| Audrey II | |
|---|---|
| [[|250px]] | |
| Character | |
| Gender | Debated, portrayed by male actors |
| Portrayed By | Levi Stubbs |
Audrey II (or Twoey for short) is the main antagonist in every version of Little Shop of Horrors (though in the original "The Little Shop of Horrors" movie the plant was named Audrey Jr.).
1986
Audrey II was bought by Seymour from an old Chinese man, a florist that sold other exotic plants, for just "a dolla' ninety five!" At first, Seymour just thought of Audrey II as a sort of venus fly trap plant, yet all the different types of food and care he gave it didn't work and caused it to grow weaker. Eventually Audrey II grew larger into a hideous beast that gained the ability to talk and soon began to beg Seymour for more food, upgrading from blood to human meat as well. Audrey II played with Seymour's emotions to convince Seymour to kill Orin Scrivello, a sadistic evil dentist who abuses Audrey, Seymour's love interest, and also took advantage of Seymour nearly getting arrested to kill Mr. Mushnik, his boss (who later adopts him before dying) for food.
Audrey II (now enormous) called Audrey, Seymour's life-long love interest on the payphone and convinced her to come over to the shop only to eat her. Seymour saves Audrey in time (in the modified ending) before he challenges the monsterous plant in a final showdown, and barely escapes death by electrocuting it. With Audrey II and its newly blossomed buds (who work as back-up singers during Audrey II's song in the show-down, Mean Green Mother From Outer Space) being fried alive from the electrical wires, the plant exclaimed a surprised "Oh shit!" before exploding into green-blue atoms that are presumed to be seeds or re-generating plant spores. This is presumed on account of the ending of the movie where hidden in the happy, little garden in the front lawn of Seymour and Audrey's new home, is a new, baby-like version of Audrey II that gives a wicked, "I'll be back" smile to the audience before the credits roll.
However, in the original ending, Seymour did not save Audrey in time and unwillingly, yet on her dying wishes, fed her to the plant. Audrey II then consumed Seymour, and shortly after, its leaves were sold all across America which resulted in similar situations that happened to Seymour (tricking innocent people into feeding their plants people) and eventually, the plants (after reaching a massive size) attacked and are seen destroying cities and eating people whole. The ending shows the United States Army fighting the plants and the Statue of Liberty being ascended by the Audrey II Buds. It is unknown if the Audrey II buds took over the world.
A not well known nickname of Audrey II that Seymour uses is "Twoey", as spelled in the DVD subtitles.
Origin/Species
Audrey II, slightly bigger than its' infant form.
According to a behind the scenes interview, Audrey II is from a planet of carnivorous plants who are sent to different planets to destroy them in the way Audrey II intended. How the plant came to earth is not completely understood, but it is known that it came to the planet through an eclipse of the sun and a unworldly strike of green "lightning". It could be speculated that the eclipse was caused by Audrey II's spacecraft of some kind.
The film has never explained any of the alien race which Audrey II is a species of, yet Seymour thought of the plant as a type of venus fly trap. What is known is that at least two of the alien plants were on Earth in the theatrical ending, which was Audrey II and a smaller alien plant in Seymour and Audrey's garden lawn at the end of the movie. In the original ending, it was said thousands of them were sold, but it is unknown how many survived into adulthood.
As the infant, Audrey II did not have the ability to speak (or, at least, was so malnourished that it did not have the strength) but had the ability to move around its' mouth in and slightly move its' body. It also had the ability to make sucking noises, as a way to tell Seymour it was thirsty. However, Audrey II's offspring or buds were able to talk and sing as back-up singers during Mean Green mother From Outer Space, adding "Aaaahh"s, even though they were "newborns" during their singular scene, suggesting that they were simply extensions of Audrey II rather than independant beings.
Personality
Audrey II has it's own charming, funky, and almost sweet-talking power of persuasion, which easily hides its sinister intentions. In short, this plant an evil genius that could easily take advantage of Seymour's disposition and being the only one of its kind (on Earth).
Audrey II went through five different forms:
- 1st Form: A small, mute plant pod.
- 2nd Form: A slightly larger pod, capable of movement. This is where Audrey II first displays the ability to open it's mouth.
- 3rd Form: Twooey is now capable of speech, and is roughly as tall as a grown man when the plants "head" or bulb is pointed upwards.
- 4th Form: Considerably bigger, now easily as tall as Seymour while bent over. At this point, Twooey takes up easily half the room, but is still contained in a pot, albeit a large one.
- 5th Form: This form is seen when Audrey II breaks out of it's own pot. Audrey II is now capable of budding, and shows proficiency with using it's own vines as weapons.
Gender
While the voice used for Twoey is male in most portrayals, there is much debate about the gender of Twoey.
Male Theory
Most fans simply assume Audrey II to be male since it is always voiced by a male actor.
In the cut song "Bad", which was the predecessor to "Mean Green Mother", Audrey II uses masculine pronouns: "Just one encounter and she called me 'Mr. Audrey, sir'".
Female Theory
Support
Some fans claim the plant to be female, drawing support from the final scene, in which Twooey not only refers to itself as a "Mean Green Mother", but sprouts off infant plant pods, an action which is easily interpreted as the equivalent of giving birth.
Contradictions
It is much more likely it merely chose to use the term "Mean Green Mother from Outer Space" because at times the word "mother" is often just a derivation from the common swear phrase, "Mother F***er".
Twooey is also unlikely to have actually given birth, as it's offspring were merely other buds off the same plant, and were probably able to talk because they were in fact a part of Audrey II's conciousness, representing an extension of Audrey II, and not true "children".
Genderless Theory
Support
Many plants possess both male and female parts, and it is shown in the film more plants are able to be created without Audrey II coming into contact with another of its species.
Contradictions
The children may simply have been created by splitting, a common gardening technique in which a plant is split and become seperate plants. There is one plant confirmed to have been created through this process in the film.
Mechanics
It took elaborate puppetry in order to make Audrey II come to life. Besides the electric sparks in the final scene, not a lot of CG was shown in the film. To the viewer, it appears that Audrey moves in real time along with Seymour, or whoever else it's singing with/talking to. But since it can only move at a certain speed, it would be filmed singing/talking at 16 frames per second. Rick Moranis and all of the other actors would have to sing in slow motion, which (in editing) would be sped up to appear that they're singing in unision at a normal speed.
Trivia
- Audrey II's final song, "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space" was nominated for the "Best Song" Award for movies.
Cameos in Other Media
Audrey 2 in Moshi Monsters
Audrey II is also referenced in a large variety of media
- The online game Dragonfable, which features an enemy named Awdreetoo
- A plant resembling Audrey II can be seen in Moshi Monsters
- A monster resembling Audrey II can be seen at one of the tables at Grillby's in the popular Indie game Undertale.
- The Pirahnah Plant boss from the SNES game, Yoshi's Island, is based off Audrey II and is actually named after the plant in the German localization of the game although it should be mentioned that the plant's name is primarily Audrey and not Audrey II
- King Sprout in Super Dungeon Explore (tabletop game) bears a resemblance to Audrey II and has a special ability called 'Feed Me.'