Audrey 2 Singing Feed Me Black and White

As part of the film's promotion, the "Audrey II" plant was occasionally interviewed, in character, by the press. On at least one occasion, the interview concluded with Audrey II "eating" the interviewer.

"Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" (written for this film) is the first Oscar-nominated song to contain profanity. As a result, when the song was performed at the Oscar ceremony by Levi Stubbs of the Four Topps, it was edited, replacing the more risqué lyrics with lyrics cut from the final film (though included on the film soundtrack).

Frank Oz originally wanted the Greek chorus (Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon) to be highlighted by a spotlight whenever they appeared, but this proved to be impractical as the light would spill over onto the other actors. He did manage to have them "magically" remain dry during the rainstorm in the title number.

The dentist's office originally was more grungy and blood-splattered but those details did not go over well with test audiences. The set was cleaned up and the scenes re-shot for the final film.

Bill Murray's scene in the waiting room was filmed as scripted, but there was virtually no written dialogue when his character got into the dentist's chair, except for ecstatic cries of pleasure. Over the course of the two days that he filmed, Murray kept riffing various ad-libs, which presented a challenge for the editor to assemble a coherent version of the scene.

The puppeteers who designed and operated Audrey II were veterans of the Jim Henson company. One of the operators was Brian Henson, Jim's son.

In the original cut of the film Paul Dooley played the part of Patrick Martin. When the cast and crew returned several months later to shoot a new ending, Dooley was unavailable so Jim Belushi stepped into the role. Dooley received a "special thanks" credit in the film and his scene appears in the black and white workprint ending that was available on the original DVD release. The 2012 Director's Cut Blu-Ray/DVD release restores Dooley's part, and conversely it's Belushi who receives a "special thanks" credit.

The shot pulling away from Audrey after the song "Somewhere That's Green" was so long that it required two cranes, one placed on top of the other, to pull it off. The camera actually shifts a little when the one crane stops and the other takes over.

The dental tools used in Orin's office during Bill Murray's famous scene would again appear in Tim Burton's 1989 Batman. They're the tools used on Jack Nicholson's Joker after he fell into the chemicals. Coincidentally, "Little Shop of Horrors" (1960) was Nicholson's first movie role in which HE plays the masochistic patient.

Wardrobe and props were obtained from New York thrift shops in order to attain a period realism. The most difficult items to find were garbage cans, so set decorator Tessa Davies drove around in a truck filled with new cans, and whenever she saw an old one outside of someone's home, she stopped and offered to trade. "People thought I was crazy!" she remarked.

Ellen Greene as Audrey (I) is the only member of the Off-Broadway cast to appear in this film. When she originated the role in 1982, it was her idea to wear a blond wig over her brunette curly hair. Howard Ashman originally saw Audrey as a brunette, based on Jackie Joseph's look in the original The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).

The Old Woman who begins the song "Skid Row (Downtown)" is Tony-nominated singer/actress/comedienne Bertice Reading. It's been erroneously reported that her voice is overdubbed by Michelle Weeks, who played Ronette and performed the verse for the alternate version on the soundtrack album. In fact, Bertice sang her part in the song live on the set. This was Bertice's final film appearance before her death in 1991.

The film inspired a board game by Milton Bradley called "Feed Me!", which came out in 1987, which players had to drop marbles in the giant fly trap's mouth.

It supposedly took Steve Martin six weeks to film all his scenes. He contributed ideas such as socking the nurse in the face (originally he was to knock her out using his gas mask) and ripping off the doll's head.

While filming the scene in which Dr. Scrivello pushes open the double swinging doors to Audrey's apartment complex, Steve Martin cut his hands when the glass windows shattered. As a result, in the final cut, he is kicking the door open. The outtake of Martin cutting his hand can be seen as a special feature on the DVD and Blu-ray releases.

The young girl leaving the dentist's office before Bill Murray's scene is Heather Henson, daughter of Jim Henson.

Amazingly, when this came out in 1986, it was the most expensive movie "Warner Brothers" had ever produced. With a budget of $25 million, it even surpassed "Aliens (1986)," which had a budget of $18 million and was shot in an adjacent stage at Pinewood Studios.

