Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Joe Johnston

Writers (WGA):

Stuart Gordon (story) &
Brian Yuzna (story) ...

Release Date:

23 June 1989 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

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

Plot:

Wayne Szalinski is your average "nutty scientist", working on a top secret machine which miniaturizes objects...

Plot Keywords:

Scientist | Shrinking | Inventor | Laser | Bee

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 win & 10 nominations

Cast

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

Also Known As:

Grounded (USA) (working title)
Teenie Weenies (USA) (working title)
The Big Backyard (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | South Korea:All | Portugal:M/6 | Finland:K-10/7 (1989) | Finland:S (1990) | Peru:PT | Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | Chile:TE | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | UK:U | USA:PG | West Germany:6 | France:U

Filming Locations:

Estudios Churubusco Azteca, Mexico City, México D.F., Mexico

Company:

Buena Vista Pictures

Trivia:

The animated short Tummy Trouble (1989) was released theatrically with this movie.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): At the beginning of the movie, a letter carrier is delivering mail. There is a mailbox with the flag up. He should open it, remove the outgoing mail, put the flag down and deliver incoming mail. However, he just opens the box and delivers the incoming mail, leaving the flag up.

Quotes:

Russell 'Russ' Thompson, Sr.: The early worm catches the fish, Russell. Remember that.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Tripping the Rift: Honey, I Shrunk the Crew (#2.3)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Turn It Up

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".