The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode
"Star Koopa"
Production number	150
Episode	51
Airdate	November 29, 1989[1] December 18, 1990[?]
Writer(s)	Phil Harnage
Plumber's Log #	2001
King Koopa's alter ego(s)	Darth Koopa
Title reference	Star Wars
Live-action segment	"Santa Claus is Coming to Flatbush"
Episode chronology ← Previous "Crocodile Mario" Next → "Robo Koopa" List of episodes

“Say uncle, or I'll unplug your innards,Darth Barth!”

—Mario

"Star Koopa" is the fifty-first episode ofThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show! Its corresponding live-action segment is "Santa Claus is Coming to Flatbush".

This episode is a parody ofStar Wars, with several characters, such asDarth Vader,Grand Moff Tarkin,Obi-Wan Kenobi, andLuke Skywalker being parodied. In addition, theKoop Star's destruction emulates the destruction of both Death Stars (traveling down a trench to destroy the first Death Star inA New Hope and entering the second Death Star's infrastructure inReturn of the Jedi). TheFlying Pizza is a parody of theMillennium Falcon.

This episode has the samePlumber's Log as "Robo Koopa", 2001, which is a reference to the science-fiction movie2001: A Space Odyssey. It is also the last episode whereMouser appears.

Plot synopsis[edit]

Mario and his friends are traveling through space in theFlying Pizza and are on their way to help a group ofMushroom space colonists. The colonists are in trouble asDarth Koopa is threatening to blow uptheir planet. Mario's group is unaware they are being pursued by Darth Koopa'sKoop Star.

While Mario flies through space,Luigi gulps and tells him to check his rearview video screen. Upon doing so, he notices that the Koop Star is following them, so he turns on the ship's "Fasten Seatbelts" light and speeds up.

TheKoop Star pursuing theFlying Pizza.

Not wanting Princess Toadstool to escape, Darth Koopa ordersMouser, who is piloting the Koop Star, to chase them. After telling him to close in on Mario and his friends and activate the tractor beam, Darth Koopa prepares hisStormtroopas for boarding their spacecraft; telling them to do whatever they want to the Marios and Toad, but to takePrincess Toadstool prisoner.

Mouser locks onto Mario and his friends with the tractor beam and pulls them into the docking bay. Darth Koopa then orders his Stormtroopas to board the spacecraft. Mario's group prepares for the assault by drawing theirLightplungers.

Soon, the Stormtroopas discover Mario and his friends and engage in several duels with them. Mario knocks a Stormtroopa aside, while two others attack Toad, only for their Lightplungers to hit each other. Another Stormtroopa grabs Princess Toadstool's Lightplunger, and is shocked. Princess Toadstool then shocks yet another Stormtroopa that is holding Luigi upside-down, knocking him out. Mario and Toad then toss the final defeated Stormtroopa into a pile with the rest of his team.

Before Mario's group can celebrate their victory, Darth Koopa boards the spacecraft, demanding for them to leave his galaxy, which Mario and his friends refuse. Mario challenges him to a duel, and he and Darth Koopa fight with their Lightplungers. Eventually, Darth Koopa has Mario up against a wall, however, he fights back and manages to kick him into another wall. Just when he thinks that Darth Koopa is about to surrender, the space tyrant pulls out afreeze ray and shoots him with it, encasing him in a shell of ice. Princess Toadstool demands for Darth Koopa to release Mario, only for him to freeze her as well, along with her friends.

Mario's group is brought aboard the Koop Star, where Darth Koopa orders Mouser to thaw them out with aheat ray. When Mario regains consciousness and reacts to Darth Koopa, Mouser threatens him with his freeze ray, forcing him to stay in his spot. Princess Toadstool asks what Darth Koopa wants with them, which he explains that he needs to destroy the Mushroom Colonists' planet because they will not surrender it to him. He tells her to order the colonists to give up, because otherwise, their planet will be destroyed by hisBirdo Ray. She says that the colonists will never give up, so he orders Mouser to activate the Birdo Ray have the heroes escorted to theIntergalactic InSinkErator.

