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Dec 19, 1986 · Little Shop of Horrors: Directed by Frank Oz. With Levi Stubbs, Rick Moranis, Ellen Greene, Vincent Gardenia. A nerdy florist finds his chance for success and romance with the help of a giant man-eating plant who demands to be fed.
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It occurred in "the most seemingly innocent and unlikely of...
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Wardrobe and props were obtained from New York thrift shops...
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- Rick Moranis as Seymour Krelborn
Seymour : [singing] Poor/All my life I've always been poor/I...
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Little Shop of Horrors: Directed by Frank Oz. With Levi...
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Initial screenings included many deviations from the version...
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The 1986 film version of the Broadway musical LITTLE SHOP OF...
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With Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, Dick Miller. A clumsy young man working at an impoverished flower shop discovers that the strange plant he has been nurturing has an insatiable appetite for blood, forcing him to kill to feed it.
- (20K)
- Comedy, Horror
- Roger Corman
- 1960-08-05
Musical. Howard Ashman. Lyricist, Musical, Screenplay. Seymour Krelborn is a nerdy orphan working at Mushnik's, a flower shop in urban Skid Row. He harbors a crush on fellow co-worker Audrey Fulquard, and is berated by Mr. Mushnik daily. One day Seymour finds a very mysterious unidentified plant which he calls Audrey II.
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- Director's Cut
Little Shop of Horrors is a 1986 musical comedy directed by Frank Oz, starring Rick Moranis and Ellen Greene, with a special appearance by Steve Martin and cameos by John Candy and Bill Murray.
The film opens with the words read by Stanley Jones: "On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence. And this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places..." ("Prologue (Little Shop of Horrors)").
Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis) and his colleague, Audrey Fulquard (Ellen Greene), work at Mushnik's Flower Shop in a run-down, rough neighborhood in New York City referred to as "Skid Row". They lament that they cannot escape the neighborhood ("Skid Row (Downtown)"). Struggling from a lack of customers, Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia) decides to close the store, but Audrey suggests he may have more success by displaying an unusual plant that Seymour owns. Immediately attracting a customer, Seymour explains he bought the plant from a Chinese flower shop during a solar eclipse ("Da-Doo").
He names the plant "Audrey II", because of his secret crush on his co-worker Audrey. However, when the shop closes for the day, Seymour discovers that Audrey II is wilting from lack of food. It refuses to eat anything normal plants would feed on, such as soil, water and sunlight. Seymour accidentally cuts his finger and discovers that Audrey II has an appetite for human blood. ("Grow for Me") As the plant thrives, business booms at Mr. Mushnik's failing flower shop, and Seymour becomes a local celebrity all because of his incredible plant.
Meanwhile Audrey suffers at the hands of her abusive sadistic, boyfriend Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. (Steve Martin); however, she has feelings for Seymour and secretly dreams of running off with him to the suburbs ("Somewhere That's Green"). Seymour continues to feed Audrey II his own blood, draining his energy ("Some Fun Now"). Seymour soon attempts to ask Audrey out, but she turns him down because she has a date with Orin, who is revealed to be a dentist ("Dentist!").
Eventually, the now-huge Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs) begins to talk to Seymour, demanding more blood than Seymour can give. It convinces Seymour to kill Audrey's abusive and sadistic boyfriend Orin, and by promising him favors in return for feeding it, such as a new car and other wealthy privileges ("Feed Me (Git It!)"). Seymour books an appointment with Dr. Scrivello and arms himself with a revolver. However, Orin, disappointed with his previous masochistic patient Arthur Denton (Bill Murray), decides to amuse himself by sniffing nitrous oxide. His gas mask malfunctions and Seymour allows him to die laughing hysterically from asphyxiation.
Seymour drags Orin's body back to the flower shop, where he chops it up for the plant. He is in the middle of dismembering the body with an axe when Mr. Mushnik passes by the flower shop and witnesses it. He does not confront him, but runs off scared. Seymour feeds the body parts to the plant.
Development
Rumors of a film version began to circulate soon after the play opened, with Hollywood heavyweights Steven Spielberg producing, Martin Scorsese or Barbara Streisand directing, and it was even rumored that it may be shot in 3-D. Howard Ashman began outlining a screenplay in November 1982, and completed a first draft in December 1983. Ashman had been partially inspired to write the show based on the then-overwhelming popularity of Muppets' star Miss Piggy, so the man behind the pig, Frank Oz, was approached early on, but he turned it down. "I said no, I couldn’t do it, because I didn’t really have a way in — a cinematic way in," Oz recalled. Soon after, Oz realized that he could use the show's urchins, Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon, as a Greek chorus to frame the narrative, and he wrote his own revision of the script in November 1984, cutting unnecessary dialogue and dropping the songs Mushnik & Son, Closed for Renovation and Now (It's Just the Gas). Ashman and producer David Geffen were so enamored with Oz's script that Ashman went to work cranking out three more revisions over the next three months.
