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	...	Big Russ Thompson
Marcia Strassman	...	Diane Szalinski
Kristine Sutherland	...	Mae Thompson
Thomas Wilson Brown	...	Little Russ Thompson (as Thomas Brown)
Jared Rushton	...	Ron Thompson
Amy O'Neill	...	Amy Szalinski
Robert Oliveri	...	Nick Szalinski
Carl Steven	...	Tommy Pervis
Mark L. Taylor	...	Don Forrester
Kimmy Robertson	...	Gloria Forrester
Lou Cutell	...	Dr. Brainard
Laura Waterbury	...	Female Cop
Trevor Galtress	...	Male Cop
Martin Aylett	...	Harold Boorstein

Storyline

On the brink of perfecting his state-of-the-art matter-shrinking machine, the suburban paterfamilias and indefatigable inventor, Professor Wayne Szalinski, realises that his device truly works, when it zaps both his kids and their friends. Now, to return to the relative safety of their home while being reduced to a mere quarter-inch size, the minuscule humans must venture out into the dense and perilous landscapes of their now-immense backyard--a hostile environment where nearly everything spells trouble. Can the kids exit the green maze of grass in one piece?

---

Plot Keywords:

shrinking machine | sudden change in size | shrinking ray | neighbor neighbor relationship | teenage boy | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Official Sites:

Disney's Official Site

Country:

USA Mexico

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)

Opening Weekend USA:

$14,262,961, 25 June 1989

Gross USA:

$130,724,172

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$222,724,172

Company Credits

Production Co:

Walt Disney Pictures, Silver Screen Partners III, Doric Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Filming for this movie was initially expected to begin in October 1987, but was pushed back three months to January 1988.

---

Goofs

The size of the hole in the broken windows.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Mailman: Good morning, Quark.

---

Connections

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: Rick Moranis/Rickie Lee Jones (1989)

---

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 small adventure of grand proportions.

Basically this one great and fun adventure movie, for kids especially. It's a Disney movie, so it's most definitely kid orientated, which means that it doesn't have the most complicated script, drawn out characters, or other mind boggling elements but it more than serves its purpose.

What is the most appealing aspect of "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" are its adventures elements. It was a great move to let the movie for most part be set in the backyard of an ordinary house, of a not so ordinary family. The shrunken kids have to overcome all sorts of dangers in the backyard, such as 'giant' insects, water drops, muddy rivers, lawnmowers and of course avoid being squashed by humans. A new adventure and obstacle awaits at every corner, which makes sure that there is always something happening in the movie and makes things flow well.

The movie is perhaps more adventurous and fun than really funny. The most comical aspects of the movie mostly come from the adult cast, from actors such as Rick Moranis and Marcia Strassman as the parents and Matt Frewer and Kristine Sutherland as the neighbors. They mostly make sure that the movie is a perfectly enough watchable and entertaining one for adults. Rick Moranis of course suits the role very well as a nutty scientist. He is perhaps also known best for his roles in the "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids"-movies than any other one.

The movie is well made and Joe Johnston shows himself again a capable director. I have always liked him as a director. He never made any really great movies but his movies are always entertaining, which always make a Joe Johnston movie a pleasant one to watch. This movie was his directorial debut and he could had done a lot worse.

The movie has some good effects, also especially considering the time it got made. The movie uses all kinds of effects. Mostly of course consisting out of over-sized sets and objects but also stop-motion effects, mechanical effects and some early special effects. Especially the over-sized objects aren't really convincing looking and are obviously made out of light and non-nature materials but I don't know, this seemed sort of right and a suiting style for a kids movie such as this one. The musical score by James Horner is also a perfectly fine one.

About as good and entertaining as a kid's movie can get, though there is also plenty left to enjoy for adults.

7/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/