History WMG / Littleshopofhorrors

[[WMG: A film-hating wizard created a curse to switch the endings of LittleShopOfHorrors and ATrollInCentralPark.]]

[[WMG: ATrollInCentralPark is a FutureImperfect retelling of the events of LittleShopOfHorrors.]]

I mean, come on: they narrate the whole story, so they're obviously omniscient, and in the end (at least in the play and the film's original ending), they're still alive to narrate after the rest of the world has been destroyed by the plants, so they must be immortal. Plus, it adds another great message to the musical's theme of resisting temptation: God is a SassyBlackWoman rather than the traditional view of Him (Her, I mean) as an old white man!

** This also explains the emphasis given to the customers (like Mrs. Shiva, who is mentioned by Mushnik but doesn't appear in the musical versions): Mr. Mushnik knows them better than the others because he really cares about getting their money.

** Addendum: The YouTube video "REALLY Little Shop of Horrors" is the story from Orin's point of view. Psychologically, Orin's sadistic outlook on the world is likely related to the way he sees the world in abridged farcé. This would explain why he's played by Steve Martin in the film. The similarities to Audrey II's viewpoint and Audrey's viewpoint is similarly because of his assimilation into the plant.

** They (very cheerfully) sing the title song--"Shing-a-ling, what a creepy thing to be happening", etc.--as if they know what's going to happen before it happens.

** When they're questioned at the beginning of the show, their backgrounds go unexplained, and they just hang around on the streets for no particular reason.

Audrey was right to be worried about Seymour's sanity. The plant's constant demands for food, combined with the stress from all the public attention and the guilt of the two murders, drove him crazy. He convinced himself that, since Audrey really loved him and ''really'' wanted to be somewhere green, she must want to die and be fed to the plant so she could be with him forever and bring him everything he'd ever wanted. When she entered the shop, he killed her and fed her to the plant. Then, in a MyGodWhatHaveIDone moment of clarity, he attacked the plant and got himself eaten, too.

* [[CrapsackWorld Skid Row]] [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory is Hell/purgatory]]. As in C.S. Lewis's ''TheGreatDivorce'', Hell and Purgatory are the same place (the "Gray Town"); whether you eventually leave or not determines which one it is for you. Notice how everyone wants to leave, but no one does, except by getting eaten. Also notice the sense of self-hatred and guilt all around; Audrey and Seymour both feel that they "deserve" their unhappiness.

* Mushnik is Seymour's personal vision of what God is like. Notice the lyrics of Seymour's solo in Skid Row. ''("I keep asking God what I'm for/And he tells me, "Gee, I'm not sure/Sweep that floor, kid!" ... / He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed..."'' He doesn't separate Mushnik from God in his mind at all.) Bitter because of his bad luck and difficult life, Seymour views God, not as a loving father, but as a distant, controlling, abusive figure who only acknowledges him as a son when things begin to work out. When God confronts him about the wrong he's done and attempts to have him punished, Seymour crosses the MoralEventHorizon by deciding to commit deicide, egged on by the plant. The catch is that this isn't God--how could God be in Hell?--but a false impression created by Audrey II to further separate Seymour from the real God. Mushnik is stereotypically Jewish because Seymour himself is Jewish (with a name like "Seymour Krelborn", how could he not be?), and he strongly associates God with the religion he was raised in.

* Mushnik is Seymour's personal vision of what God is like. Notice the lyrics of Seymour's solo in Skid Row. ''("I keep asking God what I'm for/And he tells me, "Gee, I'm not sure/Sweep that floor, kid!" ... / He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed..."'' He doesn't separate Mushnik from God in his mind at all.) Bitter because of his bad luck and difficult life, Seymour views God, not as a loving father, but as a distant, controlling, abusive figure who only acknowledges him as a son when things begin to work out. When God confronts him about the wrong he's done and attempts to have him punished, Seymour crosses the MoralEventHorizon by deciding to commit deicide, egged on by the plant. The catch is that this isn't God--how could God be in Hell?--but a false impression created by Audrey II to further separate Seymour from the real God. Mushnik is stereotypically Jewish because Seymour himself is Jewish (with a name like "Seymour Krelborn", how could he not be?), and he strongly associates God with the quirks of the religion he was raised in.

[[WMG: Audrey II is part of a species of plants which includes the [[Series/DoctorWho Krynoids]] and the [[DayOfTheTriffids Triffids]].]]

The characters themselves were wiped out by the plantocalypse, and when the Audrey IIs left the Earth they only took their pods, leaving immobile vines. ATrollInCentralPark is an attempt by the survivors to explain what happened, years later, although they have somewhat forgotten of the violence of the plantocalypse.

<<|WildMassGuessing|>>

Once all the humans are gone, they'll move right in. Incidentally, the Audrey II might not be the only such plant out there--they've probably dropped similar creatures all over the galaxy. Please, whatever they offer you, don't feed the plants!

We saw from the Mr. Mushnik incident that it can devour a person in seconds. It had longer than that with her, I'm sure, but she's just pinned and struggling in its jaws when Seymour comes in. The plant is laughing as he carries her out of there, which doesn't suggest it's just been thwarted. Also, Audrey isn't even hurt, just tattered and really, really shaken up. That wasn't a genuine attempt on her life; it was a warning to Seymour of Audrey II COULD do if he persisted in being uncooperative.

