Little Shop

Little Shop
Developed by	Marvel Productions Ltd. Saban International N.V. Concorde / New Horizon Communications
Starring	Jana Lexxa Jennie Kwan Michael Rawl Terry McGee Mark Ryan
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	13
Production
Running time	30 min.
Production company(s)	Marvel Productions Saban International Fox Children's Productions
Distributor	20th Century Fox Television BVS Entertainment
Release
Original network	FOX La Cinq
Original release	September 7 – November 30, 1991

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

Synopsis

Self-proclaimed nerd Seymour Krelborn, an adolescent boy who works in a flower shop, keeps a pet Venus flytrap 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, does not seem to reciprocate his feelings. 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 the cartoon

The young and human characters are 13-years-old, and there are musical segments in each episode. Junior is a kind-hearted and helpful plant, rather than a man-eating alien. He hatches from a prehistoric Earth plant that has been dormant for over 200 million years. Although Junior has a voracious appetite, this version of the plant does not feast on human blood but he does eat other types of meat. There is, however, a running gag which involves Junior eating the piano teacher in every episode in which the teacher appears, and then belching out the teacher's scarf. The plant retains its ability to hypnotize people, as it did in the film, as well as the ability to telekinetically manipulate meat - an ability he dubbed his "vegetable magnetism." 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

Crew

• Roger Corman - Creative Consultant
• Stu Rosen - Voice Director
• Jamie Simone - Dialogue Editor

References

External links

• Little Shop on IMDb