I've been meaning to make one of these for a long time, and
with the excuse to celebrate 35 blissful years of Super Mario Bros., it's
finally time for a Charles Martinet tribute post.
Let's face it, the Mario series simply wouldn't be where it is today without
Charles. A brilliantly gifted voice actor and an amicably well-natured
guy, this sprightly fifty-somethin' took a hatted, mustachioed, pixelated
plumber and further launched him into video game superstardom through the
compelling power of his unique voice. With a characteristic, bubbly, and
mirthful tone, Charles breathed new life into an iconic character and indelibly
cemented his fun verbality into the public consciousness. When anyone
thinks of Mario, they immediately call to mind his distinctly captivating voice
— one of pure joy,
encouragement, and childlike innocence, yet full of humor and with intently
artistic cadence. Martinet was instrumental in shaping the character and
personality of the Mario we have come to know and love, alongside others such
as Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. A true master of his craft, since '95
Martinet has been supplying his vocals to the most renowned and successful
fictional characters of all time.
Of course, all masters have humble
beginnings. Charles began his illustrious Mario voice-acting career by
using voice/face-recognition software at trade shows to entertain
attendees. He later heard from a friend that Nintendo was holding an
audition to voice the crimson plumber in his next game, and Martinet squandered
no effort to try out. He arrived to the audition late just as the staff
were putting the recording equipment away but was still offered a chance to
read off the script. Feeling the typical Italian-American tone might be
too gruff for youthful audiences, he nervously spouted out the first thing that
came to mind —"It's-a
me, Mario! Okey-dokey, let's-a make a pizza pie together! You's-a go get
the sausage, I'm-a gonna get the spaghetti, we put the sausage and spaghetti in-a
the pizza pot and then..."— and didn't stop until the recording tape had well run
out. It was unanimous, Charles had scored the position. We then
came to hear him in Mario's Game Gallery, and not long after, in a
little game called Super Mario 64. As they say, the rest is
history.
Miyamoto may have created the Mario character,
but we have Martinet to thank for discovering and fine-tuning the character's
unique personality. To Martinet, Mario wasn't simply a character on a
screen, but an expressive outlet for game-players to identify with. Of
course, Martinet's path had not been trodden by him alone; with talents from
the likes of Captain Lou and Walker Boone, Mario did already have a voice, but
it was not until Martinet that Mario was imbued with the utter charm, gentle
happiness, and warm embrace that would redefine the series from thereon after.
Martinet is the Mel Blanc of video game voice acting and a truly inspiring American success story. But despite his Italian babblings, he ironically speaks no Italian, yet is fluent in French and Spanish... The purpose of this post is to voice off personal appreciation of Charles Martinet. Feel free to comment below your first reaction when you heard his voice, your favorite voicework by him, or anything else you'd like to say to honor this wonderful man and his video game contributions. Under the context of this article, all comments are to be positive and self-contained to the Mario franchise (even though Martinet has adeptly voiced for other series). What do you have to share about Charles Martinet? Now's the time to voice your tribute: LET'S-A GO!!!
