Lovebunny and DinoGraveyard are creating the cutest Mario action movie on TikTok

In April this year, Super Mario Bros movie Bullet made its way into box office records and debuted with the biggest opening weekend for an animated film in history. No one was surprised that the studio behind Minions managed to shepherd one of the biggest decades-old video game franchises to this bar, but in retrospect it’s an achievement: it’s the first time Nintendo has successfully exploited the potential of an IP for TV or movie. Since 1993 Super Mario Bros. Bob Ompid at the box office.

Mario’s 20-year drought for non-gaming storytelling has opened the door for unremarkable creators to do their own thing. Ken and Cady, better known as Dinograviard And lovebone On TikTok, I walked through that door. Over the past few years, the related pair, who run channels as DinoBunny, have carved out their own niche within the Super Mario fandom, which began as a fashion-driven relative and has since evolved into a theatrical re-wiring of Mario canon.

“I would say it’s like Bridgerton In the Mario world,” says Cady. “We create these characters where they’re not necessarily a good guy or a bad guy, but just people who make mistakes.”

Over a video call, Kade and Ken sat in a desk adorned with anime posters and trinkets studded in pastel pink and electric blue. Ken’s gaming chair is straight from Princess Peach’s color palette and has a pair of pink bunny ears set on the headrest. They live and breathe the Mushroom Kingdom — but that wasn’t necessarily the dream.

“We didn’t begin to think, Oh, I’d be a pro YouTuber or TikTokerKen adds. “We thought it might be a fun thing to do on the side.”

Initially, Ken and Kade started their two solo platforms on TikTok, simply wanting to try cosplay as avid fans of the art form. Now, across their TikTok accounts and their joint YouTube channel, Ken and Kade have 3.7 million followers as of this writing. Like others in the hobby, the duo wear ornate costumes to embody their favorite franchise characters, including but not limited to the pink-haired damsel in distress and Bowser’s fire-breathing turtle.

But as Kane describes, Mario’s characters are more than a blank slate, and the pair have managed to turn the crew into something more provocative than anywhere Nintendo goes. First-time visitors to Ken and Cady’s profiles are initially impressed by the attention-grabbing The luigi thirst trapsAnd Leather-wrapped chomp seriesand a King Boo seeks bisexuality desperately. The first, which has amassed more than 3 million plays on TikTok, is what initially boosted Ken’s number of followers. Ironically, this sexy version of Luigi’s purple nemesis was inspired by Waluigi memes.

“A lot of people are joking, Oh, Waluigi is so cuteKen explains. “But I was like, What if it really was? This really exploded in a big way.”

Despite the goofiness that comes with sexualizing a skinny villain, the pair’s tendency to ascribe human traits to these sterile characters in the Super Mario universe – in this case, sexuality – pleads with viewers to imagine how they would act and look like IRL. Funny memes aside, bringing these characters from their games into the real world in an entertaining and thought-provoking way is the essence of Ken and Cady’s craft.

Aside from the dazzling costumes, the often-overlooked second half of “cosplay” is largely responsible for why fans have returned to Ken and Kade’s channels after being drawn into the sexy imaginings. On both their profiles as well as their joint YouTube account, the pair have built character studies and stories based on their Super Mario outfits. dubbed “# MariowerPlots expand beyond “Let’s-a go!” The usual “Wahoo!” dialogue that some Nintendo characters have become famous for.

One of #MarioLore’s stories, backed by the “Wait for It” soundtrack from HamiltonShe finds Rosalina meeting King Bo after a great plague. Another plot line explores the relationship between Toad and Toadette as well as their tendency to gossip. All of these scenes are acted out in full formal style and are often accompanied by popular TikTok vocals that fit the tone of the shorts. Super Mario Bros movie Never will.

The jump into complex subjects was inspired, at the time, by a plethora of Disney villainous films such as mischievousAnd GrandsonsAnd Cruella, in which the love-to-hate characters gain 3D personalities that help us understand why they became the way they are. Kane says they aim to treat Mario’s world as “very human and very morally gray.” They live for the drama, and don’t stress about the so-called law.

