{"id":65688,"date":"2026-04-23T17:20:56","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T08:20:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=65688"},"modified":"2026-04-23T17:20:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T08:20:58","slug":"nintendo-avoided-making-original-movies-for-a-long-time-because-establishing-canon-character-backstories-could-be-a-constraint-in-game-development-according-to-shigeru-miyamoto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/nintendo-avoided-making-original-movies-for-a-long-time-because-establishing-canon-character-backstories-could-be-a-constraint-in-game-development-according-to-shigeru-miyamoto\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo avoided making original movies for a long time because \u201cestablishing canon character backstories could be a constraint in game development,\u201d according to Shigeru Miyamoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie<\/strong>, the sequel to Nintendo\u2019s The Super Mario Bros. Movie from 2023, made its international debut on April 1 this year. Ahead of the Japanese premiere of the movie, scheduled for April 24, game director and producer Shigeru Miyamoto recently participated in a joint media interview to celebrate the release. Talking to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ndw.jp\/mariogalaxymovie-interview-260422\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nintendo Dream Web<\/a>, Miyamoto spoke about why it took Nintendo so long to take the plunge and start producing feature films based on their IPs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Super Mario Galaxy Movie \u2013 Final Trailer\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LX9kXRRJlPw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSince we don\u2019t know what kind of game we\u2019ll be making next, giving our characters too complex backstories can end up becoming a constraint for us. I don\u2019t mind the constraints when it comes to gameplay mechanics, but the reason why we avoided making movies for so long is precisely because we didn\u2019t want to be constrained by establishing a story,\u201d Miyamoto explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This checks out considering Nintendo\u2019s focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shigeru-miyamotos-background-in-industrial-design-explains-his-pragmatic-product-not-art-approach-to-making-games-nintendo-veteran-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cplay over story\u201d and user-friendliness<\/a> in most of their games. With such a huge cast of characters, it could be difficult to offer a wide variety of games and unique gameplay experiences while having to track a canonical storyline and lore over decades of releases.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1042\" height=\"538\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1042px) 100vw, 1042px\" src=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260423-656880001.jpg\" alt=\"Mario Galaxy Movie.\" class=\"wp-image-65692\" srcset=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260423-656880001.jpg 1042w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260423-656880001-380x196.jpg 380w, https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/20260423-656880001-768x397.jpg 768w\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Apparently, this is why Princess Peach, who\u2019s been a key character in the Mario series for many decades, didn\u2019t have a concrete backstory until Nintendo kicked off with producing the movies. \u201cWorking on the movies, it has become super fun to expand on the characters in various ways,\u201d Miyamoto added. \u201cThat\u2019s why, in future games, we want to stick to the backstories we\u2019ve established in the movies as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Super Mario Galaxy Movie explores the character of Princess Peach, unveiling one big secret about her origin (which we won\u2019t be mentioning due to spoilers). However, Miyamoto confirms that, while her backstory was decided specifically for the movie, the plot-twist is canon, and will likely appear or be referenced in future Nintendo games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On a related note, the live-action Legend of Zelda movie is coming to theaters in 2027, so it will be interesting to see how Nintendo adapted the original material and whether any new movie twists will impact the canon of the video game series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Related articles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/shigeru-miyamotos-advice-about-what-makes-a-great-game-inspired-exit-8-film-directors-approach-to-the-live-action-adaptation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Shigeru Miyamoto\u2019s\u00a0advice about \u201cwhat makes a great game\u201d inspired Exit 8\u00a0film\u00a0director\u2019s approach to the\u00a0live-action\u00a0adaptation\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/at-nintendo-every-developer-is-a-director-if-you-make-excuses-you-get-removed-from-the-team-motoi-okamoto-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">At Nintendo, \u201cevery developer is a director.\u201d If you make excuses, you get removed from the team, veteran says<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a recent join media interview, Nintendo veteran Shigeru Miyamoto spoke about the production of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":65691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17,33],"class_list":["post-65688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news","tag-nintendo"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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