Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers:

Stuart Gordon (story), Brian Yuzna (story),

Stars:

Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman

Won 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 10 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rick Moranis	...	Wayne Szalinski
Matt Frewer	...	Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Sr. (Big Russ Thompson)
Marcia Strassman	...	Diane Szalinski
Kristine Sutherland	...	Mae Thompson
Thomas Wilson Brown	...	Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Jr. (Little Russell Thompson) (as Thomas Brown)
Jared Rushton	...	Ronald 'Ron' Thompson
Amy O'Neill	...	Amy Szalinski
Robert Oliveri	...	Nick Szalinski
Carl Steven	...	Tommy Pervis
Mark L. Taylor	...	Donald 'Don' Forrester
Kimmy Robertson	...	Gloria Forrester
Lou Cutell	...	Dr. Brainard
Laura Waterbury	...	Female Cop
Trevor Galtress	...	Male Cop
Martin Aylett	...	Harold Boorstein

Storyline

Wayne Szalinski is your average "nutty scientist", working on a top secret machine which miniaturizes objects. When it unexpectedly starts working, he's so amazed he forgets to tell his family to be careful. And when they wander into his lab...

---

Plot Keywords:

scientist | laser | backyard | shrinking machine | bee | 

---

Taglines:

The most astonishing, innovative, backyard adventure of all time!

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 June 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Grounded

Filming Locations:

Beverly Hills, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$130,724,200 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Buena Vista Pictures, Doric Productions, Silver Screen Partners III

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Joe Johnston's directorial debut.

---

Goofs

When Nick and Russ are on the bee, when the bee flies back down and hits the blades of grass, before Nick and Russ fly off a harness can be clearly seen on Nick for a few frames.

---

Quotes

Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Jr.: He hit a baseball through your attic window...
Amy Szalinski: He what?
Ronald 'Ron' Thompson: It shouldn't have been closed in the first place. It's a nice day!
Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Jr.: We'll get it fixed okay? We'll take it out of his allowance all right?
Ronald 'Ron' Thompson: My allowance? Dream on!
Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Jr.: Okay, we'll just have dad pay for it huh?
Ronald 'Ron' Thompson: We'll take it out of my allowance... Now give me my ball back.
Nick Szalinski: Until you pay, no man shall pass.
Ronald 'Ron' Thompson: You've got nothing to say about it, *space boy*!
Amy Szalinski: Cool it! Nick, take him upstairs and get him his ball. And clean up the mess.
[...]

---

Connections

Followed by Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997)

---

Soundtracks

"Turn It Up"
Written by Jeffrey Pescetto (as Jeff Pescetto) and Patrick DeRemer
Performed by Nick Kamen
Courtesy of WEA RECORDS LIMITED

User Reviews

A very strange adventure/comedy motion picture

"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is a quite unusual adventure/comedy film, one of the most eccentric movies of all time. It's one of those live-actions films produced by Disney's studios.

The movie's title refers to Wayne Szalinski, a stereotypical nutty/mad scientist. He invents a machine with the ability of shrinking objects to a size even smaller than ants. This character is portrayed by Rick Moranis, the perfect actor for a role like this (with his intellectual looks).

Rick Moranis is funny as Wayne Szalinski, Matt Frewer is hilarious as the impatient and temperamental "Big" Russell Thompson. The kids also do a good job: Thomas Wilson Brown as the clever "Little" Russell Thompson, Jared Rushton as the paranoid Ron Thompson and Robert Oliveri as the nerd Nick Szalinski. One of the funniest parts for me is when "little" Russell forces his brother Ron to confess that he broke Szalinski's window with his baseball.

The Szalinski kids (Nick and Amy) and the Thompson kids ("Little" Russell and Ron, the Szalinski's neighbors) are accidentally shrunk by the machine and thrown into the garbage by accident. Because they are so tiny, they live a big adventure full of dangers and nightmares (from insects to a remote-controlled lawn mower) until reaching their house, something which would only take seconds on their normal size.

The story becomes a bit odd and of a somehow discussable taste, but it also makes the difference... for good and for bad. However, I must be fair: at least this is a thousand times better than those stupid "Problem Child" movies. Not that they have anything in common, but...

Overall, nothing extraordinary, but amusing, hilarious, great fun, entertaining, original, bizarre and with some funny lines («French class» is just one among many others). There's also a certain 80's charm on it.

The success of this movie inspired a very imaginative 3D film created as an amusement for Disneyland parks around the world called "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience".