Since the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985, Nintendo has stood forward around the world as a mighty colossus. His theogony of video game characters has become even more ubiquitous and recognizable than Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes or Mickey Mouse and his gang. Now there are even Nintendo theme park areas and movies, like the animated Super Mario Bros. Movie. The company is still going strong, too. The Nintendo Switch, introduced in 2017, quickly became the third best-selling video game console of all time, trailing only Nintendo's own DS and Sony's PlayStation 2.

Aside from a few missteps (remember Virtual Boy?), it's always been that way for Nintendo. Thinking back to the 1980s, certain enthusiastic Gen-Y members might recall Nintendo Cereal, Nintendo wall calendars, and Nintendo-centric movies like The Wizard. (Hands up if you subscribed to Nintendo Power magazine or, going back even further, were a member of the Nintendo Fun Club.)

In 1989, Nintendo even broke into the airwaves with The Super Mario Bros. Super Show, a quirky live-action/animation hybrid that, when you look at the numbers, was one of the most popular series of its kind. . The show featured live-action, sitcom-like sequences with "Captain" Lou Albano and Danny Wells as Mario and Luigi, a pair of New York plumbers who, quite often, hosted celebrity guests. These live action sequences would then lead into an animated Mario Bros. segment where Mario and Luigi had surreal "comic" adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom. Every Friday, the animated sequence was themed around The Legend of Zelda.

Less well known, however, was the show that took place after the Super Mario Bros. Super Show. Debuting on September 11, 1989, King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was an old-fashioned children's show hosted by King Koopa. The series ran for 65 episodes during its single season. The tapes of the series are not preserved; hence, Cool King Koopa Cartoons are now considered lost media.

King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was hosted by King Koopa. He appeared in the studio alongside a live audience of children, often making threatening comments and talking about how much he enjoyed being a villain. (King Koopa, for Nintendo neophytes, was a rebranded version of Bowser, the central villain of the Mario universe.) Koopa would introduce puppet shows starring his pet rodent, Ratzo, before the show cut to a very old public domain cartoon. The costume worn by the Koopa cast was a more refined version of the Super Mario Ice Capades show that had been popular the previous year.

As stated in summary of CBR of the show's history, the first Koopa actor, Christopher Collins (credited as Chris Latta), was fired for being "inappropriate" with the staff and visiting children. Not in a criminal way, it seems, but his jokes were apparently too edgy for a young audience. He was replaced by Patrick Pinney.

Incidentally, Collins may be better known as the voice of Cobra Commander on GI Joe. He also played the second in line Starscream of the Decepticons in "Transformers: The Movie." Meanwhile, Pinney played Wolverine in Pryde of the X-Men and was in dozens of Disney projects and SpongeBob cartoons.

There was a slight scandal with King Koopa Cartoons, as some parents thought the Koopa was too evil. The show obviously catered to a very young audience (it was pretty safe for kindergarteners), so Koopa's statements about killing the Mario brothers or being mean were worrisome to some. The show received a lot of angry messages for this purpose. Koopa has also been accused of being a little too scary, which is understandable. Koopa is nightmarish. And if Collins was making jokes about finding and killing children in their homes, then one could understand all those horrified letters.

Like all Mario-related media at the time, King Koopa's Kool Kartoons was a hit. Its Nintendo imprimatur was probably 100% responsible for the show's success, although some in the audience may have reacted to its old-fashioned format. There was something utterly nonsensical about King Koopa, giving the show, however sinister, an innocent quality. It may have reminded some parents of "The Howdy Doody Show." Children in the audience joined in on the action, and Koopa even gave them prizes. At the end of a few episodes, Koopa will admit to being a big softie who actually kind of liked his Koopa Kids.

The show was reportedly #1 in its time period in 1989 and received many letters from children eager to hear King Koopa read them on the air. So why was King Koopa Cool Cartoons canceled?

According to the YouTube channel Thomas Game Docsthe cancellation came at the behest of Disney CEO and Beverly Hills Cop mastermind Michael Eisner to all people. "Koopa" aired on KTTV Channel 11 in Los Angeles; the station was a Fox affiliate, but Eisner was still paying attention. The story goes that Eisner wrote a letter to Barry Diller, the president of 20th Century Fox, complaining that Koopa's villain status was undermining the children's moral center. Diller, in response, canceled the show altogether despite its popularity.

This story, however, has not been confirmed, and it doesn't seem entirely plausible that Diller would cancel King Koopa Cool Cartoons just because a rival like Eisner asked for it. It's especially unlikely given how small the broadcast area was for Cartoons; it wasn't huge outside of California. It's more likely that Koopa was canceled for more practical reasons.

The show was not well maintained, unfortunately, and there are no full episodes available anywhere online. Some enterprising TV viewers have uploaded clips from their old VHS tapes to YouTube, but as of this writing, the series has no official home media releases or known archives. This vague nightmare, for better or for worse, is gone.