* Mushnik is Seymour's personal vision of what God is like. Notice the lyrics of Seymour's solo in Skid Row. ''("I keep asking God what I'm for/And he tells me, "Gee, I'm not sure/Sweep that floor, kid!" ... / He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed..."'' He doesn't separate Mushnik from God in his mind at all.) Bitter because of his bad luck and difficult life, Seymour views God, not as a loving father, but as a distant, controlling, abusive figure who only acknowledges him as a son when things begin to work out. When God confronts him about the wrong he's done and attempts to have him punished, Seymour crosses the MoralEventHorizon by deciding to commit deicide. The catch is that this isn't God--how could God be in Hell?--but a fake created by Satan/Audrey II to further separate Seymour from the real God. Mushnik is stereotypically Jewish because Seymour himself is Jewish (with a name like "Seymour Krelborn", how could he not be?), and he strongly associates God with the quirks of the religion he was raised in.

* Audrey II is [[DealWithTheDevil the devil, obviously!]] By trying to make Seymour believe that the pleasures of Heaven are attainable in Hell, he seeks to keep him from ever leaving. Paradoxically, Audrey II is also the ''gates'' of Hell; in other words, the only way out is through his jaws. Orin leaves after "dying" (he's finished his quota of suffering), Audrey makes a HeroicSacrifice and goes to Heaven ("Somewhere That's Green"), and Seymour gets out by finally deciding to fight the plant. (At some point he yells "Open up! Open up!", indicating that the plant is closing its jaws. The plant doesn't ''want'' to let him out of Hell so easily, you see.)

* Mushnik is Seymour's personal vision of what God is like. Notice the lyrics of Seymour's solo in Skid Row. ''("I keep asking God what I'm for/And he tells me, "Gee, I'm not sure/Sweep that floor, kid!" ... / He took me in, gave me shelter, a bed ...'' He doesn't separate Mushnik from God in his mind at all.) Bitter because of his bad luck and difficult life, Seymour views God, not as a loving father, but as a distant, controlling, abusive figure who only acknowledges him as a son when things begin to work out. When God confronts him about the wrong he's done and attempts to have him punished, Seymour crosses the MoralEventHorizon by deciding to commit deicide. The catch is that this isn't God--how could God be in Hell?--but a fake created by Satan/Audrey II to further separate Seymour from the real God. Mushnik is stereotypically Jewish because Seymour himself is Jewish (with a name like "Seymour Krelborn", how could he not be?), and he strongly associates God with the quirks of the religion he was raised in.

* [[CrapsackWorld Skid Row]] [[EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory is Hell/purgatory]]. As in C.S. Lewis's ''The Great Divorce'', Hell and Purgatory are the same place (the "Gray Town"); whether you eventually leave or not determines which one it is for you. Notice how everyone wants to leave, but no one does, except by getting eaten. Also notice the sense of self-hatred and guilt all around; Audrey and Seymour both feel that they "deserve" their unhappiness.

* Audrey II is [[DealWithTheDevil the devil, obviously!]] By trying to make Seymour believe that the pleasures of Heaven are attainable in Hell, he seeks to keep him from ever leaving. Paradoxically, Audrey II is also the ''gates'' of Hell; in other words, the only way out is through his jaws. Orin leaves after "dying" (he's finished his quota of suffering), Audrey makes a HeroicSacrifice and goes to Heaven ("Somewhere That's Green"), and Seymour gets out by finally deciding to fight the plant. (At some point he yells "Open up! Open up!", indicating that the plant is closing its jaws. The plant doesn't ''want'' to let him out of Hell so easily, you see.

Actually, he just wanted food. Full-scale plant-based invasion of the earth was not on his immediate agenda, but since it worked out that way, he just went with it.

The scene where he pulls out "[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill a gun...and bullets, and rat poison, and a machete]]" ''really'' sounds as if he's planning a (dementedly impractical) double suicide for him and Audrey.

The scene where he pulls out "[[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill a gun...and bullets, and rat poison, and a machete]]" ''really'' sounds as if he's planning a double suicide for him and Audrey.

[[WMG: Audrey II was created by an invading race of {{SufficientlyAdvancedAlien}}s to clear Earth of its existing population.]]

The "Seymour Krelborn" of the cartoon is Seymour Krelborn Jr., the son of Seymour and Audrey. The cartoon's Audrey Jr. is one of the tiny plants that Audrey II unleashed after he [[spoiler:exploded]]. (Not being sure where he came from, Audrey Jr. just made something up about being a prehistoric plant and lying dormant for centuries.) "Mushnik" is some relative of the original Mushnik, who inherited the shop. Since the shop is still famous as the former home of the Audrey II, this Mushnik named his daughter Audrey in honor of the plant. \\

** The "Little Shop" cartoon series is from the point of view of Crystal, Chiffon and Ronette. The reason Seymour, Audrey and Orin are in high school is that, for the three girls, time stopped after fifth grade ("We went to school until the fifth grade, then we split"), which they presumably attended on Skid Row. As evidenced by the dialogue in the musical, they don't really know Orin's name, so they call him Paine Driller to make fun of him and imagine him with huge goofy braces. They imagine Audrey as a well-adjusted girl with a loving dad (Mushnik) because that's what they want for her, and they imagine themselves as singing flowers and add plenty of musical numbers because, for them, it's all about the singing. Lots of emphasis is given to Seymour's crush on Audrey because the girls are [[ShipperOnDeck Audrey/Seymour shippers]]. The plant keeps his personality because the girls, as the play's GreekChorus, know all about him--but he's harmless and cartoony, because to them, he is. He can't eat them because they're partly outside the story.

Seymour really ''is'' his son, but he doesn't know. He knows he's Audrey's dad, which is why he's so protective of her, but she has no idea. (The cartoon series explicitly has Audrey as Mushnik's daughter.)

** This also explains the emphasis given to the customers (like Mrs. Shiva, who is mentioned but doesn't appear in the musical versions): Mr. Mushnik knows them better than the others because he really cares about getting their money.