video message from Shigeru Miyamoto and Charlies himself, which we will at a future date.”

Since the announcement earlier today, Martinet has quoted Nintendo’s post, adding, “My new adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!”

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Charles Martinet Has Voiced Mario Since 1991
Nintendo Switch

Charles Martinet has provided the voice of Mario since as far back as 1991 and is now so associated with the likes of “Wahoo” and “It’s-a-me, Mario!” after being told by his friend that there were auditions taking place at a trade show in which the hopefuls would be asked to “talk to people as a plumber.” Arriving at the last minute, Martinet was told “You’re an Italian plumber from Brooklyn” and instead of going with a harsh, deep voice, he instead took things in a much friendlier direction.

Winning the role, Martinet first voiced the character at video game trade shows in which attendees could interact with a TV screen depicting a 3-D Mario head. Martinet would first voice Mario in a video game for the 1994 CD version of Mario Teaches Typing, before becoming a true Nintendo staple thanks to the landmark 1996 game Super Mario 64.

Over the years, Martinet has also provided voices for the likes of Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Metal Mario, Shadow Mario, Baby Mario, and many more, and it will no doubt be strange for fans to hear someone else’s voice emanate from behind that mustache.

Indeed, fans of Mario were disappointed when Martinet was not chosen to voice the character in this year’s big screen animated outing, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, with the studio instead casting Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt. To the chagrin of many. Martinet however did cameo in the movie as Mario and Luigi’s father.

Best of luck to the new Mario Ambassador! Let’s a-go!