Mush-Rumors

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The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode
"Mush-Rumors"

Kooky using his machine to get information from the "aliens".
Episode no. 17
Prod. no. 120
Airdate November 3, 1990
Writer(s) Lee Schneider
Episode chronology
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"Kootie Pie Rocks" "The Ugly Mermaid"
List of all Super Mario cartoon episodes

"Mush-Rumors" is the seventeenth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

A family from Kansas accidentally drives into a warp pipe disguised as a tunnel on their way to an amusement park, which takes them to the Mushroom Kingdom. The dad (Norman) soon crashes into a pile of blocks, and can't get the car started again. They are then spotted by a Mushroom boy who mistakes them for aliens, and runs around spreading rumors that aliens are invading. The boy soon informs Lemmy and Iggy, who head back to Kastle Koopa to tell the rest of their family. When Bowser finds out, he declares that they need to stop the aliens before they stop them.

Back in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi hear the rumors, and figure that the aliens are really just people from Earth. They find the family's car, just as the Doomship shows up and starts shooting at it. The Bros. push the stalled car onto an inflatable raft, and ride it downstream. Bowser attempts to drown the car with Chain Chomps. The Bros. don Frog Suits to evade the aquatic enemies in the water, while Mario gets rid of the Chomps by using a Starman. The Doomship then catches the car with a magnet and takes it and the family inside back to Kastle Koopa.

When the Koopas are unable to get any answers from the so-called aliens. Ludwig then suggests running them all through his "Transmutational Brainwave Analyzer", so that the Koopas can find out and use their supposedly "evil plans" themselves. The Bros. then show up with Raccoon Power and rescue the family, and lead them back to their car. Mario directs them back through the pipe they first came through, and as they leave, the Mushroom boy from earlier runs around shouting that the aliens are gone.

Back at Kastle Koopa, Ludwig announces the information he analyzed from the family, and explains to the others that they really were Real World people on their way to an amusement park. Bowser then asks furiously who started this rumor, but when the koopalings blame each other he smacks his head in disgrace. Meanwhile, the family is still driving to the park, when the daughter (Missy) asks the old "Are we there yet?" question, to which Norman responds by smacking his face in the same fashion as Bowser.

[edit] Trivia/Goofs

  • This episode brings up the issue of xenophobia (the fear of foreigners or the unknown), when a "real world" family from Kansas was mistaken by the Mushroom people and the Koopas for dangerous aliens.
  • Princess Toadstool and Toad do not appear in this episode.
  • The episode's name is a pun on "Mushroomers". In fact, when Mario hears about the rumor, he says "Sounds like you Mushroomers are spreading mush-rumors." (Incidentally, when he says that, the "M" on his cap is white on a red background.)
  • When Roy says "Dad, look," Larry's face is orange and his hair is almost a periwinkle color!