Super Mario World episode
"The Wheel Thing"
Production number	225-101A
Episode	2
Airdate	September 21, 1991[1] November 9, 2024[2]
Writer(s)	Eleanor Burian-Mohr Jack Hanrahan
Featured song	"Motor City"
Captain N episode	"Pursuit of the Magic Hoop"
Episode chronology ← Previous "Fire Sale" Next → "Send in the Clown" List of episodes

“Behold ourCavemobile assembly line,Princess! We're on a roll! Thecave people are gonna have wheels before you can sayHenry Ford!”

—Mario

"The Wheel Thing" is the second episode of theSuper Mario World television series. The title for this episode may be a pun on the phrase "the real thing." It is notable for being the first appearance ofKing Koopa inSuper Mario World, and is also the only episode in this series whereKooky has dialogue.

Plot synopsis[edit]

While relaxing in front of theDome Castle,Mario andLuigi watch as thepeople ofDome City painstakingly move various rocks and boulders. Feeling sorry for the cave people, Luigi and Mario try to think of a way to help them; after some brainstorming, Mario comes up with an idea.

Inside the Dome Castle, Mario and Luigi are hard at work producing various wooden wheels asKooky von Koopa spies on them. After getting an idea, Kooky runs off while Mario and Luigi begin to transport the wheels they constructed outside. Outside, Mario runs into two cave people,Ooga and Ugga, who are carrying a wheelless wagon filled with large rocks. He then proceeds to hand some wheels over to the two, hoping that they would put the wheels on their wagon. As Ooga and Ugga put the wheels in their wagon and walk away, Mario angrily tells them to use their heads, so the two cave people, not understanding what to do with the wheels, wear them as hats and use them to swat a fly, much to Mario's dismay.

While Mario tries to explain the concept of wheels to Ugga and Ooga, Luigi approaches the nearby, nappingYoshi, who proceeds to eat the wheel Luigi is carrying. After burning some holes into some wheels with aFire Flower, Mario, using a wooden rod and stone slab, manages to make a stone skateboard.

Hopping on this skateboard, Luigi zooms around several amazed cave people. An overly-excited Yoshi ends up hopping on Luigi's back, wanting a ride. This added weight causes Luigi to crash, Yoshi to fall to the ground, and the skateboard to be flung into the air; as the skateboard begins to fall to the ground, Yoshi happily gobbles it up, proclaiming, "Ohhh, is good!"

A while later, Mario begins to showPrincess Toadstool his recently constructed car factory, dubbing the cars as "Cavemobiles." Utilizing things such asFishbones andPiranha Plants, Mario, with the help of Yoshi and the cave people, has managed to construct severalGoomba-powered cars. Though the Princess expresses concern over him and Luigi moving the Cave People forward too quickly, Mario still says that the Cavemobiles are a good idea, saying that the Cave People cannot stay primitive forever.

Luigi flinching after a car accident.

After having created several dozen cars, Mario decides to take a nap, only to be awoken several minutes later by a runover Luigi. Luigi explains to Mario that the Cave People have no idea how to drive and that the accidents are piling up, quite literally, and suggests that they should have introduced driver's education to the Cave People first. However, Mario simply brushes off Luigi's claims, saying that the cave people will "catch on."

In the bowels ofNeon Castle, Kooky von Koopa, inspired the wheels the Mario Bros. constructed inside the Dome Castle, begins construction of what he calls his "most monstrous invention ever." Kooky proceeds to begin welding with a purple fire-breathing wingedRex while laughing maniacally.

After some disastrous traffic management, a battered Luigi approaches Mario saying that the city is in a state of disarray. After a particularly severe accident, the angry people of Dome City, blaming Mario and Luigi for all the trouble that has been happening, banish the two to theLava Pits.

Kooky revealing the Mega Mechanasaur to Koopa.

Outside the walls of Dome City, Kooky reveals his newest invention toKing Koopa: theMega Mechanasaur, a fire-breathing weapon of mass destruction. Boarding the Mega Mechanasaur, Kooky proceeds to rampage through Dome City, which is now defenseless without Mario and Luigi. A panicking Ugga proceeds to ask Princess Toadstool's help in getting Mario and Luigi back.

Meanwhile in the Lava Pits, Mario and Luigi are trying, quite unsuccessfully, to cook a pizza over a fire. As Luigi cooks the pizza, Mario gets aMorse code message from Princess Toadstool asking the Mario Bros. to come back and defeat Kooky and Koopa. As Mario and Luigi try to think of a way to get back to Dome City, aBlargg, attracted by the smell of the pizza, attacks the two. As Luigi runs from the Blargg, Mario, using atrampoline, manages to get aCape Feather and transforms intoCape Mario. In his new form, Mario grabs Luigi and flies up a nearbyWarp Tube back intoDome City.

