'Super Mario Bros. Movie' Co-Director Backs Chris Pratt Following Fan Criticism

The Super Mario Bros. Movie co-director Aaron Horvath is standing by actor Chris Pratt after criticism over how he sounds in the upcoming animated film.

Horvath told Total Film this week that casting Pratt, who voices Mario , made total sense to him.

Pratt has been the subject of concerns and jokes from fans on social media since the casts announcement two years ago.

Hes really good at playing a blue-collar hero with a ton of heart, said Horvath, who directs the Nintendo -themed flick along with Michael Jelenic.

For the way that Mario is characterized in our film, hes perfect for it.

Horvath, who described the film as a bit of an origin tale, said the story examines how Mario becomes Super Mario. He along with his brother Luigi are blue-collar, Brooklyn-based plumbers from a family of Italian immigrants, according to Horvath.

When you play the game, if you dont give up, Mario will succeed, Horvath explained. So we transferred that player experience from the game to a characteristic that [movie] Mario would have.

","type":"video","meta":{"author":"GameSpot","author_url":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbu2SsF-Or3Rsn3NxqODImw","cache_age":86400,"description":"Check out the second teaser trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This time we get to see Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, Luigi and a few others. We also get to hear their voices for the first time. Princess Peach is voiced by Anya Taylor-Joy, Donkey Kong by Seth Rogan, and Luigi by Charlie Day.\n\nWe also get to see Mario Kart for the first time in the movie and a sneak peak at the classic map Rainbow Road.\n\n#supermariobros #mario #gaming","options":{"_cc_load_policy":{"label":"Closed captions","value":false},"_end":{"label":"End on","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"_start":{"label":"Start from","placeholder":"ex.: 11, 1m10s","value":""},"click_to_play":{"label":"Hold load & play until clicked","value":false}},"provider_name":"YouTube","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tMYg69DfFLs/maxresdefault.jpg","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"The Super Mario Bros Movie Official Trailer","type":"video","url":"https://action.news/watch?v=tMYg69DfFLs","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"640037bae4b0bdb99f4a0333","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/mario-bros-director-chris-pratt_n_640037bae4b0bdb99f4a0333","entryTagsList":"movies,chris-pratt,the-super-mario-bros-movie","sectionSlug":"entertainment","deptSlug":"entertainment","sectionRedirectUrl":"https://action.news/entertainment","subcategories":"us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.entertainment","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/f7cc3c95-83b8-4958-81db-b8a4b87db01b/1_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":11},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"640037bae4b0bdb99f4a0333","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Movies","slug":"movies","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/movies","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/movies","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/movies"},"relegenceSubjectId":981358,"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Movies","slug":"movies","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/movies"},{"name":"chris pratt","slug":"chris-pratt","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/chris-pratt","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-pratt","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-pratt"},"department":{"name":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"section":{"title":"Entertainment","slug":"entertainment"},"topic":{"title":"Chris Pratt","slug":"chris-pratt","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/entertainment/topic/chris-pratt"},{"name":"the super mario bros. movie","slug":"the-super-mario-bros-movie","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/the-super-mario-bros-movie","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/the-super-mario-bros-movie","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/the-super-mario-bros-movie"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/the-super-mario-bros-movie"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">