Live-Action Plot: It’s Luigi’s birthday, and Mario has gotten his favourite brother some dance lessons! 80s dancing superstar Shabba-Doo arrives to give the Marios their lesson, and the results are a wall-to-wall groan-a-thon. Everyone, not just Shabba-Doo, but the brothers as well, is dressed in his most colourful 80s hip-hop gear. Most of the episode’s run time is devoted to the awkward body fluctuations of the bros, inter-cut with mysteriously well-coordinate shots of their feet.
Very Special Guest: Shabba-Doo is a dancer, actor, and choreographer best known for inventing “locking,” and his various appearances as a break dancer extraordinaire. He has starred in such films as Xandau, Breakin’, and Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo. “Electric Boogaloo” is, of course, the movie name the internet refused to forget, even if the rest of the world did long ago.
Animated Plot: Mario and team are on the search for world renowned witch doctor Sheldon, who they believe can make them a potion that will rid them of Koopa. Of course, this requires a treacherous trek through the jungle, in which some form of Koopa is encountered. Koopa’s interference this episode includes a near shot-for-shot recreation of the bridge incident from Temple of Doom and the kidnapping of Sheldon. In the end, the brothers and their companions are able to rescue Sheldon and drive Koopa away with the doctor’s itching potion, but no permanent resolution to the turtle menace is found.
Horrible Stereotype Alert: The animated episode includes gems like Mario’s line “if food isn’t pasta, it doesn’t count,” and Koopa’s appearance as a bone necklace and nose ring wearing Colonial stereotype of Africans. Mario also hacks away at jungle foliage with a plunger, which feels like a stereotype but I suppose isn’t, unless plumber stereotypes count.