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Where did the 'Paper' in Paper Mario come from?

One of the most recognizable and distinctive things about the Paper Mario series is its art style. According to the credits of the first Paper Mario game, Naohiko Aoyama is responsible for the papery. Well, Naohiko Aoyama is listed as the art director, so that's what we assume, but how did the idea of making a 'Paper' Mario come from?

Theory 1: The idea to make Mario 'paper' came from the art style that was used.

Evidence that supports this is that early Super Mario RPG 2 screenshots show Mario looking not like the 3D-ish one shown in SMRPG, but a bit more like the papery one. There was little shading and no angle shots. This seems to suggest that the papery graphics were there since the beginning, and the idea to actually make Mario out of paper came later; possibly after the Square-Nintendo split. Basically, the name came later and was derived from the art style.
However, as far as I am aware, there are no videos of SMRPG 2, so we do not know whether or not Mario was actually flat like in Paper Mario.

Theory 2: This is sort of like the first theory. After Nintendo and Square went their seperate ways, they needed a new name for the game and who knows what else. It's possible that in a flash of inspiration (or perhaps mundane thoughts?), somebody suggested a game in which Mario was made of Paper. The idea stuck, and the thing that would differentiate the new game from SMRPG2 came this way. There's really not much to go against this or to validate it. It's more or less in the air.

Theory 3: The source for this one is Wikipedia, so take it with a grain of salt. I think it makes sense, though. The game developers were not good at using 3D (EarthBound 64 ran into the same problem). To make up for this inexperience, the thin graphics were turned into 'Paper' and the art style of the game actually comes from the new-ness of the 3D. This one is plausible; the game uses sprites instead of CG models (as opposed to Super Mario 64). Other developers at the time were also having problems using the 3D; this was one of the pitfalls of EarthBound 64. I like this theory the best.
The biggest problem with this theory is that, like Theory 2, there is not much evidence for or against it.

If you have any ideas as to where the Paper Mario 'Paper' came from and want me to discuss your theory, send me an e-mail. If you have the definitive answer as to where Paper Mario came from, please tell me!