After bringing Mario's group to a platform above the garbage disposal, Mouser explains that it will slice and compact them and eject their remains into space. He then pushes a button, dropping Mario and his friends down into the garbage disposal. While falling, Mario pulls out his plunger and uses it to hang onto the wall while his friends grab onto him. The thought of garbage disposals reminds him of all the ones that he and Luigi used to fix back inBrooklyn, and Luigi, pulling out the utensils that he was saving for lunch, remarks that they always had silverware stuck inside of them. Mario tells Luigi to drop the utensils, which he does, causing them to jam the garbage disposal's saws, bringing them to a halt, just as Mario's plunger loses its grip on the wall. With the saws turned off, his group safely falls past them.

Mario and his friends inside theGarbage Pod.

Meanwhile, Darth Koopa brags about how he is going to conquer the Mushroom Colonists' planet, and that eventually, the universe will be known as the "Koopaverse". Mouser returns to him to tell him that Mario's group has been disposed of and directs him to theGarbage Pod that he believes is carrying what is left of them down toward the Mushroom Planet. Mario's group, still in one piece, are inside it, which crashes onto the planet, sending them flying out of it. Luigi lands on aPokey, upsetting it.

His friends have landed upon what appears to be a red rock and are unsure of what it is, except for the fact that it is hard. Toad kicks it, revealing itself to be part of a largeCobrat. They flee from it and run into Luigi, who is running from the Pokey. The Cobrat spits a bullet, which ends up hitting the Pokey, blowing it up. Mario comes up with a plan and tells the others to follow him while he runs in circles around the Cobrat. Watching them run in circles causes it to coil up, only for it to uncoil, making itself dizzy. Mario and his friends leap onto the Cobrat's back, and Mario uses his plunger as reins for the Cobrat so that they can ride it to theMushroom Colony. Back onboard the Koop Star, Mouser informs Darth Koopa that the Birdo Ray is set to fire in sixteen minutes.

Having arrived at the colony, Princess Toadstool explains to her friends andObi-Wan Toadi that they need to do something to save the planet. Mario requests to have lunch, but Obi-Wan Toadi explains that they do not have time. When Princess Toadstool points out that they cannot give up, Obi-Wan Toadi explains that someone needs to penetrate the Koop Star in aMushroom Starfighter so they can disable the Birdo Ray. With the promise that he will receive lunch afterwards, Mario agrees to take on the task and boards a Starfighter. Before he leaves, Obi-Wan Toadi presents him with a pizza to bolster his spirts, and bids him good luck. Mario then takes off, and after Obi-Wan Toadi gives the signal, his friends take off after him in their own Starfighters.

Mario'sMushroom Starfighter traveling down one of the Koop Star's trenches.

After flying into space, the spacecrafts are confronted byStormtroopa Starfighters, of which they dodge the attacks of. Toad succeeds in blasting one of them, while Princess Toadstool dodges one attacking from behind, only for it to hit a second Starfighter. With a path cleared, Mario flies over to the Koop Star and travels through a groove along the surface of the spacecraft. A Stormtroopa Starfighter attacks him from behind, but he swerves away from a wall, which the Stormtroopa crashes into. Another Starfighter attempts to shoot Mario down, but Toad blows it up.

With only ten seconds left on the Birdo Ray's timer, Mario flies into a hole on the surface of the groove and enters the Koop Star. After flying past some pipes, Mario opens the dome of his Mushroom Starfighter and tosses aBob-omb at the heart of the spacecraft, causing it to blow up. As a chain reaction, the Koop Star as a whole begins to self-destruct. Darth Koopa and Mouser board an emergencyspace raft, and are blasted into space once the Koop Star blows up completely.

