Honey, I Shrunk the Kids

"Oooops."

Take equal parts of an unlucky scientist one step away from becoming a Mad Scientist, and a potential Weapon of Mass Destruction applied on four children, then top it off with the angst of said children. It is a comedy.

Stay at home inventor Wayne Szalinski invented a Shrink Ray. Which doesn't work. Due to a stray baseball it becomes fully functional and promptly shrinks his daughter, son and the neighbor's two sons. Wayne was absent, and is unaware of that his machine worked. After the idea of his machine is dismissed at a conference, Wayne breaks it in frustration, sweeps the broken glass up as well as the children, and then deposits them on the curb for trash collection. They cut their way out with a shard of glass, and begin an adventure across the unkempt lawn to get back home and unshrunk. They face many environmental hazards such as a bee, a scorpion, sprinkler system, automated lawn mower, and a Cats Are Mean, all of which are now infinitely more dangerous as the kids must learn to band together in order to survive... yes, we assure you this is a comedy. Meanwhile, Szalinski realizes the error of his ways, that the machine works and had accidentally shrunk the kids, he tries desperately to fix the machine and find the kids in the grass in the yard.

Characters in the movie include:

  • Wayne Szalinski: The Smart Guy. Even though the roadblock he hit was overcome by a freak accident, that's how a surprising number of inventions came about.
  • Diane Szalinski: Mama Bear. She isn't happy with what happened to her family, though she doesn't become violent.
  • Russ Thompson Sr: Papa Wolf. He was not happy, but he does turn out to be a genuinely nice guy, in spite of wishing his oldest son was "manlier."
  • Mae Thompson: Not quite Emotionless Girl, but she did take the news rather well.
  • Amy Szalinski: The Chick. Popular girl who likes boys and shopping.
  • Nick Szalinski: The Other Smart Guy Like father, like son.
  • Russ Thompson Jr: The Lancer. He warms up. Has a huge crush on Amy.
  • Ron Thompson: The Generic Guy. Has a huge attitude problem, but becomes friendlier as the movie progresses.

Spawned a sequel, Honey, I Blew Up The Kid; an attraction, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience; a direct-to-video movie, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves; and a TV series, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, the TV Show; in that order.

Tropes used in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids include:
  • Absent-Minded Professor: Wayne, of course.
  • All Animals Are Dogs: "Anty", the ant.
  • Any Torment You Can Walk Away From: The Thompsons have ample grounds for a lawsuit (see No OSHA Compliance entry below), but obviously do not file one.
  • Animated Credits Opening
  • Anthropic Principle: Logic dictates that after the first film, Wayne Szalinski should be living in a billion-dollar science palace with at least two Nobel Prizes on his wall and his name in the books next to Einstein, Galileo, Newton and Tesla, but then of course we wouldn't be able to continue having nutty suburban adventures about a bumbling scientist and his size-changing mishaps. The family does have more money and a larger house in each sequel, though, and he's the President of Szalinski Labs by the third.
  • Artistic License Physics: Mostly overshadowed by the Rule of Cool and the Rule of Funny. Decreasing the amount of empty space between molecules would indeed decrease an object's volume. However, since the amount of actual matter remains, it would do absolutely nothing to the object's mass. Thus, Wayne should not have been able to sweep them up. What you've done is increase the object's density. This greatly decreases the surface area over which their weight, defined in physics as the force generated by the acceleration of gravity acting upon mass, is distributed. This greatly increase the amount of pressure exerted upon the surfaces beneath their feet. Though the floorboards in his lab could probably have held them, once in the backyard, they should have sunk into the soft soil.
    • And, of course, the opposite holds true, meaning that Diane could have picked Adam up in the second movie, whether she was blown up or not. Likewise Adam wouldn't have quite the strength to lift a car.
      • Except picking up a 112-foot toddler would still have been extremely difficult and awkward for a five-foot whatever woman, and she needed to get Adam to hold still long enough for Wayne to shrink them back to normal size.
    • Two take a "ride" on a bee. They are flown all over the yard, which to them is 3 miles long. Despite the fact that in comparison size that bee is traveling at well over two hundred miles per hour, they do a remarkable job of hanging on. After their shrinking escapade think of all the money they'll save by just grabbing onto an airplane rather than having to pay fare to sit inside.
      • The error here actually lies with perceived time. Their smaller brains/bodies should function proportionally faster, so the perceived time longer with the distance. In this sense the bee ride and much of the film are 'accurate' with the exception of this concept.
    • Surface tension.
  • Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.
  • Berserk Button: Adam doesn't like naps. Which would seem ordinary for a kid his age in the second movie. However due to his size from being enlarged, he nearly accidentally kills Wayne, when he tries to subdue him using the equally enlarged Big Bunny. Wayne was very close to making Adam stay still long enough to use the Shrink Ray on him, but despite the warnings from Diane and Nicki he says the word "Nap" which causes Adam to lose his temper and smack Big Bunny, causing Wayne to nearly fall and the helicopter carrying him and Big Bunny to nearly crash.
  • Big "Shut Up!": Amy shouts this at Ron, after Nick and Russ Jr. are carried off by the killer bee:

