Somewhere within the far reaches of YouTube, there is a Super Mario World/Game of Thrones mashup parody of GoT's opening credits, turning the land of Westeros into a Nintendo wonderland, and it is a beautiful, beautiful thing.

The animated video is a shot-for-shot 3D cartographic recreation, swapping out King's Landing and Winterfell for Yoshi's Island and the Donut Plains, all to the tune of a synthesized, Mario-esque GoT theme song.

Connecticut-based designer Steven Jase and composer Paul LeBlanc teamed up to create the mock main title sequence last winter, around the time GoT promos for season 5 were released. "There was just an 'ah-ha!' moment," Jase told Tech Times via e-mail. "I am a fan of classic video games and Game of Thrones, and thought I could maybe come up with something cool in my free time."

The things we do for love, as Jaime Lannister would say.

When asked about his creative process, Jase cited extensive research and a painstaking attention to detail:

"I was very meticulous in trying to keep the piece rooted in both subjects...I printed out levels and the player manual for [Super Mario World]...[attempting to] keep it close to one-for-one as possible. When I was locked in anything around me either had a note or drawing of something I needed to add or a doodle of the landscape...I drew up my ideas and matched the cuts, and Paul added his magic."

The original title sequence was designed and edited by the Santa Monica-based studio Elastic, whose credits also include HBO shows Carnivale and True Detective, as well as Showtime's Masters of Sex, AMC's Halt and Catch Fire, and Netflix's Daredevil. In an interview with Art of the Title back in 2011, Elastic's creative director Angus Wall went into the conceptual making of GoT's opening credits:

"We discussed a concern which is that [Game of Thrones] doesn't take place on the Earth that we know. It takes place in a world that exists only in the books. So similar to how the legend or map at the front of a fantasy book works, [co-executive producer Caroyln Strauss] felt like there was a need for a map to the show...It allowed us to create our own little world."

Elastic's cartographic enterprise worked - and it's certainly one that Jase and LeBlanc have succinctly captured in their parody.

Yoshi for the Iron Throne!

 

Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.

ⓒ 2024 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Join the Discussion