Aus einem Interview mit dem Regisseur:
QuoteJM= Jackson Murphy (Kolumnist)
RV= Ross Venokur (Regisseur des Films)
JM: There’s a sequence involving the song “Take On Me” that’s not just using the song. You were clearly inspired by the music video, right?
RV: Yeah, absolutely. My concern with [Illumination] using “Take On Me” in “Mario” was that they did what we did with the video, which was: We really emulated the video and called-out the look of the video. It’s a really nice and surprising moment in the movie. I’m so happy that they didn’t do that. My whole generation associates that song with car racing because the imagery is so strong. It was in my mind from early on. There are four major races in our movie and what we learned was… I actually picked it up from a MasterClass Ron Howard gave where he was talking about the boxing movie he made [“Cinderella Man”]. They learned very quickly that the most boring sequences of the movie are the fights. You think that’s why you’re there but it’s really hard to keep that dynamic over and over again. So I realized… that each race has to have a different flavor and feel so they stand apart and you don’t feel like, “Oh my gosh. There’s another race going on.” From that came this idea in my mind of a-ha and we went for it. And it became the most complicated sequence in the movie. Now, I love it. We nailed it in the end.
JM: It’s a highlight scene in the movie and a visual treat for fans of a-ha and the music video.