#lsoh director's cut

[scriv3lloirl]

So we finally finished Little Shop!

Spoilers under the cut!! (But if y'all are followin me, then y'all should already know what happens.)

So the version we jus watched had the Directors Cut—which I've, surprisingly, never actually watched b'fore—Its definitely gotta my favorite endin now though.

A few people in front cried over Audrey's death, which almost made me cry cus the feelin's were overwhelmin as all hell. But then Orin fronted n was like. "Y'all are not cryin over my girlfriend." (It's a whole story, we don't have time nor do I wanna explain.) n then we were straight chillin afterwards.

Little Shop is a tragedy!! So let it be a tragedy, god damnit.

Gotta say, Seymour almost killin his'self was a surprise though. Definitely I wasn't expectin it. (Even though I've known bout it fer' god knows how long—I've jus never seen that scene.)

Someone in front, while the scene was playin, started howlin at the damn phone fer' Seymour t' "jump already!" n t' "not be a pussy!" Then got mighty pissed at Patrick Martin fer' jus.. spawnin in right as Krelborn was boutta do it.

So that whole thin' was funny as hell n totally ruined the seriousness of the scene.

Mean Green Mother From Outerspace? Always been a banger, always will be a banger.

Both of our Twoey fictives (Big Twoey n Baby Twoey, respectively,) took complete front from me, n we're jammin out n singin along.

The Urchins, Crystal, Ronnie, n Chiffon, all were comin up wit conspiracy theories bout plen'y of the folks down in Skid Row bein aliens like Twoey cus they thought it was funny; First Customer was one of the people bein discussed. Which confused t'hell outta Frank (Our First Customer introject.)

Overall; this was a good day, despite the fact it took almost four fuckin hours fer' me t' watch the film cus these brain fuckers kept goin on thirty minute rants. (It was me half the time, but sshhhhhh.)

[swordofmoonl1ght]

Rick Moranis as Seymour and Ellen Greene as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors (1986) dir. Frank Oz

[littleshopofhorrors-confessions]

