In a recent interview with Polygon, voice acting legend Eric Bauza talked all about his character in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, the Toad General, whose adorable appearance is offset by his deep, commanding voice. Bauza also mentioned how, while people have been supportive of his portrayal, many Nintendo fans wish the character had actually been Toadsworth, Princess Peach’s longtime top Toad beginning with 2002’s Super Mario Sunshine. I, however, would like to advocate for another commanding Toad to get some respect as well: I’m talking about George Washingtoad, who’s been around more than a decade longer than Toadsworth.
George Washingtoad’s only appearance in any piece of Mario media came in a 1989 episode of the Saturday morning cartoon The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! The episode begins with Mario’s narration: “Plumbers log number 1776: We arrived in the 13 Mushroom colonies at the urgent request of the great General George Washingtoad.” From there, we meet the mighty Washingtoad who, despite being the same height as a normal Toad, looks much more like the first US president, with a serious expression and long white hair in a ponytail. He also has an elaborate, gold-buttoned uniform and the mushroom cap on the top of his head is shaped like an old military cap. He speaks mostly in cute references based upon George Washington himself. (His first line of dialogue begins “I cannot tell a lie” and later he asks Luigi, “Are you a patriot or a coward?”)
The episode’s events parody George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War, with Washingtoad and his forces — along with the Mario Bros. gang — taking the place of Washington’s army. They even cross the “Delawide River” to attack “Redcoat Koopa,” leader of the Koopish Army. During the episode, Koopa also freezes Washingtoad and his soldiers with an Ice Scepter. While that might seem like an arbitrary choice, Washington did cross the Delaware on Christmas day during freezing cold temperatures, so there is some historical reference there.
The episode ends with Washingtoad’s army defeating the Koopish while Mario and Luigi are anointed by Washingtoad as “Official uncles of our country.” Washingtoad also has a cold at the end of the episode. Most likely this is a result of Washingtoad having been frozen for part of the episode, but being an American history nerd myself, it got me to thinking about the fact that Washington essentially died from a cold — or rather, a bloodletting done to him by a doctor to get rid of his cold. Part of me wonders if General Washingtoad met the same fate after the events of this episode, though I’m not quite sure if Toads have blood. Also seems kinda heavy for Nintendo, though it would explain why we’ve never seen this character again.