There are no blue screens or opticals involved in any of Audrey II's scenes. The plant was made in six different stages of growth and there were three different versions of Mushnik's shop, making it possible for two units to work with different sized plants at the same time. Each of the talking plants had to be cleaned, re-painted and patched up at the end of each shooting day, which would take up to three hours depending on the size.

All the scenes were filmed at Pinewood Studios in England, including what was then the largest studio set in the world, the "007" stage. They did not want to shoot on location, because it would ruin the fantastical mood of the film. Part of the giant 007 stage was used to film the "Suddenly Seymour" number. Due to its size, the stage was impractical to heat properly and thus caused breath condensation to appear. This was countered by having the actors put ice cubes in their mouths.

The scenes in which the two largest Audrey II puppets are performing with the actors are filmed at a lower speed. First at 16 frames per second, then at 12 frames per second for the final number. This means that the actors had to move and lip sync in slow motion.

Audrey's on-camera growth at the end of "Grow for Me" was achieved by placing the plant on a track concealed by the flower pot and then drawing it closer to the camera.

The filmmakers originally offered the role of Audrey to Cyndi Lauper before casting original stage star Ellen Greene. Lauper wanted the part, but couldn't commit due to her recording/touring schedule at the time. Madonna was also reportedly considered for the role.

John Candy was offered the part of Mushnik. He asked if there where some minor roles. Oz said Wink Winklson, and he accepted.

Mushnik is seen on the phone with one of his biggest clients, Mrs. Shiva, whose family is "dropping off like flies." This is a reference to an elderly shop patron with the same name, and with a similar problem, in the original "The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)." Shiva is a Jewish mourning ritual; it's also the name of the Hindu god of destruction, part of the trinity of gods along with Brahma (the creator) and Vishnu (the maintainer).

For the scene during "Suppertime" when Mushnik is offering Seymour a way out, director Frank Oz originally wanted to use over-the-shoulder shots. But Rick Moranis and Vincent Gardenia kept cracking each other up so he had to use close-ups.

The neon sign "CHOOZ" blinks the "OZ," director Frank Oz's surname.

Mushnik is the only main character in this movie who does not do any singing.

This spawned a spinoff Saturday morning cartoon featuring Seymor and the entire shop gang along with Audrey 2, now a nicer plant, on Fox in the 90s starting in 1991 None of the movie cast participated in the cartoon TV show, which was called Little Shop (downplaying the horror element. Infact Audrey 2 is just a talking plant in the show; he doesn't eat anyone).

The original production of "Little Shop of Horrors" premiered at the WPA Theater in New York on May 6, 1982, before transferring to the the Orpheum Theatre, where it ran from July 27, 1982 to November 1, 1987, for a total of 2,209 performances. Its Broadway debut was 17 years later at the Virginia Theater, where it between October 2, 2003 and August 22, 2004, totaling 372 performances.

After the 1998 DVD was recalled, there were plans to reissue the film with a color version of the original ending, but since it had never been finalized and was only assembled for various workprints, the footage was deemed lost. In 2011, a small restoration team tracked down referential production notes and the existing negatives (which had been scattered in Hollywood, Kansas and London vaults) and assembled "The Intended Cut" without the participation of director Frank Oz or Richard Conway, who'd directed the extravagant special FX finale. Oz was so elated that Conway's footage had been restored and completed that he approved of it being called a "Director's Cut," though this was in name only. This edit was screened at the 50th annual New York Film Festival on September 29, 2012 and issued on DVD and Blu Ray on October 9. Fans have criticized the finale's redundant footage and excessive length, as well as the omission of Seymour's lengthy soliloquy from "The Meek Shall Inherit" and other deleted/alternate scenes that were featured in early workprints, which began surfacing online in December 2012.

Every song except "Da-Doo" is different on the soundtrack album. There are both drastic and minor deviations in orchestrations, singers, vocal takes, and several songs include additional verses and/or alternate lyrics. The single version of "Dentist!" includes sound FX and dialogue from the film (extensively featuring Bill Murray), as well as the line "He's strictly a medical mess," which doesn't appear in any other release of the song. There are several different single radio edits of "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," and a 12" version which begins with the soundtrack album's ominous alternate "Prologue" seguing into the song.

