Games : Why does Mario fall face forward right when he meets Mallow in Super Mario RPG?

I don't understand if there's an inside joke or something I'm not getting, but right when Mario meets Mallow in Mushroom Kingdom when he starts crying after Croc steals his frog coin, when Mario approaches him and stops, Mallow goes, "There was SOME reason" (in reference to why he was crying) ... then Mario falls face forward to the ground, but it's never made crystal clear why Mario does that after he says that. Can anyone recall this part of the game? I don't get what's implied.