Frank Oz’s little shop of horrors is one of the most critically and commercially successful musical comedies of all time. A remake of Roger Corman’s 1960 black-and-white horror film of the same name and adapted from the 1982 stage play, it not only received rave reviews but also grossed approximately $40 million at the global box office. The film became even more popular when it was released on home video in 1987, becoming a beloved cult classic in the process.
The film tells the story of Seymour Claiborne (Rick Moranis), a nerdy flower shop employee who accidentally acquires a strange, fast-growing man-eating plant that Appears during a solar eclipse. For more on the making of the film, here are some of the coolest behind-the-scenes facts related to it.
Production details
When it is made, little shop of horrors is the most expensive movie in Warner Bros. history.With a budget of $25 million, it beat the previous record holder alien‘$18 million budget.
The entire film was shot on the largest soundstage at Pinewood Studios in England. The scene is known as the “007 stage” because of its grandeur. “Suddenly Seymour” was filmed on this stage, which proved to be too large, causing all sorts of heating issues on the set. Because the set was difficult to heat, condensation would appear on the screen when the actors breathed, so the actors held ice cubes in their mouths to prevent them from breathing.
Original casting
The only stage actor to appear in the film is Ellen Greene, who plays Audrey. Prior to casting, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna were considered for the role. Eddie Murphy was also considered to voice Audrey II (Levi Stubbs).
Additionally, John Candy was offered the role of Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia), but he insisted on playing a minor role: radio host Wink Wilson. Additionally, when production needed to reshoot (stay tuned), actor Paul Dooley was replaced by James Belushi as Patrick Martin, who confronts Seymour about Audrey II.
Zero green screen effect
No digital optical effects, green screens or CGI were used in the production little shop of horrors. To achieve the various sizes of the Audrey II, six different sized plants were built. Mushnik’s Florist also built three florists of different sizes so that plants of different sizes can be produced simultaneously.
After each day of shooting, the plants had to be scrubbed, patched and repainted the next day. For scenes where the actors interact with the largest version of Audrey II, the frame rate was reduced to 12 and 16 frames per second, which required the actors to speak their lines in slow motion.
grow for me fx
One of the most iconic scenes in the film is when Audrey II grows up on screen for the first time. The scene follows Seymour’s passionate plea in the song “Grow for Me.”
To achieve on-screen plant growth, plants are placed on small moving tracks hidden beneath coffee can planters. When Oz calls out “action,” the plant is slowly pulled toward the orbiting camera, making it appear as if it’s growing.
Steve Martin spent six weeks filming his role as sadomasochistic dentist Dr. Orin Scrivello. Martin’s idea was for his character to punch a nurse in the face and rip the head off a little girl’s doll.
In addition, several of Dr. Scrivello’s dental equipment appear in Tim Burton’s works batman. In The Batman, these tools can be seen when doctors operate on the Joker’s face after falling into a vat of acid.The Joker is played by Jack Nicholson, who made his big screen debut in the original film little shop of horrors, in which he plays a masochistic dental patient played by Bill Murray in the remake. (Photo via Reddit).
Bill Murray’s Improv
The always incredible Bill Murray, who plays the masochistic dental patient Arthur Denton, had most of his scenes improvised. His lines in the dental chair were improvised on the spot as he filmed his character’s scenes in the waiting room according to the script.
Because Murray’s lines were completely different for each take over the course of two days of filming, editors had difficulty cutting the scenes into a coherent sequence. Moreover, the dentist’s office was already stained with blood, and several walls were splattered with blood. When test audiences expressed dissatisfaction with the gruesome scenes, the entire scene was cleaned up and reshot.
double crane shooting
Audrey’s high-altitude pull-off after her solo number “Somewhere That’s Green” required not one but two large cranes to achieve the long shot.
Logistical challenges required two film cranes to be stacked on top of each other, with cameras quickly being moved from one to the other when the first reached its height limit. The effect is somewhat noticeable when the camera shakes slightly during the transition to the second crane.
dinner time number
Two Audrey II props of different sizes were used to create the iconic “Suppertime” number. When the plant is seen alone in Mushnik’s store, it is much smaller than it appears on the screen. To enhance the effect of perspective, the florist’s set was made smaller to make the plants appear quite large.
Larger props were used for the parts where Audrey II interacted with Seymour and Mushnik, and full-scale models were used to match the actors’ heights. The larger prop was not equipped with lip movement and was simply designed to swallow Mushnik’s robotic limbs.
original ending
The original ending was little shop of horrors Very different from what is shown in the final version. Like a musical stage production, this movie should end with Audrey II eating Seymour and Audrey, then taking over all of New York City and dominating the world.
The original ending had been filmed, but performed so poorly in test screenings that reshoots were scheduled, pushing the film’s release from the summer of 1986 to the winter. Several songs written for the original finale were also removed from the final cut, including “Mick Will Inherit” and “Don’t Feed the Plants.”
Memories 1998 DVD
Regarding the original dark ending, it was restored on the special edition DVD released in 1998. However, the DVD was recalled just days after it was released to the public, as producer David Geffen planned to re-release the film in theaters and preserve the original ending.
While the film was not released in theaters with the original “Everybody Dies” ending, that version was included on the film’s 2012 Blu-ray release.