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Audrey II (or Twoey for short) 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 fly-trap 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, 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 lifelong love interest on the payphone and convinced her to come over to the shop only to eat her. Seymour did not 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 is unknown if Audrey II took over the world or not, but it is possible that they did.
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 credits roll.
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 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 is unknown how many survived into adulthood. In infancy, 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 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 eight different forms in the 1986 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 plants "head" or bulb 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 gender of it. It is suggested that Audrey II is asexual, much like a pineapple.
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'", though this may not be fully accepted as cut songs are treated as non-canon material.
Female Theory
Support
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 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".
Audrey II is also unlikely to have actually given birth, as its 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 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 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 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 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 Piranha 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.'
Audrey II in the Comic Strip.
- Audrey II has appeared in a live-action clip in the Muppet Babies.
Larry
- 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) that is like 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
- 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 could 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 the "Little Shop of Horrors".
Gallery
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References
- ↑ Ashman, Howard (1982). "Little Shop Of Horrors", p. 8. Samuel French, Inc. New York. ISBN 0573681821
- ↑ Ashman, Howard (1982). "Little Shop Of Horrors", p. 8-9. Samuel French, Inc. New York. ISBN 0573681821