Through the use of some "log speed bumps,"fireball-shooting traffic lights, and a pothole-digging Yoshi, the Mega Mechanasaur is destroyed and Kooky, Koopa, and their minions are forced to flee.

A celebration is thrown by the Cave People in Mario and Luigi's honor. As the two Mario Bros. are happily welcomed back to Dome City, the two decide to stave off trying to introduce the wheel to the Cave People for "a few thousand years."

Gallery[edit]

• 

  Title card

• 

  Ooga and Ugga struggling to carry a wagon full of large rocks.

• 

  Kooky spying on Mario and Luigi.

• 

  Mario and Luigi making wheels.

• 

  Ooga and Ugga receiving wheels Mario and Luigi made.

• 

  Ooga and Ugga using the wheels for more objects to carry.

• 

  Ooga and Ugga wearing the wheels as hats.

• 

  Ugga using the wheels as a flyswatter.

• 

  Luigi and Yoshi tugging on the stick.

• 

  Luigi demonstrating the wheels by riding a makeshift skateboard.

• 

  Luigi and Yoshi constructing wheels and axles for theCavemobiles.

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  A Goomba powering a Cavemobile.

• 

  Kooky constructing the Mega Mechanasaur.

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  The Cave People blaming Mario and Luigi for the accident.

• 

  Mario and Luigi being banished into the Lava Pits.

• 

  The Mega Mechanasaur.

• 

  The Mega Mechanasaur wreaking havoc in Dome City.

• 

  Ugga asking Princess Toadstool to bring the Mario Bros. back.

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  A Blaarg scaring Mario and Luigi.

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  Yoshi wearing the digging helmet.

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  The Cave People construct a truck.

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  The Cave People's logs acting like speed bumps.

• 

  Fireball traffic lights

• 

  Yoshi's potholes destroying the Mega Mechanasaur.

• 

  The Cave People cheering on Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi.

Quotes[edit]

• "Behold our cave mobile assembly line,Princess! We're on a roll. The cave people are gonna have wheels before you can say Henry Ford!" -Mario
• "Thank you, Marios. You've inspired me to create my most monstrous invention ever!" -Kooky von Koopa
• "Wow, and I thought I was hungry all the time!" - Mario
• "Your turn as traffic cop, mister fender-bender. If onlyYoshi would stop nibbling on the stop signs! It's a nightmare out there! Yeesh!" -Luigi

Characters[edit]

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Toadstool
• Yoshi
• Kooky von Koopa
• King Koopa
• Ooga
• Ugga

Cast[edit]

• Walker Boone —Mario
• Tony Rosato —Luigi
• Andrew Sabiston —Yoshi
• Tracey Moore —Princess Toadstool
• John Stocker —Ooga,dinosaur
• Dan Hennessey — Ugga, singer #3, caveman #1
• Michael Stark —Kooky von Koopa, singer #1, caveman #2
• Harvey Atkin —King Bowser Koopa
• Stuart Stone — singer #2

Animation and continuity errors[edit]

