Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros is a trilogy of Super Mario Bros. OVAs. They were released only in Japan in 1989.
The series adapts fairy tales using Super Mario Bros characters. The three works are Super Mario's Momotarō, Super Mario's Issun-bōshi (Little One-Inch), and Super Mario Shirayuki-hime (Snow White).
Amada Anime Series: Super Mario Bros provides examples of:
- Actionized Adaptation: It goes without saying that Snow White didn't indicate that any battles took place, though the queen did attempt to murder her stepdaughter in cold blood. Conversely, the Mario version has a fight at the beginning and end of the story.
- Adapted Out: The Koopalings appear in both the Momotarō and Snow White adaptations, but both teams are clearly missing some members. The latter switches between Iggy and Larry at a moment's notice and outright omits Ludwig, while Lemmy is missing from both stories. Wendy, Roy and Morton are the only three that consistently appear throughout the animations.
- Adaptation Dye-Job: Because this series was released when Super Mario Bros was still young, Bowser has blue eyes instead of his standard red.
- Adaptation Expansion: The original Momotarō set out to fight the oni terrorizing the land and plunder their stolen riches. No mention was made about him saving a girl on top of that.
- Adaptational Badass: Snow White never had any action in the original fairy tale, and certainly never tried to get revenge on the queen for her transgressions (at least not until much later, anyway). On the other hand, Peach follows Mario and the Toads to Bowser's Castle to pay her back for poisoning her, though she's taken hostage rather quickly. For the games themselves, Luigi is shown to be much braver than he was portrayed in other animations at the time, both inland and overseas, and definitely became this compared to his canon Cowardly Lion personality.
- Adaptational Heroism: Para-Beetles, Boomerang Bros and Spikes are enemies in Super Mario Bros. 3, but in the Momotarō adaptation, they stand in for the dog, monkey and pheasant that are met en route to Onigashima. Likewise, the elderly couple is represented by two Hammer Bros, which are Elite Mooks from the original Super Mario Bros. onward.
- Adaptational Villainy: While Bowser usually retains his Villainous Crush towards Peach in the Momotarō and Issun-bōshi stories and either kidnaps or attempts to kidnap her, the Snow White adaptation has Bowser as the evil queen, complete with the desire to kill Peach so he can be the Fairest of Them All. The Koopalings follow suit on two fronts, as not only did their debut game set them up as distractions so Bowser can do his thing, but they also stand in for the huntsman in the original fairy tale, who helps Snow White escape from the queen because he can't bring himself to do the deed.
- Adaptational Weapon Swap: Most versions of Momotarō have the protagonist wield a sword. Mario-tarō has a gun, albeit one that he never actually fires.
- Ambiguously Human: In Super Mario's Momotarō, Peach's uncle and aunt are Hammer Bros. It's unclear if she's Happily Adopted or a Half-Human Hybrid.
- Big Damn Heroes: Luigi appears at the very end of Super Mario Shirayuki-hime to help his brother defeat Bowser.
- Canon Foreigner:
- The elderly couple in Momotarō had no known relatives before the title character came along, nor were said relatives abducted by the oni.
- In Super Mario Shirayuki-hime, Mario is said to have obtained his potion from a goddess he helped out. No adaptation of Snow White features any mention of gods, nor did the prince ever meet one. Also, the queen never had any minions, and the prince obviously never had a younger brother.
- Composite Character: Mario in Super Mario Shirayuki-hime is supposed to stand in for the prince, but he also assists in Peach/Snow White's escape like the huntsman did.
- Compressed Adaptation: Much like another adaptation of Snow White, this version skips the bodice and poison comb and goes straight to the poison apple.
- Continuity Nod:
- The father in Super Mario's Issun-bōshi has a yellow shirt with blue overalls, likely referencing Luigi's outfit in The Great Mission to Save Princess Peach!.
- In Super Mario Shirayuki-hime, the Toads that stand in for the seven dwarfs also reference how Mario has to rescue Peach's seven retainers before saving the princess herself. Considering that Toads were the only other friendly characters in the series at the time (barring kings in Super Mario Bros. 3), this was one heck of a coincidence.