However, like all other TikTok users, they also depend on the various algorithms of the app to keep followers engaged and attract new ones. Keene says they constantly take notes after each individual video is released, keeping in mind the metrics that help achieve videos “on a very large scale.” One variable that the couple constantly considers is the popularity of TikTok votes and how they can influence the algorithm to expand their overall impressions. Incorporating themes from their ideas with common voices is a special skill of Kane, according to Cady, that helps the videos gain traction without sacrificing pre-planned character arcs.

“[Ken] It’s really cool seeing the popular voices on TikTok and then thinking about how to take that and then apply it to her story,” adds Kade.

Although the couple is figuring out ways to improve the viewership of their output, the community that has nurtured them makes their connection to particular characters and stories all too clear. It is not uncommon for viewers to wonder why characters, in their minds, acted contrary to what they portrayed. In April, fans particularly hated a twist in the storyline of Peach and Bowser’s relationship. “I feel so bad for Bowser, Peach is just another person he can’t trust anymore,” one follower commented. Another user added, “The fact that Peach barely looks sorry…the shock in her eyes when he rejects her says it all.”

The reaction was enough that Ken felt moved by it Post a video Reiterate that “The series is not a wholesome love story. […] It’s a sad cycle of irregularities and traumas with no black and white definitions of right and wrong.”

“Sometimes I like, Oh, they will hate thisKen laughs. “We’ve had some videos where people were very confused about the character of Princess Peach and it has a lot to do with misogyny and the media.”

“[Fans are] It allows them to have the fan theories and let them think of their own thing, but we want to kind of nudge them in the right direction when it comes to how they flesh out these characters,” says Kane.

Pictures: DinoBunny Cosplay

Though sometimes displeased by followers seeking the element of resolution, Kane and Cady care more about staying true to their vision.

“Getting loads of people watching trending genre videos that increase your follower count is great,” says Kady. “But we do both. I always hope those viewers become viewers who care about the story and who care about the characters.”

It’s hard to imagine a world 20 or 30 years ago where this type of content could have such a following, considering the lack of online platforms as well as the social stigma that sometimes comes with the hobby. Cady credits part of cosplay’s foray into pop culture ethos with the “rise of nerds” similar to the advent of the Marvel and DC cinematic universes. Instead, Kane posits that this rise in the popularity of cosplay could be a double-edged sword.

Kane explains, noting the popularity of superheroes. “The problem with that is that all the people who are super popular with it are cool. They’re traditionally attractive, they’re a pretty straight size and they’re often not nerve-racking. When you have people who don’t fit into those categories, it can make it hard for them to Live in those places safely.”

Despite this, Ken and Cady aren’t particularly concerned about being considered cool versus awkward. They just want to make sure that the cosplay community remains a safe space for fans to share their love for the characters through mass and creative outlets.

“It’s cool — that idea of ​​confusion. That word gets thrown around a lot,” Kady says. “You should be able to shelve the idea of ​​being cool. If you want to create anything unique or do anything you’re passionate about, being overly self-conscious about looking great is very creatively destructive.”

“We are so excited that bullying is embarrassing. […] We just want to use our art form and platform to do what we think is pleasing to us,” concludes Kane. “We want to use it to create a very engaging story and follow through. Then after that, we want to make another story.”

Now that the void in Super Mario scripted content has been filled with, in all likelihood, an expanded Super Mario Cinematic Universe, it may seem as though DinoBunny Cosplay has been hacked, but Kane and Cady feel the movie has arrived at the perfect time.

“It was very inspiring,” says Kane. “People have also started looking for Mario-related content a little more.”

Until Nintendo sends Mario and Luigi to explore the more mature subjects depicted in a green warp tube, there’s DinoBunny Cosplay. And Waluigi’s sexy is just the beginning.