My current theory:
>The Pauline accompanying DK is not the same one as the arcade game. She’s a descendant of that Pauline in the same way our DK is a descendant of Cranky King (OG DK)
>In the treehouse footage, Pauline/Odd Rock was initially incredibly scared of DK, likely being weight to fear Kongs from an early age due to family trauma
>Game’s plot will basically be the Kong’s redemption story in the eyes of humans, kid Pauline will grow up to be the one we know in the newer games
>We’ll eventually get to meet old Pauline, she and Cranky will be able to reconcile their differences
I think it would be pretty cool if DK and Pauline had similar backstories in terms of their relation to the arcade originals.

I have no explanation for Mario in relation to all of this but who fucking cares it’s Mario, he doesn’t age and is arguably not even human.