- Continuity Snarl: Super Mario Shirayuki-hime shows Iggy as one of the four Koopalings out to get Peach, but Larry replaces him during the final battle. However, Iggy is briefly seen zapping Mario with his wand even though Larry was doing that just before, suggesting that they were supposed to be the same Koopa and that one of them was swapped out with the other during production, but the process wasn't finished.
- David Versus Goliath: In Super Mario's Issun-bōshi, much like the original tale, the tiny Mario defeats the giant Bowser by repeatedly stabbing his stomach until he gives up.
- Early Adaptation Weirdness: Mario having a gun is not something Nintendo would allow these days, but they were fine enough in the 1980s to allow Mario to carry one in Super Mario's Momotarō.
- Gender Flip: In Super Mario Shirayuki-hime, Bowser is a queen. In the other two stories, he's a king like usual.
- Improvised Weapon: True to the original fairy tale, Super Mario's Issun-bōshi has Mario use a sewing needle as a sword.
- Limited Animation: The animation has its fluid moments, but most of the movement is choppy or reused.
- Magic Mirror: Par for the course with Snow White, Queen Bowser uses one to admire her "fairness" and gets envious when Peach is declared Fairest of Them All. It's broken during the climax.
- Nephewism: Super Mario's Momotarō has Peach being raised by her elderly aunt and uncle.
- No Hugging, No Kissing: Super Mario Shirayuki-hime doesn't feature the famous True Love's Kiss associated with the story (which, to be fair, wasn't even in the originalnote ). Instead, Mario gives Peach a potion which wakes her up.
- Original Video Animation: The series was released on VHS in the 1980s.
- Related in the Adaptation: Mario and Peach have no familial connection in the games. However, since Super Mario's Momotarō makes the elderly couple her relatives, and Mario is raised as their own child, this means that they're technically cousins. This is not the case in the other two stories.
- Spared by the Adaptation: In both the original fairy tail and Disney adaptation of Snow White, the evil queen dies, either by dancing in red-hot iron shoes until she drops dead or by falling to her demise. Here, she's thrown into her Magic Mirror, but her concussion doesn't appear fatal in the slightest.
- Tempting Apple: As per usual with Snow White, Peach eats a poison apple given to her by Queen Bowser and falls into a death-like sleep. And also as per usual, it's undone by the end.
- Universal-Adaptor Cast: Each of the characters play different roles in the three stories, though it mainly applies to the Mario/Peach/Bowser trio.
- Momotarō: Mario is the titular peach boy, while Bowser and the Koopalings are the oni that he sets out to fight. Momotarō's animal companions are represented by enemies, those being a Para-Buzzy, Boomerang Bro and Spike, and the elderly couple that raises him are both Hammer Bros. Peach has no equivalent in the original story.
- Issun-bōshi: Mario, once again, is the title character, Peach is the chancellor's daughter, and Bowser is the oni that Issun-bōshi fights and receives the magic hammer from.
- Shirayuki-hime/Snow White: Peach is the title character this time, and Bowser stands in for the evil queen. Mario takes the role of the prince, the seven dwarfs are represented by Toads, and four/five of the Koopalings are a more villainous take on the huntsman. Luigi has no equivalent in the original story.
- Unnamed Parent:
- Peach's uncle and aunt in Super Mario's Momotarō are simply referred to by their titles, Ojīsan and Obāsan respectively.
- Mario's parents in Super Mario's Issun-bōshi go entirely unnamed.
- Viewers Are Goldfish: There are flashbacks to scenes which happened only a few minutes earlier at various points in the series.
- Villainous Crush: Super Mario's Momotarō starts with Bowser capturing Peach because he wants her for himself. Likewise, Super Mario's Issun-bōshi's main conflict starts when Bowser storms the kingdom to force Peach to marry him.
- Younger Than They Look:
- In Super Mario's Momotarō, Mario is born a young boy. He's a boy who has a mustache and looks like an adult. The only difference between Mario and his adult self is that his clothes changed.
- In Super Mario's Issun-bōshi, Mario was born with a mustache. At only a few years old, he looks like an adult.
