Do You Believe in Magic?
“The most astonishing, innovative, backyard adventure of all time!” (Walt Disney Pictures, 1989).
When you dream big, you need a movie to match that energy.
I always had a massive imagination as a kid. I was usually content playing by myself because I could always come up with scenarios for my dolls, or even for myself, that led me to lands far away. I can remember flooding my mom’s flower beds in order to create rivers where small villages could populate the shoreline and take shelter under the foliage; she didn’t get too mad at me. Needless to say, I was a big time dreamer, and in a lot of ways, I still am. So, when Honey, I Shrunk the Kids came out, I was in imagination heaven!
Wayne Szalinksi, played by Rick Moranis, is a dorky father and scientist who is working night and day on a machine that is supposed to shrink objects to miniscule sizes. The machine is faulty and not working how he wants it to. In fact, it keeps blowing up the objects into pieces every time he gives it a trial run. His kids, Amy and Nick, and his neighbors’ kids, Ron and Russ, accidentally get shrunk one day and then get thrown out with the trash by Wayne. The foursome needs to make their way back to the house in the hopes that Wayne can get them back to their normal size.
This is a perfect movie for kids and dreamers, alike. The thing that stuck out the most for me when I was a youngster watching HISTK for the first time were the sets. They were extraordinary! Skyscraper sized blades of grass, a giant Lego piece that could house the kids for a much needed rest, a forgotten oatmeal cream cookie that was now the size of a house to feast on, amongst other sights, only made my mind explode.
On top of the sets were the scenarios the group encountered. There are two that always stand out when I think of this film: a wild ride on a horse-sized bumble bee, as well as a dangerous battle with a scorpion that is monstrous in size. Watching Nick and Russ, played by Robert Oliveri and Thomas Wilson, going for an unhinged ride on a wild bee, zigging and zagging all over the place, was exciting! As for the scorpion scene, where the kids need to battle for their lives against this deadly creature, it was a nailbiter for 7-year-old me to witness.
Not surprisingly, HISTK did well in the theaters. It was an early-summer release and was ranked as the #2 film during its opening weekend, losing the #1 spot to another classic film, Tim Burton’s Batman. Disney tried to capitalize on the popularity of HISTK by releasing two subsequent films (Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves) years later, but they were duds; they couldn’t recapture the magic from the first film.
It’s hard to believe that 35 years have passed since the release of HISTK! The CGI has definitely not held up over the years, but the plot is still a dreamer’s fantasy. Back then, my little mind was in overdrive watching a movie that combined an unforgettable adventure and a fantastical world with characters that were practically my age needing to survive. HISTK was a wonder in the late 80s, and I’m sure it can still capture the minds of kids today.