Little Shop Explained

Runtime:20 min.
Based On:The Little Shop of Horrors by
Charles B. Griffith
Developer:Mark Edward Edens
Ellen Levy-Sarnoff
Composer:Haim Saban
Shuki Levy
Executive Producer:Haim Saban
Joe Taritero
Winston Richard
Ellen-Levy Sarnoff
Num Seasons:1
Num Episodes:13

Little Shop is a 1991 animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenage boy and his giant talking plant.[1] Based on Roger Corman's 1960 comedy horror film The Little Shop of Horrors, the concept is credited to Ellen Levy and Mark Edward Edens, and the series was produced by Tom Tataranowicz, with Corman as a consultant. The horror elements in previous versions of the story, in which characters are eaten by the plant, are toned down for children in this series.[2]

Copyright passed to Disney in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes Marvel Productions.[3] [4] [5]

Synopsis

Self-proclaimed nerd Seymour Krelborn, an adolescent boy who works in a flower shop, is friends with a talking Venus flytrap named Junior.[6] Junior sprouts from a 200-million-year-old seed and has the ability to talk and hypnotize people. Only Seymour is aware of Junior's abilities. The flower shop is owned by stodgy Mr. Mushnik, whose daughter Audrey is the object of Seymour's affections. Audrey, however, is unaware of Seymour's feelings towards her. Buck-toothed Paine Driller, a neighborhood bully, continuously targets Seymour.

Episodes focus on the pubescent exploits of the leads and frequently feature a moral. They also feature a couple of musical numbers per episode. Consistent with the "urban" persona of the plant in the musical, Audrey Junior raps in the series during his numbers, and speaks in a hip-hop dialect. Also featured are a trio of singing flowers reminiscent of Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon (the three chorus girls in the musical).

Differences between the film and series

Each episode features a musical segment. The young human characters are thirteen years old and in junior high. Junior is a kind-hearted plant, rather than a man-eating alien; and hatched from a prehistoric Earth plant that has been dormant for over 200 million years. Although Junior does maintain a voracious appetite, this iteration would very rarely (and only offscreen) feast on human blood. The plant retains its ability to hypnotize people, as was in the film, as well as the ability to telekinetically manipulate plants and objects made from plant-based materials. Junior sometimes aids Seymour without his knowledge, sometimes by using his hypnotic abilities, and will occasionally insult Seymour.

Audrey, Seymour's love interest, is a bow-wearing brunette who is always thinking about what job she wants when she grows up. She is Mr. Mushnik's daughter in this version. Brace-faced neighborhood bully Paine Driller replaces the character of Orin Scrivello, the dentist. (Paine's name alludes to the dentist's sadistic tendencies.)

Cast

Additional voices

Crew

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 367.
  2. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 511–512.
  3. Web site: U.S. Copyright Public Records System .
  4. Web site: Disney+ and Missing Saban Entertainment & Fox Kids-Jetix Worldwide Library - StreamClues . 14 September 2022 . 24 February 2023 . 26 December 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221226042740/https://streamclues.com/disney-and-missing-saban-entertainment-fox-kids-jetix-worldwide-library/ . dead .
  5. Web site: Liste - BVS Entertainment | Séries .
  6. Book: Hyatt . Wesley . The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . 1997 . Watson-Guptill Publications . 978-0823083152 . 19 March 2020. 263.