watched the 80s movie today and i have a soft spot for nerdy men so seymour's death hit so damn hard for me it sucked so badly. i miss you every day seymour. every damn day.

~~~

[b3m0r3ch1ll]

where can i watch the directors cut of liftle shop of horrors⁉️⁉️😭😭

edit: nvm i got it

[cliveguy]

sorry. lsoh is on supernatural levels of redacted. what if you fully filmed and edited an ending that test audiences hated so much that you had to refilm and edit a shitty palatable ending and that was what your end product was

[greenesmyfavcolor]

Feel free to explain why whichever one you pick is your favorite! I love forming discussions around movies, shows, etc and lsoh has a lot of things to talk about!

Also I know there’s more like West End productions and tours but I just stuck to the main ones. Oh and if anyone picks the cartoon as their favorite, I wanna talk to ya. I��m not mad I’m just curious as to who actually likes it better than literally anything else 😂

[alxixi]

sooooooooo, i've been really into the lsoh fandom lately and this thing came out on its own. hope somebody likes it

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‘You know, I was in town the other day and I saw just an incredible artificial Christmas tree, it was white, decorated with these little gold balls, oh Seymour, it looked so magical.’

Audrey's voice sounded so serene and calm. She made more and more small talk with him, just to fill the silence they'd been in all day. Seymour didn't mind, it was nice to have an interlocutor who responded. He also liked watching her face at times like this. When she was enthusiastic about something, her face took on an almost angelic look.

The two of them stood behind the counter, Audrey leaning on her palm, her pink scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. Seymour in turn rubbed his hands together, and wished he had a woollen hat instead of his old cap. Winters were not a pleasant time on Skid Row. There was hardly any snow, but the streets were dotted with frozen puddles and the cold seeped into every nook and cranny.

‘I don't think we could afford something like this,’ Audrey looked round the shop slightly sadly, ’but still, it would be nice to have something like this one day, don't you think?’

‘I suppose, though I don't think such a pompous thing would look good in my basement,’ Seymour said with a slight smile.

‘Stop it,’ Audrey playfully slapped his palm.

Lately, Seymour had begun to notice that they were becoming more and more comfortable touching each other. They'd begun to shake hands, sometimes high-fiving each other, and even simple physical contact, as they were doing now. Or when she lightly stroked his shoulder if Mr Mushnik was yelling at him a lot. It felt good.

‘We could do something like that here, don't you think?’

‘W-what?’ At the moment Seymour was busy looking at the little freckles, hidden by powder, on Audrey's nose. He counted seventeen.

‘Decorate the place for Christmas. We'll be working over the holidays anyway,’ she shrugged, ’that way, we'll have a more festive atmosphere.’

Seymour thought for a second, to be honest, he never celebrated Christmas. In fact, he didn't celebrate any holidays, to be even-handed. He was Jewish, well, if you believed the director of the orphanage and what Mr. Mushnik told him. He'd even brought a Menorah into the shop once, but it was stolen off the counter the very next day, after that any holidays in the shop were over. But if it made Audrey happy, he was happy to help in any way he could.

‘Well, yeah, yeah, let's do it.’

They spent the rest of the day like children in the back room, listening to the radio and cutting snowflakes out of paper (which Seymour wasn't good at) and making Christmas flower arrangements (which Seymour wasn't good at at all, although Audrey kept telling him how wonderful everything looked).

At 5:45, the shop was completely transformed. It was still a dreary, old place, but now it felt as cosy as it could be.

Mr. Mushnik, who had caught a cold the other day, had stayed home, and it was clear from his husky voice on the phone this morning that he wouldn't be back for a couple of days. Seymour figured that while they were left unattended, that time had to be made the most of. He took another look around at his creation. The display case was decorated, perhaps not as beautifully as it could have been, but he was secretly proud of his work. Turning his head slightly to the left, he looked at the conceiver of this incredible idea. Right now Audrey was standing on a stepladder, finishing with securing the mistletoe, above the front door.

‘Audrey?’ He said what he thought was too quietly, but she still turned her head slightly in his direction to him with a questioning look.

‘Since you came, things have blossomed around here.’

Laughter, like the tinkling of bells, spread through the empty shop, filling every dark corner, lighting it up.

‘You're too kind, Seymour,’ for a while they just stared at each other, ’will you, um, help me down?’

