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MUCH BIGGER! This page may contain MAJOR SPOILERS For the Movie and/or Stage Productions of Little Shop Of Horrors! If you don't want to read/see spoilers then please leave the page.


“Feed me Seymour!” -Audrey II - Feed Me (Git It)

Audrey II, pet named Twoey, is the main antagonist in every version of Little Shop Of Horrors. The plant requires human blood to survive, and in the musical, the plant's origin is from outer space, while in the 1960 Movie, it was called Audrey Jr. and was a cross between a Venus Flytrap and a Butterwort.

1986[]

Audrey II was bought by Seymour from an old Chinese man by the name of Chang, 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 Flytrap, 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, Audrey’s sadistic dentist boyfriend 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 lifelong crush on the payphone and convinced her to come over to the shop only to eat her. Seymour didn’t save Audrey in time and unwillingly, yet on her dying wishes, fed her to the blood hungry plant. Audrey II then consumed Seymour after destroying the shop, 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 all over the world. The ending shows the United States Army fighting the plants and the Statue of Liberty being ascended by the Audrey II plants. It’s heavily implied that the Audrey II's managed to eat everyone in the world, including the audience watching the film.

"You ain't in Kansas, neither!"
You ain't in kansas neither.

The Following Information is non-Canon. The theatrical ending of the 1986 film is not canon to the Little Shop of Horrors musical.

However, in the theatrical ending, Seymour saves Audrey in time before he challenges the monstrous 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 end credits roll.

Origin/Species[]

Little-shop-of-horrors-original

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 isn’t completely understood, but it’s known that it came to the planet through an eclipse of the sun and an 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 Flytrap. What is known is that at least two of the alien plants were on Earth in the theatrical ending, where 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’s unknown how many survived into adulthood. In infancy, Audrey II didn’t 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 independent beings.

Personality and forms[]

Audrey II has its own charming, funky and almost sweet-talking power of persuasion, which easily hides its sinister intentions. In short, this plant, the only one of its kind on Earth, is an evil genius that could easily take advantage of Seymour's disposition.

Audrey II goes through 6 forms in the 1982 play and eight different forms in the 1986 film

Play:

  • 1st Form (Pod 1): A small, mute plant pod, with wilting leaves, and capable of opening its mouth and growing when given blood
  • 2nd Form (Pod 2): Audrey II is now large enough to be held in Seymour's arms
  • 3rd Form (Pod 3): Audrey II is now capable of speech, and is roughly as tall as a grown man when looking up but needs to have its food chopped up to eat it, it also gains root appendages
  • 4th Form (Pod 4): Considerably bigger, now as tall as a grown man when looking ahead, and can now eat its food without it needing to be chopped out
  • 5th Form (Pod 4): Same size as before, but now with vines that span across the whole shop, it also grows two root like arms that it uses to grab Audrey
  • 6th Form (Pod 4): Same size again, this time with crab like arms that take up the entire stage and have flowers bearing the dead faces of Mushnik, Seymour, Orin and Audrey. It is now also capable of walking

Film:

  • 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 its mouth.
  • 3rd Form: Audrey II is now large enough to be held in one's arms and uses its leaves and vines as appendages.
  • 4th Form: Audrey II is now capable of speech, and is roughly as tall as a grown man when the plant's bulb, or "head", is pointed upwards.
  • 5th Form: Considerably bigger, now easily as tall as Seymour while bent over. At this point, Audrey II takes up easily half the room but is still contained in a pot, albeit a large one.
  • 6th Form: This form is seen when Audrey II breaks out of its own pot. Audrey II is now capable of budding and shows proficiency with using its own vines as weapons.
  • 7th Form: Audrey II is now too massive for the shop, causing it to bring down the roof.
  • 8th Form: This is the final form, now a giant monster capable of fulfilling its goal of mass destruction through the city and taking over, using its many extended vines.

Original Script Character Description[]

The original script offers a character description of Audrey II as follows:

"An anthropomorphic cross between a Venus flytrap and an avocado. It has a huge, nasty-looking pod which gains a shark-like aspect when open and snapping at food. The creature is played by a series of four increasing large puppets, manipulated by one Puppeteer. (Who also plays Wino #1 in the first scene.) The first time we see The Plant, it is less than one foot tall. The last time we see it, it fills the entire stage."[1]

The original script also offers a description of Audrey II's voice, as follows:

"Provided by an actor on an offstage microphone. It is important that this actor has clear visual access to the puppets onstage so that he can provide accurate lip-synch. The sound is a cross between Otis Redding, Barry White, and Wolfman Jack. Think of The Voice as that of a street-smart, funky, conniving villain-- Rhythm and Blues' answer to Richard the Third."[2]

Gender[]

While the voice used for Audrey II is male in most portrayals, there is much debate about the actual gender of the plant. It’s strongly suggested that Audrey II has no sort of human gender, as most plant species (including Venus Fly Traps) do. One would also do well to remember that Audrey II is an alien, and if it does have a gender it still might not pertain to the ones on earth.