This movie got glowing reviews, better reviews than the original Roger Corman movie as a matter of fact. Both Siskel and Ebert gave a "two huge thumbs up" on their TV show "Siskel and Ebert & The Movies", and Siskel said it was "one of the most entertaining movies of the year." The Tomatometer on Rottentomatoes for this movie is 90%! It was also a box office hit.

In 1986, D.C. Comics released a comic book adaptation of the film. Although the book retains some scenes that didn't make it to the final cut of the film, most characters bear little resemblance to their live-action counterparts.

In the original soundtrack release, 'Don't Feed The Plant' is included as the final song. The piece was used from the original intended scene despite not making part of the original cut of the film.

A tip-off to the fact that the film was shot in England can be seen in the garbage can from which Scrivello's boot (leg?) protrudes after his gassy demise: prominent among the other garbage is a newspaper crossword--but its grid is that of a British cryptic puzzle, not the American-style crossword layout.

Plans for a sequel were announced but it never materialized.

This movie and the movie Aliens were both being shot at the same time in adjacent sets at England's Pinewood Studios. In a interview by several actors from Aliens, it was stated about a on set accident involving James Remar. Apparently his prop gun was actually loaded with real ammo. When he shot the gun it blew a hole onto the set of Little Shop of Horrors. Luckily nobody was hurt in the accident.

The actresses playing Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon rehearsed a brief dance solo that would have appeared during the song "Dentist!," but it was cut during production to prevent distraction from Steve Martin's performance.

The little shrine that Dr. Scrivello (Steve Martin) keeps in his office of his dear mother has a framed photograph of her, which appears to be of veteran actor Henry Jones.

The song "Some Fun Now" was adapted from the song from the Off-Broadway show "Ya Never Know." Four other songs ("Closed for Renovation," "Mushnik & Son," "Now (It's Just the Gas)," and "Call Back in the Morning") were cut from the score and one, "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," was written for the film. Howard Ashman and Alan Menken wrote and proposed two songs to be used during the end credits: the ballad "Your Day Begins Tonight" and "Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon." These were dropped in favor of a medley of songs from the score.

The off Broadway show wasn't a nostalgia piece, per se. Although it starts with the introduction of "in a decade not too far from our own", the fashion in the theater show is non descriptive, it does not look like the early 60s, the way the movie does so pointedly.

Both of the movies that Steve Martin appeared in during 1986 featured singing plants; Three Amigos! (1986) had the Singing Bush, and this movie had Audrey II.

The film was originally intended to be a summer blockbuster, with a release date of July 2, 1986. A pair of disastrous test screenings pushed the release back until December 19, with reshoots taking place in September.

By the time of the film's production, star Ellen Greene was romantically involved with Martin P. Robinson, who created and puppeteered the plants in the original Off-Broadway version.

An original song entitled "Bad" was composed for the film's climax, the scene was storyboarded by artist Michael G. Ploog and it remained in the script from the first draft in 1983 until the final draft in September 1985, when it was suddenly replaced by "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space." A demo of "Bad" performed by Ron Taylor (who voiced Audrey II in the original stage play) was included as a bonus track on the 2003 Broadway cast album.

Levi Stubbs voiced a talking carnivorous plant in an episode of the cartoon "Visonaries: Knights of the Magical Light". "Honor Among Thieves" (#1.11)

The opening number/theme song has a very bright, bouncy and upbeat melody, and very dark lyrics. The song sounds like the background music at a 60s sock-hop; and yet the lyrics are a very dark, doom and gloom prophecy.

Some Fun Now is actually a cover of Little Shop Of Horrors, the show's theme song. (It may actually be the other way around; since Some Fun Now was written first and for another show; and then show writer Allen Menken poached that song and converted it for this show.)

In his review on "Siskel and Ebert" Ebert said that he saw the original off Broadway production and there was no Greek chorus; he insisted they had been added just for the movie. He was incorrect. The Greek chorus has been part of the show since it's inception.

