The Ugly Mermaid
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| The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 episode | ||
| "The Ugly Mermaid" | ||
 Mario encounters Holly Mackeral, the mermaid of the episode's title. |
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|---|---|---|
| Episode no. | 18 | |
| Prod. no. | 114 | |
| Airdate | November 3, 1990 | |
| Writer(s) | Sean Roche, Perry Martin | |
| Episode chronology | ||
| ← Previous | Next → | |
| "Mush-Rumors" | "Crimes R Us" | |
| List of all Super Mario cartoon episodes | ||
"The Ugly Mermaid" is the eighteenth episode of The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3.
[edit] Synopsis
Bowser sets off to take over the underwater kingdom of Mertropolis in his new submersible, the Doomsub, but the Mario Bros., Princess Peach, and Toad, somehow aware of his plot, give chase after him, wearing Frog Suits. In their attempt to subdue the Doomsub, Mario gets hit by one of its lasers, which encases him in a block of cement and causes him to sink to the bottom of the ocean. Luckily, he is rescued by Holly Mackerel (a play on the term "holy mackerel"), the Princess of Mertropolis, who brings him to her kingdom, which for some reason is protected by an airdome despite its population of anthropomorphic fish. Luigi and the others follow her.
After Luigi and the others manage to resuscitate Mario, Holly starts hitting on him, mistakenly believing him to be a frog prince she was told would come to her. Although Mario appreciates her having saved his life, he finds her grotesque, as she is in fact a fish with human legs rather than a beautiful woman with a fish tail as mermaids are usually depicted. But instead of just taking off his Frog Suit and telling Holly he isn't a frog, he avoids her and tells the others that they have to get moving. But for no reason at all, Mario now suddenly also has aquaphobia.
Bowser begins to lay siege to Mertropolis, first sending out a batch of Boomerang Brothers whom the Mario Bros. easily take care of. But with Mario still afraid of the water for no reason, Luigi, Peach, and Toad go to combat Bowser on their own, only to end up being captured by Bowser's Nasty Nets. Holly, somehow unaware of Bowser's attack, boasts about her upcoming wedding to Mario. Bowser then proceeds to flood Mertropolis, which somehow frightens the citizens into fleeing in terror. Mario, realizing his friends are in danger, conquers his still-unexplained aquaphobia and rescues his friends, then uses Bowser's nets against him. In the end, Holly decides not to marry Mario because he looks ugly with a fish bowl on his head.
[edit] Trivia/Goofs
- The episode's title and the concept of a sea creature falling in love with a human come from the children's story The Little Mermaid, which had been adapted into a Disney film the previous year. The episode's plot, however, completely recycles those of two episodes of The Super Mario Bros. Super Show - "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" and "Mario of the Deep".
- The featured song, "Never Kiss a Mermaid", is perhaps a parody of the song "Never Smile at a Crocodile" written for but only heard as an instrumental in Peter Pan.
- When Bowser is speaking at the beginning, the rims around the spikes of his shell have turned yellow except when he says "Kooptropolis!"
