The movie Super Mario Galaxy made the creator of Star Fox cry

It's safe to say that Takaya Imamura, creator of Star Fox, watched The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Ahead of its release, the filmmaker-turned-lecturer frequently commented on the film's trailers on social media, at one point revealing that despite the creation of Fox McCloud, who made his silver screen debut in the film, he did not receive any “special treatment.” Imamura blamed this on “the Japanese corporate way”.

After a delay from its English release, The Mario Galaxy Movie finally hit theaters in Japan over the weekend, and you can bet Imamura made it to the screening. It turns out that seeing a character you created brought to life in a big way can be emotional, as Imamura shared that he “cried” during Fox's big moment.

Fox McCloud's Mario Galaxy made its creator, Takaya Imamura, Cry

Imamura is a certified Nintendo legend. He joined the company in 1994 and is credited with designing some of its most iconic characters, including Fox McCloud, Captain Falcon and Tingle. He helped with art on games like Majora's Mask, Donkey Kong '94, and basically every Star Fox and F-Zero game in existence.

He previously shared that Fox was based on another Nintendo legend, Shigeru Miyamoto, and now the character has made it to the big screen as part of the Super Mario Galaxy Movie, which was emotional for Imamura.

There are minor spoilers ahead for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.

Universal Pictures' social media account posted a clip of the heartwarming scene in which Mario first meets McCloud hanging from an Arwing. Imamura obviously loved this part.

“This scene is the best,” he captioned the video, adding “I cried” with two crying emojis.

With a new Star Fox game supposedly coming out soon, I imagine it's hard for Imamura not to go around telling everyone, “I made that.”