Super Mario Brothers on Ice

Super Mario Brothers was one of those jobs that came along for me while waiting for bigger fish to fry. Artistically, I was really prime for greater challenges but at the time Arena Shows were really peaking.  In many respects I had done this kind of work before while working at NBC Studios for both the Thundercats and yes, even Alvin and the Chipmunks got in on the act. (more on that later.) 

This time however, the arena show had a twist. The characters needed to skate on ice and the challenges were plenty. Not only did I have to design three sets of 10 characters. That's 30 larger-than-life special costume characters but I had to supervise the department and train two intern staff units to complete the work to my instruction with a budget they only write Broadway shows about. 'Avenue Whatcha ma Call It’? …Never mind, I jumped in headfirst and managed to do all of the above, which finally led to my opportunity to create Chandelier for Pee Wee's Playhouse. 

Oh did I also tell you I had to accomplish this all in 3 months? And that two  'extra' character costumes managed to squeeze their way into my production schedule that had nothing to do with the Super Mario Bros. show at all. One was a giant 8’x10' two-man elephant costume for Barbie's Circus and the other was a dancing piece of Swiss cheese. J  

I told you they couldn't write this stuff. Below you will find some behind the scenes photos of the characters and costumes in various stages of development. And Please God.... No more Ice Shows. J 
 

» I originally designed the large Goomba, head you see to the right so that the mouth  could open and close. Unfortunately, the resident designer at the shop  was not receptive to adding any puppet effects. It's too bad I think the character would have been greatly enhanced with it. 

Two other alterations compromised the original character art. The cheeks were flattened to accommodate the shipping crates and a single generic eye shape was used because the budget would not allow for a right and left sculpt. MB

« A closer look at the photo to the left, will reveal the shell before painting. Masking tape was used to block out  the pattern. Even though I did not have access to an airbrush at the time, I was able to create the raised pattern effect by spraying the spandex with Magix shoe dye.  The photo on the right, » shows the finished illusion. MB