''Little Shop'' is a 1991

animated Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby image, still images are manipulated to create Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on cel, transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and e ...

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

comedy television series that aired on Saturday mornings on the Fox Kids TV network, about a teenage boy and his giant talking plant. Based on

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

's 1960

comedy horror Comedy horror (also called horror comedy) is a literary, television and film genre that combines elements of comedy and horror fiction. Comedy horror has been described as having three types: "black comedy, parody and spoof." Comedy horror can a ...

film ''

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

'' as well as incorporating elements of the Off-Broadway musical of the same name, the concept 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 ...

, 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. Ownership of the series passed to

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

in 2001 when Disney acquired

Fox Kids Worldwide ABC Family Worldwide is a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company that operates American basic cable channel Freeform (previously known as ''ABC Family'') and manages the programming libraries of BVS E ...

, which also includes

Marvel Productions Marvel Productions Ltd., later known as New World Animation, was an American production company owned by the Fox Entertainment Group subsidiary of News Corporation which was founded in 1981 as the television and film studio subsidiary of the Mar ...

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 the temperate and subtropical wetlands of North Carolina and South Carolina, on the East Coast of the United States. Although various modern hybrids have been created ...

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, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggressively dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perc ...

, 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.)

Episodes

Cast

* Marlow Vella as Seymour Krelborn ** Lisa Paulette and Jana Lexxa as Seymour's singing voice * Tamar Lee as Audrey Mushnik **

Jennie Kwan Jennie Kwan is an American actress and singer. She played Samantha "Sam" Woo on ''California Dreams'', and voiced Satoko Hojo in ''Higurashi When They Cry'', Suki in ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', and Chun-Li in ''Street Fighter 6''. Career Kw ...

as Audrey's singing voice *

Harvey Atkin Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in ''Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in '' Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in '' The Super Mario Bro ...

as Mr. Mushnik ** Michael Rawl as Mr. Mushnik's singing voice * Buddy Lewis as Junior ** Terry "Proffet" McGee as Junior's singing voice * David Huband as Paine Driller ** Mark Ryan-Martin as Paine's singing voice

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. Early life Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his bir ...

Dan Hennessey Daniel Robert Hennessey (September 11, 1942 – November 13, 2024) was an American-born Canadian voice actor. He was perhaps best known for voicing Brave Heart Lion in the ''Care Bears'' franchise. In addition to his well-received voice work ...

https://deadline.com/2024/11/dan-hennessey-dead-voice-actor-care-bears-inspector-gadget-x-men-tv-series-director-1236182060/ * 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 on Broadway in '' La Bete'', he achieved TV fame (and a Gemini Award) as the ghostly Oliver Welles i ...

* 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 Jack Westelman (April 7, 1941 – November 28, 2013), professionally known as Danny Wells, was a Canadian actor. He was best known for his role as Charlie, the bartender on ''The Jeffersons'', as well as his role as Luigi in the live-action/ani ...

Crew

– Creative Consultant * Stu Rosen – Voice Director *

Jamie Simone Jamie Simone is an American voice director and producer, best known for directing ''Naruto'', ''Sailor Moon'' and ''Tiger & Bunny''. He is the owner of the recording studio Studiopolis. In 2012, he was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outs ...

– Dialogue Editor

References

External links

*
''Little Shop'' TV Series Bible
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