Casting
The role of Seymour was basically handed to Rick Moranis. "Before we had even started the process, I always wanted Rick Moranis for Seymour," producer David Geffen recalled. I ran into him at a concert and said 'You're gonna star in my movie.' He actually was the only person I ever considered." The attraction for Moranis was the opportunity to sing. "Until now, I'd been limited to mostly parody," he said, referring to Tom Monroe, his lounge-singing recurring character on "SCTV." For the role of Audrey, Warner Bros. wanted to cast a celebrity, and some of the names bandied about included Streisand, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, who reportedly was offered the part but had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts. Ellen Greene, who'd originated the part Off-Broadway and performed it for a solid two years in New York, Los Angeles and London productions, was told that the part was hers when John Landis was set to direct the movie, but the situation changed when Frank Oz came aboard. Greene's then-boyfriend Marty Robinson, who had worked on Sesame Street and created/puppeteered Audrey II for the original stage version, introduced them and encouraged Oz to give her the part. Although she had a little bit of screen experience, the bulk of her career had been relegated to live stage performance. "They wanted to know how I could handle the lip-syncing," she said. A screen test was set up, and she was so dazzling and performed such perfect lipsync on "Somewhere That's Green" that Oz phoned two weeks later to inform her she had the part. "I just screamed!" she exclaimed. "I was proud of what I had achieved on stage with Audrey, but I was convinced they would go for a name [actress]." Oz later remarked, "I couldn’t imagine any other Audrey." Nearly 1,000 young women auditioned for the roles of urchins Crytal, Ronnette and Chiffon, with teenagers Tisha Campbell and Tichina Arnold paired up for several of their auditions and Michelle Weeks replacing the third auditioning actresses a little later. All New York natives, the girls were each roughly a year apart in age, but familiar with one another from school and various performance ventures. "It was really just a coincidence that we already knew each other," Weeks said. Arnold was on the verge of moving to Los Angeles for TV pilot season, but fate had other plans for the young actress, who would soon find herself on the other side of the world shooting a movie. Rounding out the cast as Mr. Mushnik was Vincent Gardenia, who claimed he got the job because "Frank Oz liked my name," and Hollywood heavyweight Steve Martin as sadistic dentist Orin. In cameos, popular comedy star John Candy had worked extensively with Moranis on "SCTV," and Moranis had co-starred with and directed Paul Dooley in "Strange Brew" (though Dooley was unavailable for the reshoot and his role was given to James Belushi). Geffen explicitly requested Bill Murray for the masochistic dental patient and Christopher Guest had just completed his one-season run as a regular SNL cast member, and presumably caught Geffen's attention in the modestly-successful future cult classic "This Is Spinal Tap."
Pre-Production
During a production meeting with Ashman and Oz, Geffen recounted the tale of "Risky Business," a film which originally ended on a bleak note and scored low with test audiences. He suggested writing a new happy ending in which the boy gets the girl and they live happily ever after, but Ashman countered that letting Seymour survive after feeding humans to the plant would leave him on "morally shaky ground." Geffen wanted to shoot the movie close to home in Los Angeles, but Oz, who'd worked extensively in England with Jim Henson on various Muppet productions, wanted to shoot there - and in a real-life Fozzie Bear moment, he cowed as if he was about to be fired on the spot for making such an audacious suggestion to Geffen. Oz's instincts were on the mark with the currency exchange rate such as it was at the time, which was supposed to save the company $4 million in production costs. A budget was set at $18 million, but reports claimed it had doubled by the time initial filming wrapped, and an additional $2 million was spent for reshoots. Coincidentally, $38 million is also what it took in at the box office. Other estimates claim it cost $25 and $26 million, and Oz once remarked that it cost $30 million, so a precise budget is difficult to tally. Some preliminary audio tracks with the cast were recorded in April, but the playback soundtrack was recorded in July under the direction of Robby Merkin (who'd orchestrated the original New York productions) and "Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons" member Bob Gaudio. Ashman had committed himself to a 1986 flop Broadway adaptation of the 1975 film "Smile," but he frequently corresponded with the crew. Sets were erected in the world's largest soundstage, the 007 building at Pinewood Studios.
A Story of Little Shop of Horrors
In 1987, The Geffen Film Company released a promotional TV special featuring a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with cast and crew members. It has been included as an extra on virtually every home video release around the world since 1998.
On desktop devices, use the tabs to toggle between the various galleries.
