This week we shrink down to less than 1/2 an inch and run through jungle grass avoiding power sprinklers, scorpions and befriending ants with Honey I Shruk the Kids from 1989. Will we make it back to the house and get back to full size or are we stuck in this miniscule life forever?
Storyline :On the brink of perfecting his state-of-the-art matter-shrinking machine, the suburban paterfamilias and indefatigable inventor, Professor Wayne Szalinski, realizes that his device truly works, when it zaps both his kids and next-door neighbors' sons. Now, to return to the relative safety of their home while being reduced to a mere quarter-inch size, they must venture out into the dense and perilous landscapes of their now-immense backyard: a hostile environment where nearly everything spells trouble. Can they exit the green maze of grass in one piece?
Directors: Joe Johnston
Writers: Suart Gordon, Brian Yuzna, and Ed Naha
Stars: Rick Moranis, Matt Frewer, Marcia Strassman and Kristine Sutherland
Awards: 2 Wins & 10 Nominations
Film Budget: $18,000,000
Gross Worldwide: $222,724,172
We were surprised there were not more 80s jams on this one but here is the title theme.
The most astonishing, innovative, backyard adventure of all time!
For the scene in which miniaturized Nick Szalinski drops into a bowl of Cheerios cereal, a tank was filled with 16,000 gallons of a milk-like substance made from chlorinated water, food thickener, and pigment. The Cheerios were made from tractor inner tubes, twelve feet in diameter, coated in foam.
In an early version of the script, there were five kids, one of which died during the sprinkler sequence.
The Society for the Preservation of English Language and Literature (SPELL) awarded "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" with its 1989 Dunce Cap Award, citing the title's grammatical error of using the word "shrunk" instead of "shrank." An unnamed Disney executive responded that the incorrect usage was on purpose and directly referenced a line of dialogue.
Matt Frewer (Big Russ Thompson) was only 30 years old at the time of filming. 14 years older than eldest son little Russ Thompson
The film's original title was "Teenie Weenies", which was rejected on the grounds that it sounded too much like a kiddies' film with no appeal to adults.
We were pleased to see the entire "shrunk" universe is available on Disney+ to view now. We will definitely stream this one again.