Frank Oz’s Little Shop of Horrors is one of the most critically and commercially successful musical comedies of all time. The remake of Roger Corman’s black-and-white 1960 horror movie of the same name and adaptation of the 1982 stage play not only received rave reviews but it also earned roughly $40 million in global box-office grosses. The film became even more popular when it hit home video in 1987, becoming a beloved cult-classic in the process.
The film follows Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis), a nerdy flower shop employee who inadvertently acquires a strange rapidly growing man-eating plant that appears during a solar eclipse. For more on the production of the movie, here are some of the coolest behind the scenes facts relating to it.
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Production Details
At the time it was produced, Little Shop of Horrors was the most expensive movie in the history of Warner Bros. It had a budget of $25 million, besting the previous record holder of Aliens‘ $18-million budget.
The entire movie was filmed on the largest sound stage at Pinewood Studios in England. The set was dubbed the “the 007 stage” due to its grandiosity. The “Suddenly Seymour” number was shot on this stage, which proved so large that various heating issues resulted on set. When breathing, condensation from the actors would appear on screen due to the difficulty heating the set properly, so the actors held ice-cubes in their mouth to prevent their breath from showing.
Original Casting
The only cast member of the stage production to appear in the film was Ellen Greene as Audrey. Prior to her casting, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna were considered for the role. Eddie Murphy was also considered to voice Audrey II (Levi Stubbs).
In addition, John Candy was offered the role of Mr. Mushnik (Vincent Gardenia) but insisted on playing the minor role of radio host Wink Wilson instead. Also, when the production required reshoots (stay tuned), actor Paul Dooley was replaced by James Belushi in the role of Patrick Martin, the man who confronts Seymour about Audrey II.
Zero Green-Screen FX
There were no digital optical effects, green-screens, or CGI used in the making of Little Shop of Horrors. To achieve the various sizes of Audrey II, six different sizes of the plant were constructed. Three different scales of Mushnik’s flower shop were also built, allowing production to work on different sizes of the plant simultaneously.
Once filming wrapped each day, the plants had to be scrubbed, patched, and re-painted for the following day. For scenes involving the actors interacting with the largest versions of Audrey II, the frame-rate was decreased t0 12 and 16 frames per second, which required the actors to mouth their lines in slow-motion.
Grow For Me FX
One of the most iconic scenes in the film comes when Audrey II grows for the first time on-screen. The sequence takes place immediately following Seymour’s passionate plea in the song “Grow for Me.”
To achieve the growth of the plant on-screen, the plant was placed on a small dolly track hidden below the coffee can flower pot. When Oz called “action,” the plant was slowly pulled towards the camera on the track to make it appear as if it was getting bigger.
Steve Martin spent six weeks filming his role as the sadomasochistic dentist, Dr. Orin Scrivello. It was Martin’s idea to have his character punch the nurse in the face and rip the head off the little girl’s doll.
In addition, several of Dr. Scrivello’s dental equipment appears in Tim Burton’s Batman. The tools can be seen in Batman when the doctor works on the Joker’s face after falling into a vat of acid. The Joker was played by Jack Nicholson, who made his big-screen debut in the original Little Shop of Horrors, in which he played the masochistic dental patient played by Bill Murray in the remake. (Photo via Reddit).
Bill Murray’s Improv
The always incredible Bill Murray improvised most of his scenes as the masochistic dental patient, Arthur Denton. While he filmed the scene of his character in the waiting room as scripted, his lines while in the dental chair were ad-libbed on the spot.
As a result of Murray’s wildly different lines in each take during two days of filming, the editors struggled to cut a coherent scene together. Also, the dentist’s office was originally far gorier, with blood splattered on several of the walls. When test audiences voiced their displeasure with the gruesome setting, it was cleaned up and filmed over.
Double Crane Shot
For the elevated pull-away of Audrey after she completes the solo number “Somewhere That’s Green,” not one but two large cranes were needed to achieve the lengthy shot.
The logistical challenge required two film cranes sitting on top of each other, with the camera quickly transferred from one to the other as the first reached its height limit. The effect is somewhat noticeable when the camera slightly shakes when transitioning to the second crane.
Suppertime Number
Two different sized Audrey II props were used for the making of the iconic “Suppertime” number. When the plant is seen alone in Mushnik’s shop, it is much smaller than it appears on-screen. To force perspective, the flower shop set was made much smaller to make the plant appear quite large.
The much larger prop used for the part where Audrey II interacts with Seymour and Mushnik, a fully-scaled model was used to match the height of the actors. The larger prop did not come equipped with lip-movement and was only designed to swallow Mushnik’s mechanical limbs.
Original Ending
The original ending of Little Shop of Horrors was far different that was is shown in the final version. Much like the musical stage production, the film was supposed to end with Audrey II eating Seymour and Audrey before overtaking the entire city of New York in a plot for world domination.
The original ending was filmed but was such a disaster in test screenings that reshoots were scheduled, pushing the release of the film from the summer to winter of 1986. Several songs composed for the original ending were also nixed from the final cut, including “The Meek Shall Inherit” and “Don’t Feed the Plants.”
Recalled 1998 DVD
In regards to the original dark ending, it was restored on the 1998 special edition DVD release of the film. However, the DVDs were recalled just days after hitting the public when producer David Geffen planned to re-release the film in theaters with the original ending intact.
While the movie failed to be shown in theaters with the original “Everyone Dies” ending, the version was included on the 2012 blu-ray release of the film.