''Little Shop'' is a 1991 animated fantasy comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenager and a giant talking plant. ''Little Shop'' was based on the 1960

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

film ''

The Little Shop of Horrors ''The Little Shop of Horrors'' is a 1960 American horror comedy film directed by Roger Corman. Written by Charles B. Griffith, the film is a farce about an inadequate florist's assistant who cultivates a plant that feeds on human blood. The fi ...

''; 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 Thomas Tataranowicz is an American cartoon animator, storyboard artist, producer and director. Career His first credit was ''He-Man and the Masters of the Universe''. He then went onto Marvel Productions/ New World Animation where he was the S ...

. 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. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired Fox Kids Worldwide, which also includes

Marvel Productions New World Animation Ltd., formerly known as Marvel Productions, was the television and film studio subsidiary of the Marvel Entertainment Group, based in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. It later became a subsidiary of New World Entertainmen ...

. The series is not available on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

Synopsis

Self-proclaimed nerd Seymour Krelborn, an adolescent boy who works in a flower shop, is friends with a talking

Venus flytrap The Venus flytrap (''Dionaea muscipula'') is a carnivorous plant native to subtropical wetlands on the East Coast of the United States in North Carolina and South Carolina. It catches its prey—chiefly insects and arachnids—with a trapping ...

named Junior. 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 Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an i ...

, 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

Cast

Speaking voices

*Marlow Vella as Seymour Krelborn *Tamar Lee as Audrey Mushnick * Harvey Atkin as Mr. Mushnick * Buddy Lewis as Audrey Junior *David Huband as Paine Driller

Singing voices

* Terry "Proffet" McGee as Audrey Junior * Lisa Paulette and Jana Lexxa as Seymour Krelborn *

Jennie Kwan Jennie Kwan is an American television, film, and voice actress. She played Samantha "Sam" Woo on ''California Dreams'', Satoko Hojo in ''Higurashi When They Cry'', and voiced Suki, a character on '' Avatar: The Last Airbender''. Career Kwan beg ...

as Audrey Mushnick * Mark Ryan-Martin as Paine Driller * Michael Rawl as Mr. Mushnick

Additional voices

* Tara Charendoff *

Don Francks Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer. Career Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...

Dan Hennessey Dan Hennessey (born August 25)https://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Dan-Hennessey/ is a Canadian voice director and voice actor who, early on in his career, performed with a children's comedy troupe The Zoo Factory (with John Stocker, Bruce Gord ...

* Rick Jones * Tracey Moore *

Stephen Ouimette Stephen Ouimette is a Canadian actor and director. Although mostly known for his stage work, particularly at the Stratford Festival of Canada and recently on Broadway in '' La Bete'', he achieved TV fame (and a Gemini Award) as the ghostly Olive ...

* Ron Rubin *

Linda Sorenson Linda Sorenson (born January 19, 1940) is a Canadian film, television and voice actress, best known for playing Mrs. Stegman in ''Class of 1984'', Warden Howe in ''Murphy Brown'', Virginia Reeves in '' Material World'' and Isabelle Carrington in ...

Robert Tinkler Robert Tinkler is a Canadian voice actor who provides voices for a number of cartoons and anime shows. He voiced Max in '' The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police'', Delete in the children's animated series '' Cyberchase'', Pelswick Eggert ...

* Danny Wells

Crew

– Creative Consultant *

Stu Rosen Stuart M. Rosen (June 26, 1939 – August 4, 2019) was an American voice director and voice actor. History Shortly after graduating from California State College, Long Beach, Rosen got work as a production assistant at KCET. He wrote and starr ...

– Voice Director * Jamie Simone – Dialogue Editor

References

External links

* {{Portalbar, 1990s, Cartoon, Television, United States Little Shop of Horrors 1990s American animated television series 1990s American workplace comedy television series 1991 American television series debuts 1991 American television series endings 1990s French animated television series 1991 French television series debuts 1991 French television series endings American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated musical television series Animated television shows based on films Fox Kids French children's animated comedy television series French children's animated fantasy television series French children's animated musical television series Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Marvel Productions Television series by Saban Entertainment Television shows set in New Jersey