The gun used in the movie is a Smith & Wesson Model 36. Near the end of the movie, Audrey II uses the gun to shoot at Seymour, there are about 12 shots fired without reloading during the scene. The gun only has a five-shot capacity.

Alan Menken's first PG-13 film.

Someone at the "Geffen" company tried to get Rodney Dangerfield into the film. They even tried to get him to record the vocals for Audrey II behind Frank Oz's back. When the filmmakers returned to Pinewood Studios to reshoot the ending in September 1986, the revised script pages had Dangerfield playing Patrick Martin.

Gene Wilder was considered for the role of Orin Scrivello.

Little Shop of Horrors comes from a long tradition of shows and plays that have a Greek Chorus. One of the first was Sophocles' famous play Antigone. Here is a list of some of the most well known and popular movies that have a Greek Chorus: Hercules (1997) The Muses, a Greek Chorus in the Greekest meaning of the word. (This one was actually a ripoff of the Greek chorus in Little Shop of Horrors; with their Supreme Copycats); Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) Comic-reliefs Ragetti and Pintel; Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) The oompas loompas; Cat Ballou (1965) Stubby Kaye and Nat "King Cole" as the balladeers; Do the Right Thing (1989) Senor Love Daddy and the three people sitting across from the Korean grocer; The Big Lebowski (1998) The cowboy at the bar in the bowling alley; There's Something About Mary (1998) The (annoying) band; The Meaning of Life (1983) The goldfish in the tank; Tangled (2010) Pascal ; Little Shop of Horrors (1986) Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon ; Robin Hood (1973) Allan-a-Dale; Babe (1995); The three singing mice; Mighty Aphrodite (1995) The Greek Chorus (literally); Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995) Jack Warden (and also the dying people on videotapes); Fiddler on the Roof (1971) Tevya; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1966) Pseudolus; Who's Singin' Over There? (1980) The two Gipsy musicians; Also Rankin and Bass's The Hobbit (1978) and The Return of the King (1982); the narrator and the background chorus singing about the Baginses and the action onscreen. Also the Broadway version of Sweeney Todd had a Greek Chorus as well. In addition to this, the Andrew Loyd Weber shows Evita, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcast and Cats, in which narrators sing about, introduce and comment on the action in the show, along with a backup chorus, can be said to have Greek Choruses as well.

Like the original 1960 movie on which this is loosely based, this movie bears interesting resemblances to the 1942 book "Elizabite" by H.A. Rey (creator of "Curious George"), about a friendly carnivorous plant that foils a robbery.

Jimmy Dean is indirectly referenced in the lyrics of "Feed Me!" Audrey II: "Would you like a Cadillac car / Or a guest-shot on Jack Paar? How about a date with Hedy Lamarr...?" Seymour: "Gee, I'd like a Harley machine/ Tooling around like I was James Dean / Making all the guys on the corner turn green!" Though James Dean was being sung about, Jimmy Dean and Jack Paar were both a host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962). (Although the film's year isn't explicitly stated, Paar hosted from 1957 to 1962.)

Vincent Gardenia and Christopher Guest also appeared in Death Wish.

Spoilers

The trivia items below may give away important plot points.

The original script called for Audrey and Seymour to be eaten by Audrey II. Frank Oz reluctantly had it changed after negative reactions from test audiences. Oz claims that the difference between the success of the scene in the play and the same scene in the film is that there is no curtain call to remind the audience that the actors were okay.

In 1998, a special edition DVD was released with the alternate "everybody dies" ending. The DVDs were yanked off the shelves a few days after release, and replaced with DVDs without that ending, because David Geffen wanted to re-release the film in theaters with the gruesome ending. The ending was restored 14 years later, with the release of the Director's Cut Blu-Ray.

In the very last shot of the theatrical release, the camera pans down as the Greek chorus passes the screen. Only two women's faces are visible. Tisha Campbell was unavailable for the re-shoot and had to be replaced by an English double.

The original ending featured extensive model shots of Audrey 2 wreaking havoc on the city to the song "Don't Feed the Plants". The ending was reshot after bad preview audience reaction.

