Movies - TV
Rick Moranis Had To Sing In Slow Motion For Little Shop Of Horrors
By ANYA STANLEY
For the 1986 adaptation of “Little Shop of Horrors,” Frank Oz choreographed 14 catchy musical numbers, where Audrey II, the carnivorous plant, would have to sing with many hard consonants that the puppet would have to lip-sync. Navigating the challenge would involve counter-intuitive singing and a whole lot of takes.
For the climactic song "Mean Green Mother From Outer Space," Oz realized he had to film star Rick Moranis and the Audrey II puppet singing and moving slower than the musical number called for and then employ some camera trickery. “On playback, it looked normal,” said Oz, adding, “So Rick had to sing and move in slow motion.”
Oz said, “We averaged about 25 to 30 takes every time to get it perfect." Acting in slow-motion is usually meant to be noticeable in playback, but not in “Little Shop of Horrors.” The result here was a seamless, breathtaking masterwork of puppetry and animatronics without the convenient use of CGI to sync things up.