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Little Shop of Horrors (1986)
In Frank Oz' comedy/sci-fi musical (a remake of the
original 1960 film by director Roger Corman), about a flower-shop
worker in Mushnik's Floral Shop located in "Skid Row":
- the 'character' of nerdy flower-shop worker Seymour
Krelborn's (Rick Moranis) fast-growing Venus Fly-Trap-type plant,
voraciously requesting: "Feed me, Seymour"
- the many appearances of the doo-wop Greek chorus trio,
(a girl group "Greek Chorus" comprised of Michelle Weeks,
Tichina Arnold and Tisha Campbell) who sang the title song
"Little Shop of Horrors" and later "The Meek Shall
Inherit"
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The Greek Chorus Trio
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- the song "Dentist!" introduced sadistically
abusive, motorcycle-riding and torturing dentist Orin Scrivello
D.D.S. (Steve Martin): ("When I was younger, just a bad little
kid, My momma noticed funny things I did, Like shootin' puppies
with a BB gun, I'd poison guppies And when I was done, I'd find
a pussy cat and bash in its head. That's when my momma said...
She said My boy, I think someday, You'll find a way To make your
natural tendencies pay. You'll be a dentist, You have a talent
for causing things pain. Son, be a dentist. People will pay you
to be inhumane. Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood, And
teaching would suit you still less. Aah! Son, be a dentist, You'll
be a success...")
- the scene of Dr. Scrivello's appointment with masochistic
patient Arthur Denton (Bill Murray) with a "history of dental
problems" who needed "a long, slow root canal"; as
he got into the dentist's chair, he delivered a long and nervous
monologue about his past experiences with dentists before and during
the painful procedure: ("I went to a terrible dentist Wednesday,
who was recommended to me by somebody that I saw on Monday who is
the brother of a man that I usually see on Sundays. And their mother
actually taught them everything that they know. She's incredibly
gifted, but quite elderly. And a lot of people think she shouldn't
be working. But I go to her because I'm just incredibly devoted to
her strength. She can't really see who you are, but she knows, she
knows the sound of your voice. And if you tell her where it is, the
problem, she eventually works her way back and she finds the trouble
and she does it. I wish I had that stamina, 'cause I can only go
so long. That's how I want to be. I don't ever want to have to be
just... I remember the first time I went to a dentist. I thought,
'Gosh, What a neat job! If only I were a dentist.' The dentist I
went to had the greatest car. He had a Corvette. I thought, 'My gosh.
Everybody calls him 'Doctor, ' and he's not really a doctor.' Oh,
my God. 'If only I got out of here okay.' But then after everything
was all finished, they gave me a candy bar. I thought, 'This is what
I get? A candy bar?' This is what you do. You go through a little
thing and get chocolate out of it. Getting to work with incredible
professionals who use incredibly, incredibly wonderful equipment...Ahhh!
Ahhh! Candy bar! Ohh! Candy bar! Candy bar! Gosh! Oh, God. Do it
again. Oh, God, doctor. Whoo! Yeah, aw, great! Oh, you are something
special. You are something special! Come on! Come on! Come on! Mm,
aw, oh! Thank you! Oh, y eah, thank you! Oh, my God. It's your professionalism
that I respect. Oh, God! Don't stop, doc! Don't stop! Come on! More!
Yeah! Yeah, come on! Yeah!..."); when the dentist was finished,
he ordered Arthur out of the office, and then mumbled to himself:
("God-damn sicko!")
Dr. Scrivello's Appointment with
Masochistic Patient Arthur Denton
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- the dentist's own lethal addiction to nitrous oxide
(laughing gas)
- the buxom bimbo and shrill-voiced flower arranger
Audrey (Ellen Greene) - the object of Seymour's infatuated crush
- and Seymour's duet "Suddenly Seymour" with Audrey: ("...Audrey,
that's all behind you now. You got nothin' to be ashamed of. You're
a very nice person. I always knew you were. Underneath the bruises
and the handcuffs, you know what I saw? A girl I respected. I still
do. (singing) Lift up your head. Wash off your mascara. Here, take
my Kleenex. Wipe that lipstick away. Show me your face. Clean as
the morning. I know things were bad. But now they're okay...")
- the show-stopping rock-bop tune "Downtown (Skid
Row)" sung by the cast - the entire neighborhood of bums, drunks,
prostitutes, and lower class apartment dwellers, and Seymour's heart-felt
plea to his new-found plant "Grow for Me"
- the concluding scene of the giant, carnivorous fly-trap
plant Audrey II menacing Seymour and singing "Mean Green Mother
From Outer Space": ("I'm just a mean green mother from
outer space. And I'm bad - mean, green, bad. I'm just a mean green
mother from outer space, and it looks like you've been had. I'm just
a mean green mother from outer space, so get off my back and get
out my face. 'Cause I'm mean and green and I am bad, I'm bad")
- the demise of Audrey II (in the theatrical ending)
when Seymour electrocuted it with an electrical cable, and the giant
plant exploded, although it might return - a small plant bud was
viewed in the front yard flower bed of the idyllic, dream-like suburban
home of Seymour and Audrey (now a married couple)
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Seymour Krelborn
"Feed me, Seymour"
"Dentist"
Audrey with Seymour: "Suddenly Seymour"
"Downtown (Skid Row)"
"Grow for Me"
Audrey II: "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space"
Audrey II Electrocuted
Small Plant Bud
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