Danica Davidson
August 21, 2023 
For many people Charles Martinet is the voice of Mario. He began voicing the character in 1991, and while he’s played other people in the franchise (including Luigi, Waluigi and Wario) he’s mainly known for voicing the main character.
That’s about to change, though. The official Twitter page for Nintendo of America put out the following statement:
“Charles Martinet has been the original voice of Mario in 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 voice for our games, but he will continue to travel the world sharing the joy of Mario and interacting with you all!
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 from [Mario creator] Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles himself, which we will post at a future date.”
Martinet shared the message on his own page, adding:
“My new Adventure begins! You are all Numba One in my heart! #woohoo !!!!!!!”
While Martinet didn’t voice Mario in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, he did supply the voice of Mario and Luigi’s dad. Illumination gave this description of the movie:
“From Nintendo and Illumination comes a new animated film based on the world of Super Mario Bros. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic (collaborators on Teen Titans Go!, Teen Titans Go! To the Movies) from a screenplay by Matthew Fogel (The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, Minions: The Rise of Gru), the film stars Chris Pratt as Mario, Anya Taylor-Joy as Princess Peach, Charlie Day as Luigi, Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.”
Source: Crunchyroll
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Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
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