Nintendo’s Super Mario anime from 1986 gets a fan restoration

All the way back in 1986, Nintendo released an hour-long animated feature called Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach. The film never saw an official release outside of Japan, and has only lived on YouTube in very low-quality uploads. Today that changes, thanks to the hard work of dedicated fans.

The team at Femboy Films have taken it upon themselves to restore Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach with the utmost care. The film has been color-corrected, and scanned in 4K resolution from a “16mm reduction print likely used for small, local screenings back in the day.” The team even added in 2-channel Dolby Surround from the VHS release, and added brand-new English-language subtitles to go the extra mile.

I know what you’re thinking by this point. Why bother putting so much work into something that Nintendo will likely yank from the internet? That’s a question I can’t answer for you, but at least we can enjoy this restoration for a short time. Hopefully Nintendo decides to let this restoration live on, but as you probably know, it’s best to watch this now instead of later…as later might not happen.