Apparently Fox McCloud’s cameo in the Super Mario Galaxy Movie was not a random drop after all.
There have been rumors swirling for some time that Illumination and Nintendo were pitching or considering making a Star Fox Movie. V Scooper just said this:
The STAR FOX movie started early development at illumination around the same time as the Mario movies. This is very advanced and his appearance in Galaxy is a sign of the level of priority. Excited for this?
If V Scooper’s information is correct, Fox’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie cameo is really about introducing the character prior to dropping the actual Star Fox Movie. And with the Super Mario Galaxy Movie now tracking to make a $ billion (one of only four non-Disney animated movies to do so), Nintendo is in a very enviable position to make Fox and friends far more famous and mainstream than they have ever been before.