The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode
"The Ugly Mermaid"
Production number	217-114
Episode	18
Airdate	November 3, 1990[1]
Writer(s)	Perry Martin Sean Roche
Opening curtain	Water Land
Featured song	"Never Kiss a Mermaid"
Episode chronology ← Previous "Mush-Rumors" Next → "Crimes R Us" List of episodes

“I'd rather face a thousand Koopas than onemermaid mackerel with marriage on her mind!”

—Mario

"The Ugly Mermaid" is the eighteenth episode ofThe Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3. It aired alongside another episode entitled "Mush-Rumors." This is the only episode whereMario and his friends are in the same powered-up form throughout the entire episode. The episode's name is a reference toThe Little Mermaid, a Danish fairy tale.

Plot synopsis[edit]

The episode begins asKing Koopa swiftly pilots hisDoom Sub through the ocean, planning to conquer the underwater world ofMertropolis, which he plans to turn intoKooptropolis. Already aware of his plans,Mario,Luigi,Princess Toadstool, andToad pursue the sub, aided byFrog Suits.

Hip andHop Koopa notice them and inform Koopa, who orders hisRocky Wrenches to attack. The Mario Bros. manage to catch some of the wrenches that are thrown at them, and throw them back, damaging the Doom Sub's propellers. The submarine spins out of control, firing strange beams in all directions. As Mario tries to protect the Princess from the blasts, he is hit by one of them himself. His body is encased in a block of cement, which causes him to begin sinking.

When all seems lost, a mermaid namedHolly Mackerel comes out of aWarp Pipe and swims over to save Mario. She introduces herself as the mermaid princess of Mertropolis and brings Mario to the submerged city, which is covered by a dome. Luigi and the others follow, and try their best to revive the now-unconscious Mario. When he regains consciousness, Holly tells him that her fortune teller claimed a frog prince would "come hopping into my life". Believing Mario to be that prince, she falls in love with him and tries to get him to marry her. After some brief dodging and running away, Mario directly confronts her and tells her that they just are not compatible. Leaving her in tears, he and the rest of the team head back to the pipe leading to the ocean.

Frog Mario in the water, unable to swim

However, before entering the pipe, Mario cannot bring himself to go back. His near-death experience has made him dreadfully afraid of the water, and he refuses to leave. The others try to convince him to go, but he makes it clear that he will not go into the water ever again. Suddenly, the Doom Sub appears over the city, and Koopa shouts his demands through a loudspeaker, declaring that if the city is not surrendered in twenty minutes, he will destroy it.King Mackerel shows up, and worries about Mertropolis being destroyed.

Mario and friends looking towards the Doom Sub

Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad jump into the exit pipe, but Mario is still too afraid. Toadstool tries to convince him that everything will be okay, but it does not do any good. Suddenly, twoBoomerang Brothers enter through the pipe and start attacking the city. Mario defeats them, but just as soon as they are gone, more arrive. After Mario's group battles the small troop of Boomerang Brothers, Koopa announces that he has more to come. As before, Mario is too scared to leave the city. Princess Toadstool tells him to stay behind, while she, Luigi, and Toad stop the Doom Sub.

Holly grabbing Mario, proclaiming preparations for her wedding

Holly sees that Mario is still there, and misinterprets his staying as a sign of love for her. King Mackerel still sees Mario hanging around, and warns Mario about King Koopa's threat. Holly, who was mistaking a Warp Pipe for Mario's "solid build", notices and introduces Mario to her father, and plans to prepare a wedding ceremony, much to Mario's dismay.

Onboard the Doom Sub, Hip and Hop spot Luigi, Princess Toadstool, and Toad returning, and Koopa responds by firingNasty Nets at his three foes, capturing all of them. Back in Metropolis, Holly tells Mario about how she is inviting all of the citizens to their wedding. However, Holly's plans are cut short when Koopa announces that he is going to throw them a wedding shower.

Mario fixing the hole

Koopa then drops aBob-omb onto the city's protective dome, blasting a hole in it, which causes water to pour in and start flooding the city. Mario regains his courage, realizing he is the only one who can rescue his friends and the city—that, and he wants to get away from Holly. He swims up the advancing flood of water, and fixes the hole in the ceiling on his way out with a manhole cover.

The Doom Sub fires aChain Chomp at Mario, but Mario grabs ahold of the chain and uses the Chomp to cut open the Nasty Nets that are holding his friends. Mario and Luigi then take one of the nets to capture a school ofJelectros, and hurl the net at the Doom Sub. The Jelectros electrocute the Doom Sub, forcing theKoopa Troopas to retreat.

