Ben Lindbergh

But there is also that element of lamenting, well done.

what they could be while still being a kid's movie, while still being a four quadrants success, while still appealing to everyone.

But, you know, I watch a lot of kids content because I have a kid and some of it is obviously rewarding on multiple levels, right?

And some of it really lives up to multiple rewatches and you can be a grownup and you can enjoy it maybe on a different level than say my daughter does, but we can both get something out of that

And I expect to watch this Mario movie with my daughter at some point.

And I imagine that she'll enjoy it and I will enjoy her enjoying it.

But I don't know that I look forward to watching it so much as I actually do look forward to and enjoy watching some of the things that she watches.

And that, I think the part that I get stuck on is that that very much applies to Nintendo games.

And so I wish that that quality, because Nintendo games are for all ages, but they are delightful for all ages, equally delightful for all ages.

And my daughter and I, we play Mario Tennis.

We play Mario Kart.

I read her Mario books before bedtime, right?

So we can both appreciate and love those things.

And they work on multiple levels, and the movies just don't have that same sort of spark, that creative genius to them.

And I think that's because the gameplay is the magic of Mario, right?

And so that's when I questioned myself.

Thinking, well, what would that look like?

What am I longing for exactly here?

Because Mario is designed to be amorphous and malleable and someone who can fit into every game and every genre.

He's a mascot character.