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Pauline
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Pauline |
Pauline[2] is a character that was created by Nintendo video game creator Shigeru Miyamoto. Pauline was Mario's original love interest.
In 1981, Leslie Cabarga was commissioned by Nintendo to create a poster for the 1981 video game Donkey Kong. He used Bluto as base for Donkey Kong, Popeye for Mario.
For Pauline, Cabarga stated in a 2022 interview that he used Betty Boop[3] as base for Pauline's character design. Much like Betty Boop, Pauline is a sex-symbol type character, and Boop was the base for her design.
Olive Oyl also served as partial inspiration, for the damsel-in-distress dynamic. Cabarga found out many years later that Miyamoto had been inspired by Max Fleischer's 1930s "Popeye" series.
The story is that When Miyamoto was unable to secure the necessary licensing to Popeye the Sailor Man, he invented Mario in place of his original plan to use Popeye as the main character. The huge nose, mustache, and overalls that Mario wears are examples of how the graphical constraints of arcade hardware influenced his design.
Pauline was initially Mario's girlfriend, up until she was replaced by Princess Peach. Pauline served as base for Peach. Pauline was originally a blonde, but Nintendo altered her appearance to make her a brunette. In her first redesign, she wore a red halter-neck dress with a plunging chest, black Mary Jane heels, and has dark brown hair. Over time, this appearance would be polished to become her final appearance.
She returns to her damsel-in-distress role in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series after a protracted sabbatical. She has a significant supporting role in Super Mario Odyssey as the mayor of New Donk City. She sings "Jump Up, Super Star!", the game's theme song, and is a New Yorker and jazz vocalist, just like Betty Boop.
Pauline's jewelry is gold, and she shares the exact same red color scheme as Max Fleischer's character Betty Boop. The main distinction is that Pauline's dress has straps and is longer in size.
Her appearance in Super Mario Odyssey is described as having bright blue eyes that were once violet in color, long, wavy dark brown hair (which appears slightly darker in Mario Golf: Super Rush), and fair skin.
She has prominently arched eyebrows and wide, slanted eyes with four long lashes at the top and three shorter lashes at the bottom (for a total of seven lashes). Her nose is triangular, her chin is sharp, and her face is oval in shape.
Usually, she is seen with matching nail polish, dark red lipstick, and violet eye shadow.
Quotes
- Pauline: "I'm a 1-up girl!" (Mario Kart Tour)
- Pauline: "I like music that brings people together and gets them moving!" (Super Mario Odyssey)
- Pauline: "Oh Mario, my hero!" (Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!)
Gallery
Trivia
- New York is her place of origin, however in the video game she resides in a parody of New York City called New Donk City.
- Before 2017, Pauline's only personality was that of a sex symbol. Her character development began in the mid-2010s.
- Her voice has been provided by jazz singer Jo Belle Yonely, actress Judy Strangis, and her official singing and voice-over in the video games by Kate Higgins.[4] Jessica DiCicco voiced Mayor Pauline in the The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in 2023.
- Though Pauline is a Betty Boop copy-cat, she doesn't sing in baby-talk like Betty Boop, she's more akin to Jessica Rabbit.
- Nintendo has never revealed how she broke up with Mario. The original Pauline was the base for Peach, therefore it would be very hard to explain. Pauline today is known merely as Mario's friend.
- Interestingly she's not a redhead[5] like most Betty Boop parodies. Other Nintendo female stars include brunette Princess Daisy and platinum blonde Rosalina.
- Princess Zelda is the Peach and Pauline of The Legend of Zelda franchise. Link (a Nintendo counterpart to Mario) and the main protagonist was inspired by Walt Disney's Peter Pan.
- In 1976, Nintendo released "Pretty Puzzle: Betty Boop," featuring Betty Boop and Bubby Boop.
- A Betty Boop video game titled Betty Boop's Double Shift was released for the Nintendo DS during the late 2000s.