During the film's editing process, several workprints were created to present how the movie could be potentially be cut together. It was not unusual for workrpints of the era to be transferred onto black-and-white film stock, as this was cheaper than color film, and it was only intended as a guide for the production team (a complete B&W print of Oz's previous film, The Dark Crystal, is in circulation in fandom). At least 4 different B&W variations of scenes from the film exist, each with slightly different edits. In 1998, a 23 minute black-and-white copy (beginning during the reprise of Suppertime), which was duplicated from director Frank Oz's personal VHS of the workprint, was issued as a DVD extra - without the knowledge or consent of executive producer David Geffen. Presumably this was from the longest edit, with every shot that could potentially be used. Geffen, who'd planned on someday reissuing the film with its original ending intact, was absolutely incensed, resulting in the world's very first DVD recall - a mere 5 days after the discs hit store shelves. Although the gag reel and documentary were retained, workprint footage was removed and the disc was quickly reissued with a promise that it would be re-released in color. And then nothing else happened for years. Although Geffen initially stated that he possessed a color print of the original ending, he later discovered that he'd made a false claim.
Awareness of the lost footage was boosted with the rise of You Tube and other online video sites, allegedly prompting Warner Bros. reps to state in 2007 that the original negatives were destroyed in a fire in 2002. It's unclear where this rumor originated, but it was repeated ad nauseam across the internet, leaving fans heartbroken and serving to inflate prices for the recalled DVD, which had already been selling on eBay well into the triple-digits for years.
In January 2012, curiosity and excitement swelled when the MPAA Ratings website issued a PG-13 rating for an "edited version" of "Little Shop of Horrors: The Intended Cut," featuring "content different from the" original 1986 release. As the year progressed, Frank Oz signed off on letting them issue it with the subtitle "The Director's Cut," although this was in-name only, as he had no direct involvement with the movie's restoration. However, it did afford him the opportunity to make up for the devastating phone call he'd made to Richard Conway a quarter of a century earlier. "That was my joy!" Oz remarked of his follow-up call informing Conway that his work was finally being restored, completed and officially issued. The director's cut had its debut at the 50th New York Film Festival on September 29, 2012 and it was released on Blu-Ray on October 9. Fathom Events later released the Director's Cut on October 2017, but in the credits, instead of saying "Director's Cut" like on home media releases, the final three credits began with the text "The Intended Version", which was shown in the 2012 New York Film Festival screening before Oz endorsed the project for home media.
When Frank Oz attended the 2012 premiere, he was bracing himself for a negative reaction similar to the ones he'd endured during the test screenings, but something unexpected happened: The 2012 Film Festival audience applauded Audrey and Seymour's respective deaths and cheered on the plants during their rampage. “Sadly, I think audiences have gotten more cynical,” he remarked of the modern audience's enthusiasm.
The restoration was carried out under the tutelage of Kurt Galvao, Warner Bros. V.P. of Assets & Technology/Post Production, who had garnered tremendous acclaim for his work on "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut," "Woodstock: The 40th Anniversary Edition" and the "Final Cut" of Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner." Galvao went over Frank Oz's notes to try to stay true to the filmmaker's vision, once joking that, "“Luckily, he has no notes.” Although this was untrue, Oz's notes were minor. For example, upon seeing a plant climbing the Statue of Liberty, a soldier clearly exclaims, "What the f---?!," and Oz had made a specific note saying that the foul language was not to be audible.
Work on the restoration was done by a small team of 12 people and took nearly a year-and-a-half - beginning 25 years after the film's original release, by which point the various elements had been scattered all over the world. 200 boxes of film were found in vaults in Hollywood, Kansas and London, and Galvao's crew had to go through each bit of footage to find the correlating shots. Unfortunately, they kept overlooking the shot of Audrey II bursting into the bar at the disco, which was the final piece of footage found - after the crew had double-and-triple checked all of the film.
The original 24-track music tapes were located, but there were a few sound issues, such as an inexplicable banging noise which had to be filtered out of the final reprise of Somewhere That's Green. Although the music was generally well-preserved and intact, the finale's special effects extravaganza was never completed, so all of the sound effects were newly created for this version of the film.
The closing shots of the movie, featuring the plants overtaking the statue of liberty and ultimately bursting through the movie screen were never completed (and background plates for the statue were never created) so these few shots had to be finished with the aid of modern-day digital FX. Other instances with the computer being used were digitally recreating the girls in the flag background, three perfected shots of plants going down the street were also used with the first two having taxi cabs being flung properly with one of them bouncing off a building, and then when the Twoey pod comes out of the water, they used a digital plant and giant splash effect.
Crew. Rick Moranis. Seymour Krelborn. Ellen Greene. Audrey. Steve Martin. Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. Vincent Gardenia. Mr. Mushnik. Tichina Arnold. Crystal. Tisha Campbell-Martin. Chiffon. Michelle Weeks. Ronette. Jim Belushi. Patrick Martin. John Candy. Wink Wilkinson. Christopher Guest. The First Customer. Bill Murray. Arthur Denton. Offers.
Vincent Gardenia. as Mushnik. Levi Stubbs. as Audrey II (voice) Steve Martin. as Orin Scrivello D.D.S. Tichina Arnold. as Crystal. Michelle Weeks. as Ronnette. Tisha Campbell. as Chiffon. Jim...
