Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves



Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves is a 1997 live-action direct-to-video sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. It is the third and final installment in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids trilogy. The directorial debut of cinematographer Dean Cundey and released through Walt Disney Home Video, it tells the story of inventor Wayne Szalinski as he accidentally shrinks his wife, brother, sister-in-law, and himself with his electromagnetic shrink ray.

Rick Moranis returns to portray Wayne Szalinski. He is the only returning cast member from the previous films. His wife, Diane, is portrayed by Eve Gordon, and their youngest son Adam, now a preteen, is played by Bug Hall. Amy and Nick have gone off to college (as discussed between Diane and Adam in the film). This film includes Wayne's extended family, including his brother Gordon and his wife, Patti. Unlike the first film, where the kids had to get their parents' attention, the parents have to get their kids' attention.

Only a few months after this film was released, the Disney Channel picked up a show based on the Szalinskis' troubles: Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. It starred Peter Scolari in the role of Wayne. This was the last incarnation of the franchise; this is also Disney's first live-action movie to get a direct-to-video release.

This was Rick Moranis' final live-action role.

Plot
Around a decade after the events of the previous film, Adam Szalinski, now a preteen, just wants to be a normal boy and go to baseball camp, but his interest in sports seems almost alien to his parents Wayne and Diane, as Amy and Nick, who are currently living away from home, were both a thespian and genius respectively. Wayne has also started his own lab "Szalinski Labs" with his brother Gordon, and the two receive tickets to witness a shuttle landing, but Diane interrupts Wayne's message, reminding him that he needs to watch Adam and his cousins, Jenny and Mitch, while she and Gordon's wife Patty go on vacation. She also reminds him to get rid of Tiki Man that she sees as an eyesore, though Wayne considers it his good luck charm (not to mention something that could earn him a fortune one day).

After the women leave, Wayne and Gordon have activities planned that bore the children. Wayne sends them to the store, but reveals to Gordon that it is a ruse to get rid of them long enough so that he can use his shrink ray in order to shrink the Tiki Man down without Diane's knowledge, and without the risk of unintentionally shrinking the kids. However, by an act of carelessly not turning the machine back off first thing after they succeed, Wayne and Gordon are both shrunk when a pool ball on the machine falls out of place and falls onto the button while they are in front of it searching out the Tiki Man. Meanwhile, Patty realizes she forgot to leave Mitch the pills for his potassium deficiency and they head back. Hoping to catch their husbands by surprise, they sneak up to the attic, and are shrunk when another pool ball falls onto the machine's button. Shortly after, the kids return home and; after hearing Wayne's message about the launch, assume they are alone for the evening, and Jenny makes plans to have some friends come over. Upstairs, the adults make use of a fishing rod and line to lower themselves down into Adam's room. To attempt to get to the floor, they use a Hot Wheels race track, but they overshoot their target and fall down thelaundry chute ending up in a clean load that is then delivered back upstairs by Adam and Mitch. The four adults tumble out of the laundry basket when it is overturned, and discover Adam and Mitch reading a Sports Illustrated magazine, revealing to Wayne that his son's interest is not in science as he hoped.

Seeing Mitch struggling, Patty realizes that they need to get him his medicine soon, or he could pass out. Mitch ignores his weaknesses, though, and goes downstairs. The parents witness the arrival of Jenny's friends and decide to use a bubble blower in order to get downstairs. The women land safely, but Wayne and Gordon fall into a bowl of dip and are nearly devoured by the ravenous girls.

In the kitchen, when Patty and Diane resolve to find some way up the counter in order to find Mitch's pills and push them into view, they encounter a daddy long-legs with its leg caught in a spider web, and Diane quietly talks to him as Patty tries to cut the webbing with a nail file. Diane realizes her own insecurities about being small as she relates to the bug, whom she had earlier tried to kill, and realizes how hard it is to be that size. After he is freed, Patty and Diane realize they can cling to the spider's silk as it climbs up and onto the counter. Meanwhile, Gordon and Wayne decide to rewire the stereo to work as a microphone, and a group of boys crash the party, including Ricky King, Jenny's crush. He takes Jenny into the kitchen, where he steals a kiss from her, but she spurns him for not asking permission first, thus earning Patty's respect. Angered, he returns to his friends and they begin to wreak havoc in the living room. Mitch, severely weakened enters the kitchen and discovers Patty and Diane on the counter before fainting, partially from his failure to take medicine for his potassium deficiency, and partially from the shock of seeing his miniature mom and aunt. Adam and Jenny discover him, and thinking quickly, Adam gets potassium-rich bananas to feed Mitch, and he begins to recover, weakly saying he had seen his mother. In the living room, Wayne rewires the stereo so that Gordon can talk and amplify his voice so he can pretend to be the voice of God. He orders the children to leave the house, leading Adam, Mitch and Jenny to realize what had happened to them.

In the attic, the kids discuss the benefits of leaving their parents shrunk briefly before deciding they love them more than that. They return them to their normal sizes. Patty confides her trust in Jenny for how she stood up to Ricky, while Wayne tells Adam that he can have an interest in sports, and agrees to sign him up for baseball camp. Diane tells Wayne he can keep his Tiki Man, and won't sweat the "small" stuff anymore, while Wayne decides to relinquish his presidency of Szalinski Labs to the more personable Gordon, while he decides to return to inventing. In the end, life is back to normal again, while Wayne has developed a new respect for baseball, and his Tiki Man has been moved into his backyard and enlarged to twice the height of the house.

Cast

 * Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski
 * Stuart Pankin as Gordon Szalinski
 * Eve Gordon as Diane Szalinski
 * Robin Bartlett as Patti Szalinski
 * Bug Hall as Adam Szalinski
 * Allison Mack as Jenny Szalinski
 * Jake Richardson as Mitch Szalinski
 * Jojo Adams as Ricky King
 * Mila Kunis as Jill, Jenny's friend
 * Erica Luttrell as Jody, Jenny's friend
 * Lisa Wilhoit as Holly, Jenny's friend
 * Ashleigh Sterling as Corky, Jenny's friend
 * Theodore Borders as Trey, Ricky's friend
 * Bryson Aust as Vince, Ricky's friend
 * Laura Dunn as Trina, Wayne's secretary