HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989)

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE KIDS (1989)

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

(Comedy, Family, Adventure) [PG]

And then what? Then you'll smack me? You'll go to jail too. I'll tell them after a big bee ate my brother you smacked me around. No jury in the world would fail to convict you. The whole Szalinski family is going to be in jail for life...

In this one Professor Wayne Szalinski comes to the realization that his shrinking machine works, but only after it shrinks his kids and a couple of their friends. It doesn’t take long before the kids end up having to navigate a backyard full of terror and trials at every turn due to their one-quarter of an inch size. Can the kids come together to find their way back to Professor Szalinski before they are drowned by water drops from the sprinkler, eaten by giant bugs, or worse, miss a trip to the mall? 

First off, in spite of being passed up by Chevy Chase and John Candy, this movie ended up being a success. It was the 6th highest-grossing home video when it came out in that format and spawned 3 Disney attractions, 2 sequels, and a TV series. It also featured can’t miss actor Rick Moranis most famous for GHOSTBUSTERS and SPACEBALLS. So overall unless you just hate family comedies this one is really a movie you should enjoy if you haven’t already seen it. 

The movie itself was actually filmed in 1988 but had a delayed release date meaning it came out in June of 1989. The sets are all pretty out of control. Back then everything was practical effects so if you had say... “a giant donut’ in the movie, you almost had to have someone or a crew on the production make a giant donut if the actor or actress was going to interact with it. The only way around this was to use some camera tricks and there is some of that in here, but mostly they just made a bunch of gigantic props. By today’s standards yes the effects are a bit hokey and dated, but they all have a great look to them which added to the movie's comedic and “fun” aesthetic. 

Acting-wise I thought everyone did a great job, but I wasn’t crazy about Jared Rushton (who played Ron Thompson) in this role. Thomas Wilson Brown who plays little Russ Thomson was good and has roles all the way through 2019. He is most famous for playing Augie in SILVERADO. Amy O'Neill as Amy was pretty solid and aside from Rick Moranis, stood out the most in this cast. I should also mention that I thought Nick was pretty cool. He was played by Robert Oliveri who seems to have stopped acting after 1994. His last role was for the Disney park attraction “Honey, I Shrunk The Audience”. 

The score for this was okay and there is really nothing magical about the soundtrack. Overall I found this thing very enjoyable and light-hearted. Even the injection of teen angst and potential love story is handled in a manner tone-wise that fits the rest of the movie well.

I have to give this thing a 4 out of 7. It is pretty solid and I love Rick Moranis, but the fact that I never bought this movie and haven’t seen it more than a handful of times tells me it really is middle of the road these days compared to everything else out there. Having said that, it is still very enjoyable if you are looking for a “cheer me up” type flick. 

GRAPHICS ARE THE PROPERTY OF WALT DISNEY PICTURES AND ARE USED FOR REVIEW PURPOSES ONLY. 

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