Little Shop
Little Shop is a 1991 American/French animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenager and a giant talking plant.[1] Little Shop was based on the 1960 Roger Corman film The Little Shop of Horrors; Corman served as a consultant. The concept of the adaptation is credited to Ellen Levy and Mark Edward Edens, and the series was produced by Tom Tataranowicz. 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]
| Little Shop | |
|---|---|
 Title card | |
| Developed by | Mark Edward Edens |
| Starring | Marlow Vella Tamar Lee Harvey Atkin Buddy Lewis David Huband |
| Country of origin | United States France |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Production companies | Marvel Productions Saban Entertainment Saban International Paris Fox Children's Productions |
| Distributor | 20th Century Fox Television Saban International |
| Release | |
| Original network | Fox Kids La Cinq |
| Original release | September 7 – November 30, 1991 |
Synopsis
Self-proclaimed nerd Seymour Krelborn, an adolescent boy who works in a flower shop, is friends with a talking Venus flytrap named Junior.[3] 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
The young human characters are 13-years-old, and there are musical segments in each episode. 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 have a voracious appetite, this version of him would very rarely (and only off screen) feast on human blood. The plant retains its ability to hypnotize people, as it did 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. However, he does insult Seymour from time to time, for example, calling him a "meathead" or "pest", and saying he'd "rather be talking to a termite".
Brace-faced neighborhood bully Paine Driller replaces the character of Orin Scrivello, the dentist. 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 the daughter of Mr. Mushnik in this version.
Episodes
| Nº | Title | Written by | Air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bad Seed" | Mark Edward Edens | September 7, 1991 | |
| Seymour finds a seed from 200 million years ago and helps it grow into the plant known as Junior. The plant tries to return home but, upon finding that he cannot, stays with Seymour and helps Mr. Mushnik's flowers grow. | ||||
| 2 | "Real Men Aren't Made of Quiche" | Mark Edward Edens | September 14, 1991 | |
| Seymour joins a home economics class where he and Junior conspire to make a human–plant hybrid a la Frankenstein. Meanwhile, Audrey decides she wants to be a refrigerator repairman. | ||||
| 3 | "Back to the Fuchsia" | Mel Gilden | September 21, 1991 | |
| A trip to the Skid Row Museum of Uninteresting History inspires Junior to travel in time to warn plants about the rise of the dinosaurs and keep his place in the food chain. | ||||
| 4 | "Unfair Science" | Mark Edward Edens | September 28, 1991 | |
| Seymour's science project, which was made by Junior, wins a science fair and attention from Seymour's favorite celebrity. However, the scientist wants to steal Seymour's project and use it for himself. | ||||
| 5 | "Stage Blight" | Robert Tarlow | October 5, 1991 | |
| Failed playwright Thespian Chinless produces Junior's play "Flower Town" and Seymour finds himself as the romantic lead. Meanwhile, Mr. Mushnik becomes a stage-dad. | ||||
| 6 | "I Loathe a Parade" | Marty Isenberg Robert N. Skir | October 12, 1991 | |
| Seymour brings home a female Venus flytrap, which Junior falls in love with. | ||||
| 7 | "Air Junior" | Marty Isenberg Robert N. Skir | October 19, 1991 | |
| Junior persuades Seymour to buy a new pair of shoes and makes them fly. | ||||
| 8 | "Untitled Halloween Story" | Steve Cuden | October 26, 1991 | |
| Infuriated by the tradition of jack-o-lantern carving, Junior joins Seymour and Audrey's trick or treating to steal them back via his vegetable magnetism abilities. | ||||
| 9 | "It's a Wonderful Leaf" | TBA | November 2, 1991 | |
| A reaper shows Seymour a future where the Mushnicks own a yogurt shop, Paine is winning awards, and Seymour is a politician. Meanwhile, Junior dreams that he runs a hotel for flowers. | ||||
| 10 | "Tooth or Consequences" | Barbara Slade | November 9, 1991 | |
| Seymour and Junior learn the hard way about lies when Mrs. Krelborn's low-fat ice cream disappears. | ||||
| 11 | "Walk Like a Nerd" | Barbara Slade | November 16, 1991 | |
| Weary of the limitations that come with having roots, Junior tries to give himself legs and inadvertently winds up sharing a body with Seymour. | ||||
| 12 | "Pulp Fiction" | Matthew Malach | November 23, 1991 | |
| Junior watches in horror as the oldest tree in the world is turned into paper and leads a revolt composed of used paper products that swamps Skid Row. | ||||
| 13 | "Married to the Mush" | Hope Juber | November 30, 1991 | |
| Paine's aunt starts to date Mr. Mushnik under the delusion that he is a rich dude. Dismayed from the news, the usually career-oriented Audrey expresses her desire to become a housewife. | ||||
Cast
Speaking voices
- Marlow Vella as Seymour Krelborn
- Tamar Lee as Audrey Mushnik
- Harvey Atkin as Mr. Mushnik
- Buddy Lewis as Audrey Junior
- David Huband as Paine Driller
Singing voices
- Jana Lexxa as Seymour Krelborn
- Jennie Kwan as Audrey Mushnik
- Michael Rawl as Mr. Mushnik
- Terry McGee as Audrey Junior
- Mark Ryan as Paine Driller
Crew
- Roger Corman – Creative Consultant
- Stu Rosen – Voice Director
- Jamie Simone – Dialogue Editor
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 367. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 511–512. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 263. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 19 March 2020.
External links
- Little Shop at IMDb