Nintendo replaced a couple of longtime voice actors for Mario Kart World — including an actress who has voiced Princess Peach for the last 18 years. On Friday, voice actress Samantha Kelly uploaded a new Instagram post stating that she is no longer voicing the Mushroom Kingdom’s princess, nor Toad and Toadette, whom she also previously voiced.
In the social media message, she outlined that Nintendo notified her of the business decision on Thursday — the day the Switch 2 and MKW were released.
“Thank you for so many years of friendship and joy,” her post reads. “I’m sad that it’s over, I truly would have wanted to voice Peach and Toad forever. Nintendo let me know yesterday that they decided to recast these roles. I’m grateful that I got to do these voices for so many years. Peach and Toad are such strong and beautiful characters that I pray they live forever no matter who voices them. So much love🩷#princesspeach #toad“
Donkey Kong was also replaced, with the IMDB website for Mario Kart World stating that Koji Takeda is now the voice of the redesigned character. Voice actor Takashi Nagasako has previously been synonymous with DK going back to Nintendo’s Gamecube era, appearing in games like Mario Power Tennis and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
In 2023, Nintendo opted to make a change away from Charles Martinet, the man who had been Mario since 1991. At the time, Nintendo told Martinet that he would instead become an ambassador for the company. Martinet’s last Nintendo role was an appearance in the Super Mario Bros. Movie as an original character named Giuseppe, Mario and Luigi’s father — a fitting role for a voice that has been with us for over two decades.
Polygon contacted Nintendo for a comment and will update the article with any new information we receive.
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