It sounds like Brian Tyler was handed his dream job when he was asked to create the iconic soundtrack to the newly released Super Mario Bros. Movie from Illumination and Nintendo. Tyler spoke to Variety about growing up playing Super Mario World and Super Mario Kart etc and loving not only the games but the catchy soundtracks as well. He also recalls reading through the classic gaming magazines as a youth and reading articles dedicated to Nintendo designer, Shigeru Miyamoto. Tyler told Variety that 98% of the Super Mario Bros. Movie soundtrack is an original score that had been written for the movie and that he was absolutely honoured to get the chance to work closely with classic Mario game composer, Koji Kendo.
“I knew this music,” Tyler shares. “It was a part of my childhood in the same way that I grew up listening to film scores. I had gaming magazines and I remember articles about Nintendo’s video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto.“
“I wanted to have built-in nostalgia where it immediately feels like Mario,” he says for writing new Mario music. “The idea was the score would be thematic Mario. Those are all intertwined with references to these themes that [original series composer] Koji Kondo developed.” Tyler collaborated closely with Kondo throughout the process, sending him ideas to get his thoughts on cues and motifs he had put together.
“I remember the music while you’re in the waiting room to select your character and the kart you want to use. There’s my main Mario Theme. I reference Toad’s house theme from Super Mario Bros. in 1988. There’s a cue from the underwater theme from Super Mario Bros. in 1985 and the bomb battlefields from Super Mario 64 in 1996.” That’s just the beginning. According to Tyler, 98% of the film features original score: “It’s an homage to the past while creating new nostalgia,”
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