Mario's group returns to the Mushroom Colony, where the colonists cheer on their victory. Once Mario exits his Starfighter, Obi-Wan Toadi congratulates him. Mario explains that he could not have done it without the pizza he received or the help of his friends and suggests that the pasta was with them. The talk of pasta reminds him of lunch, and he asks Obi-Wan Toadi where the lunch he was promised is. Upon hearing this, he, his friends and Obi-Wan Toadi laugh.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Title card

Characters[edit]

"Darth Koopa"

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Toad
• Darth Koopa
• Mouser
• Obi-Wan Toadi
• Mushroom space colonists
• Stormtroopas
• Pokey
• Cobrat
• Bob-Omb

Cast[edit]

• Lou Albano —Mario
• Danny Wells —Luigi
• Jeannie Elias —Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker —Toad,Mouser,Koopa Troopa,Obi-Wan Toadi
• Harvey Atkin —King Bowser Koopa

Animation and continuity errors[edit]

• AfterDarth Koopa tellsMouser to speed up theKoop Star, his costume is missing.
• When Darth Koopa tellsMario and his friends to leave the galaxy, the rim of his goggles is the same color as the goggles themselves.
• WhenPrincess Toadstool explains that theMushroom Colonists have a right to be on their planet, a line on her dress appears over her right arm.
• WhenDarth Koopa first points hisFreeze Gun to Mario, his chestplate is missing.
• When Darth Koopa freezes Mario, his Freeze Gun is red, but when he freezes his friends, it is gray.
• Throughout its appearance, theCobrat's eyes change from white to green several times.
• Mouser tells Darth Koopa that there is still sixteen minutes left until theBirdo Ray fires, though the machine's counter briefly says that four minutes and twenty-five seconds are left.
• While Mario and his friends are frozen, their positions change several times, such as their facial expressions and how they are frozen.
• When Mario's friends cheer for Mario when dueling Darth Koopa, Mario and Darth Koopa appear much larger than them and the surrounding background.
• When Mario asks if his friends have their seatbelts on, Princess Toadstool's brooch has its colors reversed.
• Throughout its appearance, theFlying Pizza changes color several times.
• When Mario and Darth Koopa's duel begins, Mario'sLightplunger is tan and red instead of gray.
• WhenObi-Wan Toadi presents the pizza to Mario, the right strap of Mario's seat is connected to thin air. This also happens when he says the pizza will bolster his appetite.
• When Mario flies down into the trench, the cockpit of hisMushroom Starfighter flashes.
• When Darth Koopa demonstrates theplanet's destruction, the group's location is shown on one of its moons instead of the Koop Star.
• WhenToad dodges someStormtroopas, the Flying Pizza appears to be flying out in space instead of in the Koop Star.
• When Princess Toadstool zaps the Stormtroopa holdingLuigi, the light around it is misplaced.
• When Darth Koopa and Mouser get into the escape raft, the explosion that occurs afterwards is cut off at the top and bottom, only filling up the middle third of the screen.

• 

  Mario's miscolored Lightplunger

• 

  Darth Koopa's missing chestplate

• 

  Princess Toadstool's miscolored brooch

Quotes[edit]

“Today, theMushroom Planet. Tomorrow, theMilky Way. Next week, theUniverse will be the Koopaverse!”

—Darth Koopa

“He's showing a plumber how a garbage disposal works?”

—Mario

“Yikes,he's frozen solid!”

—Princess Toadstool

Profiles[edit]

• Mario's Movie Madness DVD:In a galaxy far, far away, the evilDarth Koopa has built a crazy contraption to destroyMario Skywalker.
• Netflix:In a space-based plot a la Star Wars, Mario andLuigi go up against Darth Koopa and end up imprisoned in theIntergalatic Insinkerator.^[2]

Dub edits[edit]

• In the original version, after being unfrozen byMouser,Mario comments about having a dream where he was a TV dinner. In the German dub, he instead says that he was in theNorth Pole.
• In the Italian dub, afterDarth Koopa orders hisStormtroopas to board theFlying Pizza, they can be heard singing "La Marcia dei Bersaglieri", which is absent in the original version.

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

• In the original version, before bucking theCobrat the first time,Mario says, "Hi Ho, Cobrat, Away!", a reference to the Lone Ranger's catchphrase from theeponymous television series. This reference is also present in the Swedish dub. The catchphrase had previously been mentioned in "The Provolone Ranger".
• In the French dub, the title is written in theTimes New Roman font, unlike all other title cards in the dub. This trait is absent in theTQS version of the episode.^[9]

References[edit]

• The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episodes

• Articles with unsourced dates