The Little Shop of Horrors face of Seymour, which pitifully moans, "I didn't mean it!" before drooping over—apparently ending the life of Audrey Jr. "The Little Shop of Horrors" was developed when director Roger Corman was given temporary access to sets that had been left standing from his previous film, "A Bucket of Blood". Corman decided to use the sets in a film made in the last two days before the sets were torn down. Corman initially planned to develop a story involving a private investigator. In the initial version of the story, the character that eventually became Audrey would have been referred to as
The Little Shop of Horrors "Oriole Plove". Actress Nancy Kulp was a leading candidate for the part. The characters that eventually became Seymour and Winifred Krelboyne were named "Irish Eye" and "Iris Eye." Actor Mel Welles was scheduled to play a character named "Draco Cardala", Jonathan Haze was scheduled to play "Archie Aroma," and Jack Nicholson would have played a character named "Jocko". Charles B. Griffith wanted to write a horror-themed comedy film. According to Mel Welles, Corman was not impressed by the box office performance of "A Bucket of Blood", and had to be persuaded to direct another comedy. However, Corman later claimed he