Episode 3: King Mario of Cramalot
Live Segment
The plumbers get a visit from a little girl (played by Danica McKellar) who introduces herself as Patti, the Sad Orphan. She tells her tear-jerker of a story that today is her birthday and she has no parents to throw her a party. Mario and Luigi agree to throw a party for her, using what they can of their meager finances. They get some popcorn for Patti and she then sits down to watch TV while the brothers set up balloons, streamers, a cake, and various other decorations for her. She then becomes a spoiled brat, asking them to throw her a big party and demanding more popcorn. Luigi becomes exasperated over this and asks Mario what they should do. Just then, the doorbell rings. Patti immediately jumps up and answers it. It is her parents at the door! Mario and Luigi then realize that she had them fooled- she wasn't really an orphan! Patti's parents scold her and make her apologize to the brothers, which she does. They both forgive her, and Mario suggests that since all of the party stuff is out anyway, that they should still throw a party...for everyone, now!Cartoon Segment
Non-Main Character Appearances: Beezo, Koopa Troopa, TrouterSummary
Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool come to the kingdom of Cramalot in search of Mervyn the Magician. The Princess thinks that he can help them save the Mushroom Kingdom from King Koopa. Upon arriving in Cramalot, though, some Beezos try to attack them, but all of a sudden, Mervyn the Magician appears and does away with them with his magic! He then invites Mario and his gang into his cave, where he proceeds to tell them that King Koopa is actually in Cramalot and has crowned himself king! He then tells him that it is possible to oust him as king, though, and that is to pass a test. They soon find out that this test involves pulling out a golden plunger out of a golden bathtub within the caves, and Mervyn takes them to it. Mario volunteers to do this task, so he gets up onto the pedestal and yanks the gold plunger out of the tub easily. Everyone cheers because he can now be crowned King of Cramalot!
King Koopa hears of this news and is not happy at all. He then decides to send out an attack. He and his army of Koopa Troopas and other baddies all go out and confront the gang in the caves. First, a net is thrown over the group, but Mario uses the magic powers of the golden plunger to cut their way out of the net. He then moves to attack King Koopa with it, but is stopped when King Koopa points out that if he does anything with it except to hand it over to him, then Princess Toadstool will be harmed by all of the Beezos that are now surrounding her. So, Mario reluctantly surrenders the golden plunger over to King Koopa, who then proceeds to throw the whole group into the castle dungeon.
With the group trapped in the dungeon, Luigi is wondering if things could get any worse. Mario humors him by describing worse scenarios, such as the ceiling lowering onto them or water filling up the dungeon and drowning them. As luck would have it, these exact two things start happening, and they are all thrown into a panic. Just then, Mervyn appears in the dungeon with them! They barely have time to ask how he got there and instead beg him to use his magic to get them out before the ceiling and water do them in. Mervyn happily obliges, waves his wand, and all five of them are magically transported out of the dungeon. They end up in a scary forest called the Forest of Perpetual Night and Terrible Dangers. All of a sudden, in a lake nearby, a hand emerges from it, and it's holding a plumber snake. Mario asks Mervyn about it and Mervyn tells him that it is no ordinary plumber snake, but rather it is called Excalibur, and is a powerful and magical weapon. The hand from the lake throws it over to Mario, and when he catches it, he is transformed. Now, he is ready to take on King Koopa and take the throne away from him!
The whole group meets in front of Castle Cramalot and ponder about how to get in. Mario then orders Luigi to swim across the moat so that he can let down the drawbridge so that everybody can cross it to get in. Of course, Luigi protests and makes up the excuse that he's "going to have a baby," but eventually he has no choice but to do his duty. Just as he is about to dive into the water, though, Mario shouts to watch out for the Trouters in the water. At this, Luigi breaks into a run in midair and runs right into the upright drawbridge, knocking himself out.
Inside the castle, King Koopa is gloating over his victory over Cramalot, but not for long. Mario and his gang have stormed the castle, and they drop in. King Koopa sends out his arsenal of Koopa Troopas, and then engages Mario in a swashbuckling battle, with his golden plunger against Mario's plumber snake. Meanwhile, Toad, Princess Toadstool, and Mervyn battle the Koopa Troopas with Luigi preferring not to get involved. Eventually, they are victorious, as well as Mario when he manages to knock the plunger out of King Koopa's hands. King Koopa surrenders, but doesn't stick around to be punished. He pulls out a bottle of potion and throws it onto the ground nearby, making a door appear. He then disappears into it, going to who knows where.
Happy that King Koopa has been kicked out of Cramalot, Mervyn gives Cramalot's crown to Mario, and also gives him an exercise machine, claiming that a Cramalot king must be "as trim as a lion." At this, Mario wigs out, as he is more than happy with his weight, gives back the crown, and runs away. The rest of the group laughs.
Review
As the second parody of a popular story, this episode was a parody of the story of King Arthur and the kingdom of Camelot. It attempted to pay tribute to Mario and Luigi's occupations and area of expertise by transposing the legends and objects of the fairy tale into those of a plumber's realm- the golden plunger that had to be pulled out of something and Excalibur, the magical plumber snake.
Errata, bloopers, and other inaccuracies
Quotes
"That Koopa's a clog in the drainpipe of happiness." -Mario