Male Theory[]

Most fans simply assume Audrey II to be male since it’s 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'", though this might not be fully accepted as cut songs are treated as non-canon material.

Female Theory[]

Support[]

This Collectors Card supports the "Female Theory"

This Collector Card supports the "Female Theory" by identifying Audrey II as a girl with the "Her" pronoun.

Some fans claim the plant to be female, drawing support from the final scene, in which Twoey 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. Seymour also says that Audrey II is not a heathy girl when talking to Mr. Mushnik.

Contradictions[]

It’s 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".

Audrey II is also unlikely to have actually given birth, as its seedlings were merely other buds off of the same plant, and were probably able to talk because they were in fact a part of Audrey II's consciousness, representing an extension of Audrey II, and not true "children".

Gender-less 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 separate 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 visual effects were 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 unison 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.
  • A not well-known nickname of Audrey II that Seymour uses is "Twoey", as spelled in the DVD subtitles.

Cameos In Other Media[]

  • Audrey II is also referenced in a large variety of media:
  • The online game Dragonfable, which features an enemy named Awdreetoo.
  • Moshi audrey 2

    Audrey II in Moshi Monsters.

    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 Naval Piranha 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.
  • The Rumor Weed from the VeggieTales episode Larry-Boy and the Rumor Weed is a shoutout to Audrey II.
  • King Sprout in Super Dungeon Explore (tabletop game) bears a resemblance to Audrey II and has a special ability called 'Feed Me'.
  • Audrey II has appeared in a live-action clip in the Muppet Babies.
    Larry

    Larry

  • Audrey appears as a summonable Demon in the video game Shin Megami Tensei II.
    Audrey ii lunchables comic

    Audrey II in the comic strip.

    Audrey II also appeared in a Lunchables comic strip eating the platypus named "Platy".
  • A mutated plant in episode 12 of Total Drama: Revenge of the Island named "Larry" (which was once a pet of the host, Chris McLean) may be a homage to Audrey II due to its carnivorous nature and outward appearance.
  • In the Italian animated series Huntik's TCG, there is a Titan called "Oddrey 2" which seems to be based in Audrey II.
  • In the popular tower defense game Plants vs. Zombies, there is a plant called Chomper that greatly resembles Audrey II. Its almanac entry even claims it to have auditioned for Audrey II's stunt double.
  • In the popular game Kindergarten2, Dr. Danner, the science teacher, owns a plant called Diana who looks like a pixelated version of Audrey II.
  • The online game Wizard101 has a secret boss in one of the dungeons named Aphrodite II.
  • In the game Team Fortress 2, the cosmetic called 'Elizabeth the Third' is based off of Audrey II.
  • In the free-to-play MMO Guild Wars 2, ever since the addition of the map "Dry Top", a set of achievements can be completed by the Pact Commander (the player) to progressively feed and grow a seed from the jungle dragon "Mordremoth". When fully grown, the mysterious plant becomes a wearable backpiece consisting of tangled vines glowing with magical energy. The backpiece is called "Mawdrey", which is a direct reference to Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.
  • The animated series Ruby Gloom has a recurring character in Venus de Gloomsville.
  • A sinner demon bearing a close resemblance to Audrey II appears in the pilot episode of Hazbin Hotel.
  • Monster High character Venus McFlytrap has Audrey as her Monster inspiration.
  • The long-running Castlevania series of horror-themed platformer video games by Konami features a recurrent enemy called the Maneating Plant (among other names) which was apparently based off Audrey II.
  • The 2012 beat 'em up game Double Dragon Neon features a boss called Marian II, alluding to the series' main heroine. It is a giant Venus flytrap much in the appearance of Audrey II.
  • The
  • An item in the Minecraft datapack Manic called the Corpsepitcher uncannily resembles Audrey II.[1]
  • In the show The Amazing World of Gumball, one of the characters Leslie the flower dresses up as what resembles Audrey II’s head for Halloween.
  • In the Fairly Odd Parents episode “Which is Wish” Chloe has a talking plant in her closet that’s named Brittany and it says “Feed Me” when it’s hungry.
  • In the movie Scrooged (1988) the main character Frank Cross (Played by Bill Murray) yells out “Feed me Seymour!”. Which is one of the main lines Audrey II says in Little Shop of Horrors.
  • In the 2D fighting RPG Skullgirls Mobile, the Painwheel variant "Fly Trap" references Little Shop of Horrors. Her special ability is called "Little Prop of Horrors," the fighter utilizes a "bleed" ability and has regeneration, and she appears with the quote "Feed me, Seymour!"
  • In a Treehouse of Horror episode of The Simpsons a plant that sounds like and resembles Audrey II is shown.

Play[]

Movie[]

References[]

  1. Ashman, Howard (1982). "Little Shop Of Horrors", p. 8. Samuel French, Inc. New York. ISBN 0573681821
  2. Ashman, Howard (1982). "Little Shop Of Horrors", p. 8-9. Samuel French, Inc. New York. ISBN 0573681821
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