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Pixels is a science fantasy action comedy film released in 2015 and coproduced by Sony Pictures and Happy Madison Productions. Based on the 2010 short film of the same name, the film stars Adam Sandler as Sam Brenner, a down-on-his-luck former arcade champion and home theater installer who through a series of events is hired by the US military to train a group of old-school arcade players in fighting an alien race attacking Earth with technology inspired by 1980s arcade games, including Donkey Kong and Pac-Man.
Mario references in the film[]
The film begins with Sam Brenner playing the original Donkey Kong game and being beaten by Eddie Plant (Peter Dinklage), who uses a cheat code (despite the fact that the actual game does not feature cheat codes and doing so would be counter-productive for an arcade game). Donkey Kong haunts Brenner as "the one game he sucks at".
Later in the film, an alien that has taken a form based on Mario's sprite from Donkey Kong can be seen running and jumping across a street, although none of the main characters are seen interacting with him.
The film's climax has the cast face the leader of the aliens, who has taken a form based on Donkey Kong and is on a re-creation of 25m. As Donkey Kong attacks the group, Brenner has a breakdown when he cannot figure out Donkey Kong's pattern and his insecurity over not being able to win the game gets to him. Matty (the son of the film's female lead, Violet van Patten) then reveals that Eddie cheated, giving Brenner the confidence he needs to get to the top and defeat Donkey Kong using a Hammer.
| Nintendo-related movie adaptations | |
|---|---|
| Mario | Super Mario Bros.: The Great Mission to Rescue Princess Peach! (1986; JP; video) • Super Mario Bros. (1993) • The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) • Untitled Super Mario Bros. film (2026) |
| Pokémon | Pokémon film series |
| Other series | Animal Crossing: The Movie (Animal Crossing; 2006; JP) • Star Fox Zero: The Battle Begins (Star Fox, 2016) • Untitled The Legend of Zelda film (The Legend of Zelda; TBA) |
| Compiled | Donkey Kong Country: The Legend of the Crystal Coconut (1999; video) • Kirby: Fright to the Finish (2005; video/TV) |
| Miscellaneous | The Wizard (1989) • Super Hornio Brothers (1993) • Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children (2005) • Wreck-It Ralph (2012) • Pixels (2015) • 8-Bit Christmas (2021) |