People complained about Frank Oz changing the dark ending of the Broadway musical, which has Audrey 2 killing Seymour and taking over the world. In the theatrical cut Oz, who thought the ending would turn off audiences, had Seymor killing Audrey 2 and being triumphant in the ending.

The tie-in trading card set released by Topps contains many shots of scenes now deleted from the movie. These includes images of the plants taking over New York; of Audrey (1) being eaten; and pieces of the deleted extended song sequence - all presented in full colour. The back of some of the trading cards could be put together to form a larger picture of the plants attacking the Brooklyn Bridge.

The "Suppertime" number uses two different sizes of Audrey II. When the plant is singing all alone in the shop, it is actually a smaller size; the same size as when it sang "Feed Me", but now standing on a scaled down set to make it look larger. The full size one that is seen to interact with Seymour and Mushnik was not provided with lip movement, but was built to swallow Mushnik's (mechanical) legs.

In a production meeting that was chronicled in a June 1985 issue of The New York Times magazine, producer and financier David Geffen recounted a bad test screening of Risky Business (1983), which later scored remarkably well when they added an upbeat tag ending. He suggested that writer Howard Ashman should revise the script with a happy ending, but Ashman countered that Seymour would be on "morally shaky ground" if he were to get off scot free. Filming of Ashman's script went off as planned, a positively dismal test screening ensued, and he was forced to write a happy ending, which scored off the charts and wound up costing Geffen an addition $2 million in production costs.

At the ending of the original 1960 Roger Corman movie Audrey does not die; and neither does Mushnik, and there is no secret plot revealed for the plant to take over the world; it just gets very big, and when it starts blooming people can see the faces of the people Audrey II ate in the flower; tipping everyone off that Seymour was feeding people to the plant. There's also a scene where Seymour kills a prostitute and feeds her to the plant. The authorities, who are into Seymour's murders at this point, chase Seymour around town, with Mushnik in tow. Seymour runs back to the plant shop, and jumps into the mouth of the plant with the intention to kill it, and the plant swallows him. When Audrey runs in after him a new flower blooms on the plant, with Seymour's face on it; and he says "I didn't mean it!", apologizing for all the deaths he caused. In the off Broadway musical production both Audrey and Mushnik get eaten by the plant, as well as Seymour who tries to fight the plant at the end, and then flowers bloom with all their faces in it, the characters then sing the finale, begging the audience "Don't Feed the Plants"; an epilogue from Crystal, Chiffon, and Ronnette explains that Patrick Martin's plan worked and thousands of Audrey IIs talked their unsuspecting owners into feeding them blood until they were indestructible too; all part of the original plan. The original film ending (which can be seen online) follows the off Broadway ending; expanding upon it; showing the plant crashing through cities, toppling the Statue of Liberty, even crashing through the screen at the ending as the Greek Chorus sings about the plant inheriting the earth. (There are no faces in the flowers in the film versions). Frank Oz and test audiences deemed this too dark and overwhelming, so they nixed it. In the theatrical ending Mushnik does die, but not Seymour or Audrey, who are attacked by the plant, but Seymour strikes back by plugging an exposed power chord into the giant Venus fly trap, making it explode, while Seymour and Audrey embrace, and run off to their "Somewhere that's green" suburban dream life together. In the end of this version we see their is another Audrey 2 carnivorous alien Venus fly trap that has sprouted up in their new front yard; while the Greek Chorus sings the theme song again.

Originally included an extended sequence for the song "The Meek Shall Inherit". The extended sequence song is on the soundtrack album though.

During "Feed Me", Audrey 2 replies "tell it to the marines" in between one of Seymours refrains. Thought at first it may seem like he's just being insulting to Seymours lamenting, there is also an interesting double meaning: in the original ending, Audrey 2 spreads and eventually takes over the world. Audrey 2 is, essentially, daring Seymour to try and stop him, since he knows that he can't be stopped that way and doesn't care about Seymours reservations

Audrey 2 Singing Feed Me Black and White

Source: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091419/trivia

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