Thursday, September 14, 2006

Little Shop of Horrors - Dentist!

Little Shop of Horrors was the first DVD to be recalled for content.

In 1998, Warner Bros. released a Special Edition DVD of the 1986 musical film. This DVD included approximately 23 minutes of unfinished footage from Oz's original ending, although it was in black and white and was missing sound, visual, and special effects.

David Geffen, the film's producer and owner of the rights, apparently wanted to re-release the film to theaters with the original ending intact. Geffen became angry at Warner Bros. for including this footage on the DVD without his consent, and as a result, the studio yanked it off the shelves in a matter of days and replaced with a second edition without the extra material. The original first edition DVD is now a much sought-after collector's item and sells for upwards of $150 on eBay, although there are copies of the ending floating around the net. Some guess that, with the coming 20th anniversery of the film's theatrical release, it will be featured on a new DVD, though this isn't certain. Some even speculate that they're aiming for the 25th anniversary for a re-release.

For the time being, no plans have been made to re-release the film or DVD with the alternate ending, although modern audiences may be better prepared for a darker version of what is essentially a morality play.

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