Unexpected Film Adaption By DC

[espanolbot]

As in they adapted a movie into a comic that I didn't expect them to.




Yup, they actually adapted a comic of a musical. And not just any musical, a musical starring Ricky Moranis, that was directed by Frank Oz, aka Yoda and Miss Piggy. Admittedly the original movie WASN'T a musical, but it's still kind of suprising.

Just to note, the movie is AWESOME and I highly recommend it. S'got damn awesome puppets in it.

Comments

[nezchan]

There was an interim step where the original movie was adapted to a musical on stage, which is the version the newer movie was based on.

[espanolbot]

Yeah, I know. Prefer the movie over the stage version to be honest though, if only because it seems less... meanspirited than the play did.

[nezchan]

Haven't seen the play, but I have trouble seeing a Frank Oz project being all that meanspirited so the movie wins by default. Just saying the musical aspect didn't come out of nowhere for the film, is all.

[espanolbot]

Let me put it this way: the play's original ending was made for the movie, but they then went with a happy ending instead.

No...

[bewareofgeek]

The alternate movie ending is WORSE than the stage version… and both Oz & Moranis preferred it.

Re: No...

[thehefner]

And I think the film's ending works better. They changed just enough throughout the rest to actually make Seymour and Audrey such winning and wonderful characters that the Faustian ending just came off as crass and sad, rather than darkly funny as it was in the stage version. On top of that, the film version cuts out several dull numbers from the stage version, tweaks a few to make them better, and adds one of the all-time best with "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space."

So in my opinion: movie version with happy ending > all other versions.

Re: No...

[icon_uk]

Not sure about that, IIRC in the movie, Mushnik's death in particular is a lot more Seymours fault than I remember it being in the stage version, so was less deserving of a happy ending than the stage one, who got anything but.

"Closed for Renovations" and particularly "Call Back in the Morning" are amongst my favourites from the show (The latter being one of the most complex melodies of any Ashman/Menken number (beaten only by the "If Only" quartet from the stage version of "The Little Mermaid")

Re: No...

[thehefner]

Remember that Mushnik was planning to blackmail Seymour so that HE could keep the plant and get all the fortune. That's a change from the play, where Mushnik was just going to turn Seymour in. In both cases, Seymour kills Mushnik to save his own skin, but in the film's case, Mushnik had it coming and revealed himself to be a bad person (and I could see him being a lot more willing to kill people for Audrey's offers of fame and fortune), which lets Seymour off the hook in my view.

[wonderwomanhero]

[wonderwomanhero]

this is the only gif I have, lol. from the movie.

[blackruzsa]

I watched this back when I was seven, in my cousin's school play in Minnesota. Loved it to bits. We had a photoshoot afterward and I was scared that Audrey 2 would eat me.

Now all I can think of is how sick those vines are in my tainted mind.

[thehefner]

Damn, I'd love to read it, if only to see which ending they kept! I actually recently posted about the original, test-audience-rejected ending, and why I hold the unpopular opinion that it sucks.

[khamelea]

It's strange; I've seen the film version and when I heard about the two endings I thought the bad one made sense and that the Mean Green Mother would only be better in the context of the plant having killed Audrey triumphing... but then I saw the "plant conquers the world" sequence.

And it was terrible.

[auggie18]

My dad's roommate freshman year in college actually wrote the lyrics and the book for the musical.


So, it's a comic book based on a movie based on a musical based on a movie? That's only a few levels away from insanity right there.

[ghostjax]

Your dad's freshman year roommate was Howard Ashman??? Holy shit. If you're 30 or under, that guy wrote the soundtrack to your childhood.

[icon_uk]

Hell, if you're over forty he wrote most of the soundtracks that are worth listiening to regardless of age! :)

[heckfire]

YOUR DAD ROOMED WITH HOWARD ASHMAN? *grovels*

[slippy]

So that guy's pretty much my hero.

[heckfire]

I OWN THIS COMIC. Seriously. If I can ever crawl out from under my bills enough to afford a new scanner, I will scan and post it because it is WEIRD.

[icon_uk]

The comic is unique in that it appears to adapt a song which is in no version of the musical I know of (and I know more than one... hey, I'm a gay guy into musicals, so shoot me for the cliché!). The Greek Chorus (Crystal, Ronnette and Chiffon) start singing a song which goes something like...

"Who's the best, the beautiful green one?
Who? Audrey 2!
Who's a plant, if ever I see one?
Who? Audrey 2!
Check out those leaves that stem that root
Who makes photosynthesis seem cute?
It's Audrey... Audrey 2!"

That;'s not in the movie, it's not in the stage version, and I've never been able to find another reference to it, but I'd love know if there IS a story behind it possibly being in the film.

Oh, and for those interested in such things, amongst other numbers which didn't make it are

I Found a Hobby - Another song for the Dentist which outlines the history of his worldview.

Bad! - An alternative for the finale which was replaced by "Mean Green Mother" (A shame perhaps, as this one is great too)

And one called "The More he Loves Me", which I can't find on youtube and may be grateful for that, as it's one of the most tragic, bleak and dismal songs EVER! It's close to triggering as it tells of Audrey's relationship with Orin Scrivello (DDS) from her own, deeply self loathing and ashamed, point of view.

[icon_uk]

And let's not forget the OTHER surprising "spin off" (sort of) from the movie

Little Shop: The Animated Series