‘Oh, oh, yes, of course,’ he hurried as quickly as possible to the stepladder, nearly tripping over his own foot. He was afraid his hand would be too sweaty, but Audrey didn't seem to notice this as she gratefully accepted his help and climbed down with the grace of a cat.

They stood like that for a while, just looking at each other. Quiet Christmas music played in the background. It seemed as if nothing could spoil such a magical moment.

‘Oh, look at the time, I should be packing by now,’ one moment she was standing beside him, the next she was already pulling on her coat, hastily fastening the pearlescent buttons on it, ‘see you tomorrow!’ she shouted, popping out of the shop.

‘Goodbye,’ he said sadly as the bell rang.

Seymour realised that all the good moments were ending too quickly. And so, once again, the shop was no longer as beautiful as it had been only a few moments before, the music became abruptly sad and melancholy, and the room became cold again.

He continued to stand there, looking sadly at the decorated walls, when he heard the bell ring again, ‘we're closed....’

But it was Audrey, her cheeks had managed to redden, even in the couple of short minutes she'd been outside.

‘I completely forgot,’ she whispered with an enthusiastic smile on her face. She lifted her head up, and he followed suit. The two of them gazed at the little sprig of mistletoe that Audrey had generously sprinkled with sequins and hung over the front door. And then it happened.

If Seymour had been asked to describe what happened in one word, he would have chosen fireworks. Bright flashes of different colours flying before his eyes.

She kissed him. It was a simple, chaste kiss on the cheek that lasted no longer than a couple of seconds. But it was enough. For him it was enough.

‘I got you all dirty,’ Audrey said, with the same smile still on her face as her fingers ran over his cheek a couple of times in an attempt to wipe the red lipstick off his face. Seymour held back with all his might to keep from cocking his head at her touch.

‘That's it, I really have to go, see you tomorrow Seymour.’

He didn't know how long he'd been like this after she'd left. It didn't matter. He looked up once more. The beautiful green sprig still hung unwaveringly over the door.

It was a miracle. A little green miracle.

[steeltwigz]

Egore's favorite movie is tied between Mars Attacks and Little Shop of Horrors, but for LSOH he only ever watches the Directors Cut and think it's so so funny. He likes Mars Attacks becuz the defeat of alien invaders is fine so long as it isn't HIS invasion that's defeated. And he likes watching the Martians explode.

[rottenbrainstuff]

Still having a goddamned bitch of a time trying to secure a digital goddamned backup of the 2016 ghostbusters and the little shop of horrors movies, because everyone online only shares the extended version / the alternate director’s cut.

I have basically given up on ever finding the North American cut of the Professional. At least for Ghostbusters and LSOH, I can rip my DVD if need be, but I never bothered to buy a physical copy of the Professional and now it’s not available anywhere I look.

I don’t quite understand the weird tendency to regard a director’s cut, extended cut, etc as automatically the best version of a film and the only version that’s worth preserving. There is always a reason why the film was cut and released originally the way it was, and sometimes I want to be able to see that version as well. Extended cuts are interesting and certainly include more INFORMATION, but they’re not always an objectively better movie, those cut scenes were almost always removed for legitimate reasons. I still sometimes like to watch the shorter versions of the LOTR movies. Even the shitty chopped up release of Aliens 3 is worth preserving, even if it’s just as part of the narrative of what happened when this movie was made, and an interesting contrast to the extended edition.

I guess it’s just the archivist in me. Makes me so cranky though. This backup project of mine is becoming less and less a little hobby I thought would be a good idea, and more and more a necessity.

[princesssarisa]

Fictional Character Ask: Crystal, Ronette and Chiffon from the musical Little Shop of Horrors

Favorite thing about them: I love the great music they sing, their enthusiasm, their clever remarks, and their creative role as semi-interactive narrators who exist partly within the story and partly as outside commentators. They're very fun characters.

Least favorite thing about them: The fact that it's ambiguous whether they're on the side of humanity or the side of Audrey II, although that ambiguity makes them interesting.

Three things I have in common with them:

*I like to sing and dance.

*I root for Audrey to get away from Orin and get together with Seymour.

*I'm multi-talented, or at least I like to think I am.

Three things I don't have in common with them:

*I'm not black.

*I"m not part of a singing trio.

*I'm definitely human and part of the real world, no mysterious ambiguity.

Favorite line: The lyrics to the title song, "Little Shop of Horrors."

