Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 live-action comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and produced by Walt Disney Pictures, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to ¼ of an inch with his electromagnetic shrink ray and sends them out into the backyard with the trash.
Rick Moranis stars as Wayne Szalinski, the inventor who accidentally shrinks his children, Amy Szalinski (Amy O'Neill) and Nick Szalinski (Robert Oliveri). Marcia Strassman portrays his wife, Diane, to whom Moranis delivers the titular line. Matt Frewer, Kristine Sutherland, Thomas Wilson Brown and Jared Rushton star as Russ Thompson, Sr., Mae Thompson, Russ Thompson, Jr. and Ron Thompson, the Szalinskis' next door neighbors.
Plot[]
Wayne Szalinski (Rick Moranis) constantly irritates his next door neighbor Russ Thompson Sr (Matt Frewer) building machinery in his attic. With a long fishing camping trip ahead of them, Russ Sr's wife Mae Thompson (Kristine Sutherland) manages to calm him down. Their son Ron Thompson (Jared Rushton) a troublemaker but energetic about the upcoming trip, and Russ Thompson Jr (Thomas Wilson Brown) shows a complete lack of interest in many of the things his father holds dear. While Wayne's teenage daughter Amy Szalinski (Amy O'Neill) daydreams of an upcoming dance while Wayne's young son Nick Szalinski (Robert Oliveri) portrays his own interest in science and inventing. The families as a whole do not get along, and with the temporary separation of Wayne's wife Diane Szalinski (Marcia Strassman) things at home seem strained as well.
That same day, Wayne goes to the conference to seek funding for a shrink ray he's invented, though he does not tell them it only blows things up so far instead of shrinking them. The other scientists laugh at him and go to lunch during his presentation. Meanwhile, Ron knocks a baseball through the Szalinski's attic window, activating the shrink ray and falling into its focusing laser. Russ Jr forces Ron to fess up to Nick and Amy and Nick and Ron go upstairs to retrieve it. Unbeknownst to them, the shrink ray detects their entry and immediately shrinks them. Afterwards, Russ Jr and Amy go to check on them and they too are shrunk to 1/4 of an inch in height. Wayne returns home to find the house a mess and Nick and Amy missing. Unaware that the kids are shrunk, he then goes to the attic. The kids try to get Wayne's attention, but they are too small to be heard or seen. Wayne blames it on the machine and starts destroying it. Wayne sweeps up the mess and with it the children, throwing them out with the garbage on the other side of the back yard. Stranded 'miles' from the house, Nick plans to lure their dog Quark to them as he can hear what humans cannot, it nearly works until the Thompsons' cat, Spike, scares him back into the house. Nick and Russ Jr fall into a flower and picked up by a bee and are separated from Ron and Amy. Unable to bear with the weight, the bee crash lands and the groups make their way back together. Russ Sr lies about his children missing to the Forresters and they leave for the camp without the Thompsons, infuriating Russ Sr into saying "those kids" are grounded. While looking at the attic floor, Wayne finds his couch in a miniature form, Wayne learns the shrink ray shrunk Nick, Amy, Russ Jr, and Ron, While trying to find them, Wayne accidentally turns on the sprinklers and while outrunning the storm, Amy falls into a pool of mud and nearly drowned until Russ Jr uses CPR to bring her back.
After encountering an Oatmeal Cream Pie that Nick has thrown out, the children eat but encounter an ant that they call Antie decide to use to ride back home, as it gets dark, Diane returns home and calls the police to report their children missing while the same police to visit them are already with the Thompsons. Wayne tells Diane the situation who is less than excited as she faints in front of the police. They rig a sling to look for the kids in the dark as the kids seek shelter in a Lego block to sleep. They are attacked by a scorpion, and are unable to fend it off. Antie tries to save them and fights the scorpion, but is stung and killed. Ron kills the scorpion by throwing a match into its head. In the morning they continue their trek to the house. That same day Nick's friend Tommy (Carl Steven) comes to the house to mow the lawn on an agreement he had with Nick the day before, but before the kids are killed by the mower Wayne and Diane turn it off. Landing inches from them, Ron loses hope they'll ever be noticed when Quark comes in and picks them up. Running inside, Quark barks at Wayne and Nick falls into his bowl of Cheerios. He is nearly eaten until Quark bites Wayne's leg getting him to learn Nick is in his spoon. . They get the Thompsons to try and help unshrink their kids but can't replicate the accident. The kids perform charades to tell them that the baseball is what caused the shrink ray to work by blocking the laser and allowing it to shrink things instead of blowing them up. Wayne tests the device on Russ Sr who is shrunk and grown, they return their children to their normal size and the Szalinskis and the Thompsons embrace, and a friendship is formed between Russ Sr and Wayne.
At Thanksgiving the Szalinskis and the Thompsons get together over an enlarged turkey to eat as Quark eats a giant sized Milkbone. As they make their toast, Russ Jr and Amy play footsie under the table, hinting at a possible budding relationship between the two of them while Nick finally realizes the punchline to a joke Russ Jr had made after giving Amy artificial respiration earlier.
Cast[]
- Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski
- Marcia Strassman as Diane Szalinski
- Amy O'Neill as Amy Szalinski
- Robert Oliveri as Nick Szalinski
- Matt Frewer as Russ Thompson, Sr.
- Kristine Sutherland as Mae Thompson
- Thomas Wilson Brown as Russ Thompson, Jr.
- Jared Rushton as Ron Thompson
- Frank Welker as Special Vocal Effects (voice)