Nintendo has taken its most famous mustachioed hero in a new, handcrafted direction, and the retro style has taken me back to gaming in the '80s (and my childhood TV).
As part of its newly launched ‘My Mario’ line, Nintendo has released a series of adorable stop-motion shorts that turn the iconic plumber into a charming miniature star. It’s the kind of creative detour that shows Nintendo understands the magic of character design isn’t just in pixels and polygons but also in clay, card, and a little bit of patience.
The first three shorts have already gone live on the Play Nintendo YouTube channel, and they’re brimming with the kind of playful energy you’d expect. Rather than glossy CG, these mini-episodes lean into a tactile aesthetic. These feel felty and jerky; tiny props raise a smile, and the visual style feels lovingly stitched together.
It’s a reminder that in an age of hyper-real rendering, there’s something timeless about stop-motion’s imperfections. In fact, this is the kind of work that sits proudly alongside the best stop-motion animation movies of recent years, because it doesn’t try to hide its seams; it celebrates them.
What makes the new Mario animated shorts interesting is how closely they echo principles discussed in the eight rules of movie animation, according to Guillermo del Toro. Exaggerated performance, a sense of rhythm, and attention to micro-expressions all come through in Mario’s tiny gestures, showing how even a character we know inside-out can still surprise us when brought to life frame by frame.
The shorts arrive alongside Nintendo’s new Hello, Mario! app for Switch and mobile. Together, the app and the videos form a neat double act: one interactive, one cinematic, both clearly designed to give fans a reason to re-engage with the character ahead of a much bigger milestone – Mario’s 40th anniversary (he's a star of one of the best games of the '80s, after all).
With the countdown to the celebrations already underway – the original Super Mario Bros. released on 13 September 1985 – these hand-made shorts feel like the first sparks of a wider creative campaign. If the Super Mario Bros. Movie proved Nintendo could conquer Hollywood gloss, these shorts show it hasn’t lost sight of craft, fun, and the simple joy of making toys come alive.
It’s also a clever move for brand design. By choosing stop-motion, Nintendo reinforces the idea of Mario as both a digital icon and a tangible plaything. He’s not just a sprite on a screen or an asset in Unreal Engine; Mario is a character who belongs on your shelf, in your hands, and, thanks to this series, on your coffee table as a tiny, bumbling figurine.
Whether you’re a seasoned Mario fan who grew up stomping Goombas or a newcomer discovering the Mushroom Kingdom for the first time after buying a Switch 2, these shorts offer something rare: a glimpse of Mario at his most human. Fragile, playful, a little silly, and all the more lovable for it.
Nintendo may be teasing bigger announcements for next year, but if this is the warm-up act, Mario’s 40th looks set to be more than a party. It could be a creative renaissance for the character who built modern gaming in the first place and stars in the best retro consoles as much as on screen in animated movies and games.
For more stop-motion inspiration, read our piece on I Am Frankelda, another brilliant example of how handcrafted animation can punch well above its weight in both style and emotion.