brOTP: Each other and Audrey.

OTP: None.

nOTP: Orin, Mr. Mushnik, or Audrey II.

Random headcanon: They're three of the Muses from Hercules, in disguise (as is typical of goddesses and gods) and using assumed 1960s names to tell a new mythic story. Alan Menken has openly admitted that he went back to the style of Little Shop of Horrors for the score of Hercules, and the Muses are clearly spiritual successors to the three girls from LSOH. So why shouldn't we imagine a stronger connection between them?

Unpopular opinion: I don't know if this is unpopular, but it's different than what some people have written on TV Tropes, so I'll use it. While I accept that it's ambiguous, I don't like to think they're villains. If they were, the racial implications, with the only three black characters plus the black-coded Audrey II as villains while the "good guys" are white, would be very unfortunate. (Although technically, Seymour and Audrey don't have to be white, they just traditionally are.) I'd rather think that they're simply outside of the story's world. Maybe it's all just a fictional story to them, just like it is to us, despite their ability to sometimes step into it and interact with the characters. They genuinely sympathize with Seymour and Audrey, and they want to warn the world to beware of Audrey II. But they already know the ending, they can't change it, and in the stage version and the director's cut of the movie, they know the tragedy will serve their message of "Don't Feed the Plants." Hence why they sometimes seem to urge Seymour to kill for Audrey II – it's not that they want him to, but they know he's going to anyway, and their job is to tell the story of how it happens to warn others not to repeat his mistakes.

Song I associate with them:

"Little Shop of Horrors."

'Ya Never Know"

"Some Fun Now"

"Finale (Don't Feed the Plants)"

Favorite picture of them:

Jennifer Leigh Warren, Sheila Kay Davis, and Leilani Jones in the original 1982 Off-Broadway production:

Tichina Arnold, Michelle Weeks, and Tisha Cambell in the film version:

Trisha Jeffrey, Carla J. Hargrove, and DeQuina Moore in the 2003 Broadway revival:

Alexis Tidwell, Johari Nandi Mackey, and Ebony Blake in a US regional production:

Tiffany Renee Thompson, Ari Groover, and Khadija Sankoh in the Off-Broadway revival, 2022:

[rosenfieids]

my favorite implication of the director's cut ending for lsoh is that several people who bought baby audrey 2s committed murder- since a lot of the ones rampaging were as large AND LARGER than audrey 2 was in the boss battle

[teammagma-maxie]

Always the gamble

Me and my fiance was watching a screening last night in fact at my local drive in theater and because we're such LSOH nerds we were like making a bet which ending it was LMAO

The theatrical release heals the soul but the directors cut drives the meaning behind what LSOH is truly about

A friend and I were watching Little Shop of Horrors on a website frequented by sailors under a black flag but anyway we were nearing the end of the movie and Audrey was dying and I was like huh I thought she survived and my friend was also very confused like "hey this isn't how the scene is supposed to go" but I remembered reading about a second, apocalypse ending of the movie that was different from the theatrical release, which somehow we had stumbled upon by pure accident

So we both watched on in increasing distress and disbelief as Audrey II proceeded to eat Audrey, then Seymour, then be sold as a million tiny Aubrey II's that proceeded to have extended monster-movie montages of taking over various cities and landmarks and fighting the military

And at least I had some sort of knowledge this was a thing that existed but my friend just stumbled into watching the existential horror version of a beloved childhood favorite.

[cloverhatsandflowercrowns]

We out here analyzing Little Shop of Horrors like a piece of classic literature today lads. Thank you english major brain for reminding me how well it fits the scheme of an aristotelian tragedy

[cliveguy]

Getting treated like a dog about to be put down bc im moving out tomorrow btw

[suddenlysomewherethatsgreen]

Have you noticed that whenever Frank Oz talks about the failed ending of Little Shop Of Horrors in interviews he’s always so quick to blame the audience? Like he’ll say “In a movie people prefer a happy ending” or “audiences grow more attached to characters in a movie and they don’t want to see them die” or “when a character dies in a movie they don’t come out for a bow, they’re just dead”.

And never once does he own up to the fact that he just fucked up telling the story? Blaming the audience for a movie would only make sense if the story was exactly the same as the play. And it very much is NOT.

First off, the characters in the movie are much more likable. Seymour isn’t painted as a murderer, and instead more morally grey. His desires in the movie aren’t greed like in the play, he’s only driven by love. We also see Audrey’s longing.

