Little Shop of Horrors
Video

Trivia: The original ending for this film (fully produced but then deleted) was a jaw-dropping apocalypse. For starters, Audrey II actually kills and eats both Seymour Krelborn and his bride-to-be, Audrey. The giant carnivorous plant grows to gargantuan proportions and divides into multiple monsters that go on a Godzilla-style rampage across New York City, tearing down bridges, eating whole passenger trains, climbing the Statue of Liberty, and doing battle with the military. The original ending alone cost over $5 million out of the film's $25 million budget, so it was a major undertaking. When director Frank Oz test-screened the finished film, he was stunned that audiences hated the deaths of lovable Seymour and Audrey and everything thereafter. Oz hastily reassembled his cast and crew to re-shoot a cheaper, much less gruesome happy ending, which was a hit with audiences. However, Frank Oz said that he thought the original ending was far superior and some of his best work, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the revised happy ending.

Charles Austin Miller

Trivia: To make the effects of Audrey II look convincing, the animatronic was usually shot at a lower frame-rate, such as 12 frames per second, and then played back at the standard 24fps. This sped-up the shots and made the animatronic's motions look more fluid and lifelike. In order to compensate, whenever a human actor would be in-shot with Audrey II, they would have to act in "slow motion" in order for their movement to look right at 24fps. (You can kinda tell in a few shots if you look closely).

TedStixon

Character mistake: Both in the movie (and stage) versions, Mushnik makes a verbal mistake. Seymour shows Mushnik his new plant (Audrey II) for the very first time, but seconds later when the plant suddenly droops, Mushnik asks Seymour, "Why is it always wilting like that?" Always? He's just seen the plant! The line should be, "Why is it wilting like that?" Some smart stage directors of the play version have wised up and changed the line.

CCARNI

More mistakes in Little Shop of Horrors

Orin: I find a little giggle-gas before I begin increases my pleasure enormously.

More quotes from Little Shop of Horrors

Question: When Seymore is having the final confrontation with the plant, the plant sings, "You can keep the Thing. You can keep the It. You can keep the Creature, they don't mean shit!" I get that "the Thing" is a reference to the monster from "The Thing From Another World" and "the Creature" is a reference to Gillman from "The Creature From The Black Lagoon", but what is "the It" a reference to?

Answer: Most likely it is referring to It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958) or possibly It Came from Outer Space (1953).

Answer: I'm assuming that "it" is simply a vague reference to non-human creatures. (It most likely wouldn't be a reference to "It" by Stephen King, as "It" came out after the song was written.)

TedStixon

Answer: He was speaking in general. It being used as a subject, direct object, or indirect object of a verb, or object of a preposition, usually in reference to a lifeless thing.

Answer: Seems like "It" is the titular creature from Stephen King's novel "It." It was a shapeshifter, but mainly took the form of Pennywise the Clown. The novel was released 3 months prior to this film's release.

Bishop73

More questions & answers from Little Shop of Horrors

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.