• In the original version, whenMario grunts when tossing the fireball from theFire FlowerLuigi gave him, he hasKing Koopa's voice, being a reused audio clip from various episodes ofThe Super Mario Bros. Super Show! This error is fixed in foreign dubs of the episode.
• In several scenes, the "L" onLuigi's cap is colored white on a black background.
• Before Mario says, "I can't think of anything," the animation cel's production markings can be seen near Luigi's shoes. This also occurs when Mario tells him not to worry when the cave people blame them for causing the accident, where the cel number can be seen on the bottom-right corner of the screen for a few frames.
• WhenKooky is climbing a tree, his tail is the same color as the rim of his shell.
• When Kooky lifts the mask of his disguise, its tooth turns the same color as the rest of the mask.
• Unlike inThe Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3, Kooky's snout is the same color as his body. This oversight is consistent throughout the entire episode.
• In one scene when Mario and Luigi are making wheels, Luigi's mustache turns the same color as his skin.
• After the cave people use the wheels as hats, Mario has an "L" onhis cap.
• When Luigi first showsYoshi some wheels, the latter's arms are white.
• As Luigi throws the fireball to Mario, his sideburns turn the same color as his cap for a few frames.
• When Mario says,"Gimme some of that prehistoric prod!", as he starts walking, the "M" on his cap disappears.
• When Luigi and Yoshi start fighting over the stick, the symbol on Luigi's cap turns green.
• When Mario says he thought he was always hungry, Yoshi's face is miscolored.
• After Yoshi falls off Luigi, he speaks, but his mouth does not move. This is fixed in the French, Italian, and Latin American Spanish dubs.
  • In the German dub, Yoshi's English voice can also be heard as he falls.
• When the engine lands on the car, acave person's foot overlaps on the car.
• When a cave person drives out of the factory, he overlaps on a house.
• WhenPrincess Toadstool asks Mario, "It even has a horn?", her eyebrows are black instead of orange.
• When showing the accident, aGoomba's lips are the same color as its body.
• When Kooky says that he will use theMega Mechanasaur to conquer the world, his mouth does not move.
• When the Mega Mechanasaur starts breaking intoDome City, its shoulders are light-blue instead of dark-blue.
  • In the same scene, the cover underneath it disappears.
• When Kooky steps onto one of the Mega Mechanasaur's hands, it is miscolored.
• When Kooky boards the Mega Mechanasaur, the borders around the cockpit are colored blue instead of brown.
• When Kooky says, "A genuine cave patch doll!", his shell is missing.
• When King Koopa runs away from Kooky's machine, he says for it to let him go before he is grabbed.
• When Kooky's machine throws his dad into the cockpit, the top is not colored in.
• WhenOoga knocks on the door toDome Castle, he knocks once, but the knocking sound can be heard twice.
• While Mario and Luigi are in theLava Pits, the pizza Luigi is cooking switches direction between shots.
• When Luigi asks Mario, "Does that mean what I 'tink' it means?", Mario's shirt is red, while his and Luigi's gloves match the color of their shirts.
• When Luigi jumps in Mario's arms after theBlargg scares him, the circle on his cap is black instead of white.
• When Princess Toadstool tells Mario to catch theTrampoline while he and Luigi are being chased by theBlargg, she can be seen to be smiling.
• When Mario tries to hit the? Blocks, there are five of them, but when Mario hits the Block containing aCape Feather, there are six.
• Mario responds to Kooky boasting about building a freeway despite not being in the same location as him, with no way to hear what Kooky had said.
• When Yoshi appears with a digging helmet, he has four spikes on his back instead of three.
• In the two scenes where Yoshi digs up holes, his eyes are miscolored, with green sclera and white pupils instead of white sclera and black pupils.
• In one scene, the lower jaw on the Mega Mechanasaur is colored blue like its body instead of yellow.
• In some scenes, the tops of the levers of Kooky's machine change color.
• When Mario and Luigi jump onto Yoshi, the three stagger backwards for a frame.
• When King Koopa is flung, the background is stationary. This also happens in the scene where he lands on Kooky.
  • In the latter scene, his claws turn the same color as the spikes on his shackles.
• After two of the cave people hammer in the crossing signals, one cave person briefly overlaps a tree.
• When Kooky, Koopa, the Rex, and the treadmillT-Rex run away from the Mechanasaur's explosion, the spikes on the latter are the same color as its body instead of green.
• The Albanian dub title misspellspajisja ("wheel") as "paisja."

• 

  The Mechanasaur error

• 

  Mario's miscolored shirt

• 

  Yoshi's miscolored eyes

Profiles[edit]

• Koopa's Stone Age Quests DVD:
  • English:
    Mario "invents" the wheel, and thecave people discover traffic jams and fender benders. Frustrated, they banish Mario andLuigi toLava Land.

• Super Mario VHS:
  • Korean:
    힘들게 나르는 것을 보고 자동차를 만들었으나, 자기 생각들만 하니까 혼란이 생기고 없는 것만 못하다.
    (Romanization:Himdeulge nareuneun geoseul bogo jadongchareul mandeureosseuna, jagi saenggakdeulman hanikka honrani saenggigo eomneun geosman moshada.)
    (Translation:They build cars after seeing how hard it is to carry, but because they only think about themselves, they get confused and are not as good as they thought.)

Dub edits[edit]

• In the original, afterKing Koopa pleadsKooky to slow down theMega Mechanasaur, the latter explains that he needs to finish the "Kooky von Koopa Memorial Freeway." In the Spanish dubs, he merely calls the freeway the "Kooky von Koopa Freeway."
• In the Latin American Spanish dub:
  • Screams are added for King Koopa when he and Kooky are launched from the Mega Mechanasaur when it collapses and when they run away from the ensuing explosion.
  • In the original, as theCave People are cheering forMario,Luigi, andYoshi after they stop the Mega Mechanasaur, Mario suggests that he and Luigi should stave off trying to introduce wheels to the Cave People for a few years. In the dub, it is introducing cars to the Cave People.
    • In the Italian dub, Luigi adds that they should stave off trying to introduce wheels to the Cave People for a few hundred years, while in the original, it is a few thousand.

Names in other languages[edit]

Notes[edit]

• ThoughMario andLuigi ultimately decide to not introduce the wheels to theCave People for a few thousand years, wheels later appear on the motorcycles ridden by theDino Riders in the episode "Born to Ride," as well as on aDino-Torch-pulled wagon that a Cave Person rides in the episode "Party Line."

References[edit]

• Super Mario World episodes