Then for the ending itself, it’s told so much darker. Audrey dies on hers and Seymour’s wedding night, not just some night. She dies in her wedding dress, not a nightgown. That’s so much darker. Seymour is crying while feeding her to the plant. That’s so much darker. Seymour tries to kill himself right after Audrey dies. THAT’S NOT IN THE PLAY AT ALL! I still cannot grasp why he thought that was a good idea. Mean Green Mother is not in the play. It’s a fun song but in the juxtaposition it is, it’s just the plant toying with a broken man for several minutes before eating him. Seymour in the play goes out a hero trying to kill the plant, but in the movie it just swallows him for a full minute while he screams. Then we get a several minute long sequence of amazing practical effects, but absolutely none of it is funny, it’s all just people dying.

So we get this last 20 minutes of being punched in the gut by sadness after building us up for an hour and a half but then he’s just like “yeah, people are simps that want happy endings.”

Nah man, you just fucked up

[greenesmyfavcolor]

What year does Little Shop of Horrors take place?

Alright, as you can tell from the title, Imma bout to dissect which exact year LSOH takes place since there’s never been any concrete answer from an official source to my knowledge and lemme tell ya, it’s harder than you think lol

Ok so we know that Audrey II came to earth on September 21st/23rd (21st in the stage version and 23rd in the movie version) during the 1960’s “in an early year of a decade” but they never tell us the exact year.

However we do know that Kennedy was president during the events of the movie as he is mentioned on Seymour’s radio and his presidency lasted from 1961 to 1963.

And in the directors cut (which I consider canon to some extent), Jason and the Argonauts is shown to be playing in a theater during Don’t Feed the Plants and that movie came out in June of 1963 so that must mean LSOH has to take place after that date. So the year has to be 1963 if Kennedy is still president and that movie is playing in theaters.

However Audrey II mentions during Feed Me that Seymour could be on Jack Paar’s radio show and that ran from 1957 to 1962.

So now it can’t be 1963 as Jack Paar would have already ended by then and it can’t be 1962 as Jason wouldn’t have been playing in theaters yet.

However LSOH can still take place in both years. Who’s to say that Audrey II didn’t take over the world until the year 1963? It could have been 1962 when the events of the film started but by the time Audrey II gained enough power to start to destroy NYC, a few months could have passed for it to be 1963. And the film does begin in September which is late into the year so it is plausible.

But here’s when this whole theory really starts to fall apart lol.

Before the shop is renovated, there’s a calendar in the back that’s very hard to read but based on the positioning of the dates, it matches up with the year 1964 as the first day of the month starts on a Tuesday. And it’s shown at the very beginning of the movie so the solar eclipse has to have happened in 1964 which goes against everything else that has been brought up so far. Although the year the calendar says doesn’t necessarily mean that’s the actual year, it’s kind of a long shot to assume that they would have the wrong calendar year hung up.

Also neither the 21st nor the 23rd of September fall on a Thursday in 1964 which is the supposed day of the week the eclipse happened according to the same radio broadcast that mentions JFK.

Also also I looked up what exact month Jack Paar’s radio show ended and it just so happened to end in March of 1962 so LSOH can’t take place in 1962 if it starts in September.

So right now, it may sound like we’ve officially hit a dead end. But the thing is, I’ve mainly been listing off things that show up in the movie which isn’t the original source material. That would be the 1982 stage version. We have to remember that anything in the movie that contradicts what year it takes place in in the stage version is not solid evidence because that’s not what was originally intended. So technically, we only have to go off what the original stage production states if we want to figure out the year.

So in the stage version, it’s still mentioned that it takes place in the 1960’s “in an early year of a decade” and that Jack Paar had a radio show before 1962. The only things the movie brought up were the argonauts, Kennedy, the calendar, and what day of the week the eclipse happened. If you want to go ahead and count anything in the movie as canon evidence as to when LSOH takes place, be my guest but there’s so many things that contradict when it does happens that I’m just going to go off the original stage production.

Because of this, my bet is that the events of LSOH start on September 21st, in between the years 1960 and 1961.

I wish I had more of a solid answer so if anyone has any more evidence that suggests what year it might take place from either the stage or movie version, lmk cause I’ve been thinking on this for way too long 🥲