Chérie, j'ai rétréci les gosses

Timeless classic. Great adventure movie than never gets old. Yes the effects and props aren't what they used to be, but its still enjoyable today. There's some 80s adventure movies that seem really silly when you watch them today, movies like explorers are just ridiculous when you watch them now, but this has stood the test of time and my son will definitely be watching this with me when hes a bit older.

I rememeber seeing this film in summer 1989 in the movie theater when I was still in elementary school. On the big screen the FX are so cool! They don't translate as well on the small screen, though. It's also funny to see the Matt Frewer character making pot shots at Rick Moranis's character. The shrunken kids' adventure to cross the yard is also cool. The Roger Rabbit short "Tummy Trouble" before the start of the film is an added bonus! Great Disney fun!

"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" is a quite unusual adventure/comedy film, one of the most eccentric movies of all time. It's one of those live-actions films produced by Disney's studios.

The movie's title refers to Wayne Szalinski, a stereotypical nutty/mad scientist. He invents a machine with the ability of shrinking objects to a size even smaller than ants. This character is portrayed by Rick Moranis, the perfect actor for a role like this (with his intellectual looks).

Rick Moranis is funny as Wayne Szalinski, Matt Frewer is hilarious as the impatient and temperamental "Big" Russell Thompson. The kids also do a good job: Thomas Wilson Brown as the clever "Little" Russell Thompson, Jared Rushton as the paranoid Ron Thompson and Robert Oliveri as the nerd Nick Szalinski. One of the funniest parts for me is when "little" Russell forces his brother Ron to confess that he broke Szalinski's window with his baseball.

The Szalinski kids (Nick and Amy) and the Thompson kids ("Little" Russell and Ron, the Szalinski's neighbors) are accidentally shrunk by the machine and thrown into the garbage by accident. Because they are so tiny, they live a big adventure full of dangers and nightmares (from insects to a remote-controlled lawn mower) until reaching their house, something which would only take seconds on their normal size.

The story becomes a bit odd and of a somehow discussable taste, but it also makes the difference... for good and for bad. However, I must be fair: at least this is a thousand times better than those stupid "Problem Child" movies. Not that they have anything in common, but...

Overall, nothing extraordinary, but amusing, hilarious, great fun, entertaining, original, bizarre and with some funny lines («French class» is just one among many others). There's also a certain 80's charm on it.

The success of this movie inspired a very imaginative 3D film created as an amusement for Disneyland parks around the world called "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience".

Whilst watching Honey I Shrunk The Kids on DVD, it occurred to me how much things have changed in the last twenty years: records and typewriters, which feature in the film's opening animated credits, no longer exist ('what are they?', asked my bemused 7-year-old daughter); spectacles have got a lot smaller (the one's sported by the youngest kid in this film are enormous!); computers are now everyday household appliances—not just the play-things of crazy inventors; telephones are a lot easier to use now they don't have cords; Rick Moranis is no longer a box-office draw; and special effects look a whole lot different now we have CGI (not necessarily better, just different).

One thing that hasn't changed, though, is this film's ability to entertain: Joe Johnston's directorial debut is just as enjoyable today as it was when I first saw it two decades ago.

Rick Moranis stars as crazy inventor Wayne Szalinski, whose latest creation, a miniaturisation ray, has one major teething problem: it tends to make things explode. After the machine is whacked by a stray baseball, it finally begins to function correctly, but accidentally shrinks Wayne's children, pretty blonde teen Amy (Amy O'Neill) and chip-off-the-old-block younger son Nick (Robert Oliveri), plus Russ and Ron, the neighbours' sons, to microscopic size. Oblivious to the fact that his machine is now working, and that it has miniaturised his kids, Wayne destroys his machine, sweeps up the pieces (scooping up the four tiny children in the process) and takes the trash to the bottom of the yard.

Now, if they are to have any chance of being returned to normal size, Amy, Nick, Russ and Ron must make a dangerous trek through their yard, facing a variety of dangers on the way.

Utilising detailed oversize props and sets, plus an impressive (for the time) combination of blue screen technology, matte paintings, and stop-motion animation effects, director Johnston creates a string of spectacular set-pieces that sees the children being bombarded by giant water droplets from the garden sprinkler, taking a flight on the back of a bee, being attacked by a scorpion, and befriending a baby ant. Johnston's younger cast members all give credible performances, whilst Moranis does what he does best: acts nerdy and looks worried a lot.

Of course, this being a Disney movie, there is the obligatory happy ending, which sees Wayne finally perfecting his invention and returning the kids to full size. And this being a Disney film, everyone involved learns a valuable lesson in how to get along with others, despite their differences. Which is nice.

Absent-minded genius Moranis accidentally shrinks his kids to microscopic size and they end up in the yard. At their size, they must fight dangerous creatures like ants and bees and menacing household items like a lawnmower and a garden hose before they can traverse back to the house and hope to be restored to normal size. Amusing Disney comedy is fun for the whole family. The special effects are pretty good as simple household objects are shown as humongous from the perspective of the kids. Moranis is likable as the mad inventor and Strassman is cute as his wife. The young actors don't try to be too cute and Frewer is funny as the neighbor whose son has also been shrunk.