Later on, back in Mertropolis, King Mackerel presents Mario with a medal for his heroic deeds. Holly, still infatuated with Mario, arrives and puts a wedding-day helmet on him. The helmet, however, distorts his facial appearance, and she shrieks in shock, saying that she cannot marry him because he is "the ugliest-looking frog [she's] ever seen". With that resolved, the heroes cheerfully leave before Holly has a chance to get over her fear.

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Title card

• 

  Arabic title card

• 

  Korean title card

Cast[edit]

• Walker Boone —Mario
• Tony Rosato —Luigi
• Tracey Moore —Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker —Toad citizen
• Dan Hennessey — singer #1
• Gordon Masten — singer #2
• Stuart Stone —Hip Koopa
• Tara Charendoff —Hop Koopa
• Diane Fabian —Holly Mackerel
• Rod Coneybeare —King Mackerel

Animation and continuity errors[edit]

• Throughout the episode, the nostrils onPrincess Toadstool'sFrog Suit disappear several times.
• WhenKing Koopa says thatMertropolis will be his, the rings around the spikes on his shell are briefly colored orange instead of green.
  • In the same scene, he speaks without moving his mouth.
• WhenMario and his friends dodge the wrenches,Toad's eyebrows turn the same color as his Frog Suit.
• In several scenes, gloves appear on Princess Toadstool. This also happens to Toad when King Koopa fires theNasty Nets.
• When Mario almost drowns, his sideburns can be seen, but elsewhere in the episode, they are hidden by his Frog Suit. In addition, in one scene, they are black instead of brown.
• Mertropolis's citizens are unable to breathe air, but they live in an air-filled city.
• When Mario's friends place him on a table, Princess Toadstool's Frog Suit covers her hands.
• WhenHolly Mackerel says that Mario is safe, her bracelets turn completely white.
• When King Koopa announces that Mertropolis has 20 minutes to surrender, a red screen appears for a brief moment.
• In some scenes,King Mackerel's head is skin-color instead of purple, while his gloves turn completely green.
• When Mario says that he is afraid of water, his eyes are green likeLuigi's instead of blue.
  • Inversely, when Luigi says that King Koopa will get even with him and his friends, his eyes are blue like Mario's instead of green.
• When Luigi says that Holly wants to marry Mario, his mouth does not move. This also happens with Mario when he says he will be a coward forever.
• In several scenes, Toad's arms are not covered by his Frog Suit.
• When Princess Toadstool tells Mario to come, the eyelashes on her Frog Suit disappear.
• When Mario watches his friends leave, aSpiny Cheep Cheep disappears into thin air.
  • In the same scene, Toad can be seen with Mario's friends despite him not leaving through the pipe.
• When King Koopa tells theKoopalings to fire the nets,Hop's hair turns completely pink while his eyelids are colored black like his glasses instead of green.
• When King Koopa walks over to the cockpit, he appears out of thin air.
• When the Mario Bros. throw the net ofJelectros towards theDoom Sub, the eyes on their Frog Suits are colored white instead of yellow.
• When King Mackerel awards Mario with a medal, it passes through him.
• When Holly tells Mario to put on his helmet, Mario's medal disappears.
• When Holly places the helmet on Mario, the indents on her headfin are colored red like her body instead of blue.
• In the Italian dub, vocals can faintly be heard in "Never Kiss a Mermaid"'s instrumental while it also does not remove the croaks.

• 

  Holly's miscolored bracelets

• 

  Hop's miscolored hair

• 

  King Mackerel's miscolored head and hands

Dub edits[edit]

• In the Mandarin Chinese dub,King Koopa discusses taking over the entire ocean floor instead of justMertropolis.
• In the original version, afterMario is encased in a block of cement after being hit from one of theDoom Sub's lasers,Luigi mentions that a block of cement does not matter to Mario as he swims better than most fish. In the French dub, he instead says that it does not matter as he is an excellent swimmer.

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

• The opening music is different from normal, as this episode uses the water level theme instead of the standardWater Land theme.
• Holly Mackerel refers toFrog Mario as her "frog prince," a reference to the German fairy tale "The Frog Prince."
• Holly Mackerel's scream when she sees the helmet distort Mario's face is reused forPrincess Toadstool in the episodes "Super Koopa" fromThe Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, and "King Scoopa Koopa" from theSuper Mario World animated series.
• Despite being credited as a writer for the episode,Perry Martin states that he had no involvement.^[16]

References[edit]

• The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episodes