Ron: We're never gonna find Russ now! It's all your stupid dad's fault!
Amy: Shut up! My brother's up there, too!

  • Bound and Gagged: Nick's way of preventing the babysitter (that he has a crush on) from raising a ruckus about his enormous brother in Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.
  • A Boy, a Girl, and a Baby Family: Nick, Amy and Adam Szalinski.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Russ Jr. while considered a wimp by his father and Ron at first, is very protective of the latter, when he is attacked by the scorpion. He also extends this trope to Nicky when he gets captured by a Bee.
  • Broken Glass Penalty: It is Ron's baseball smashing through the Szalinskis' attic window that activates the shrinking machine.
  • California Doubling: The first movie was set in Fresno, but was shot in Mexico. The second one takes place in Vista del Mar, Nevada, but was shot in Florida.
  • Cardboard Prison: In Honey, I Blew Up The Kid; Adam frequently escapes his playpen even after Wayne's multiple attempts to fix it.
  • Cats Are Mean: Spike, the Thompsons' cat, screws everything up for the kids when he chases Quark the dog away.
  • Child Prodigy: Nick, especially in the first movie.
  • Cigarette of Anxiety: The neighbor's dad is shown lighting up despite having quit several years before, demonstrating to the kids how worried he is about them.
  • Convection, Schmonvection: The freshly-tossed cigarette that the kids find. Being that close to the still-hot cigarette would really burn quarter-inch-tall people.
  • Cute Giant: Adam, after being turned gigantic in Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.
  • Deadpan Snarker: In the first movie, Ron is often quite cynical. Amy has her moments, too. In the second movie, Nick fills this trope on occasion.
  • Death Ray: Before the baseball fell into it, the shrink ray blew things up instead.
  • Demoted to Extra: Amy only briefly appears in Honey, I Blew Up The Kid, and is Put on a Bus before the end of the first act.
  • Disaster Dominoes
  • Disney Death: Painfully averted with Anty's death.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: When helping his father pack the camper van, Russ spots Amy dancing in her kitchen as she tries to clean up. He's mesmerized.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Adam and Mitch look at a magazine that Adam thinks would get him in trouble with his dad and that the parents can't see from their angle on the floor. Wayne crawls up on the magazine after the boys leave and discovers its a regular issue of Sports Illustrated. Wayne seems nearly as upset as he would have been if it really had turned out to be a Playboy.
  • Dolled-Up Installment: Honey I Blew Up The Kid was originally a script called Big Baby.
  • Efficient Displacement: Adam in the second movie.
  • Everyone Has Standards: The Helicopter Pilot in Honey I Blew Up The Kid. Even if it was tranquilizers he made it clear that he didn't like the idea of Dr. Hendrickson shooting at Adam. When an enlarged Diane tells them to back off, he says "Yes Ma'am." In a more enthusiastic tone before doing so. Almost as if he was relieved he didn't have to do it anymore.
  • Establishing Character Moment: Much of the characters in the first movie have their fair share:
    • Amy is popular, but also responsible. She was able to juggle Highschool life while watching after Nick when Wayne and Diane aren't in a position to.
    • Nick's first appearance shows him making a toy replica of the Shrinking Machine, showing he wants to be just like his father.
    • Russ Thompson Jr. upon waking up, doesn't seem to want to be like Russ Sr., dismissing his fathers likes as "Your things, not mine."
    • Ronald Thompson on the other hand emulates his father in both appearance and attitude, but is also shown to be clever with making traps.
    • Wayne is shown to be focused too much on his work, but still caring of his family. As shown when he at first dismisses Nick so he can continue working on the Shrink Ray, then later tries looking for his kids when he realized what the Machine did to them.
    • Diane is the last person to be shown appearing in the movie. It was hinted before, that she and Wayne had a fight but she shows no sign of anger or resentment at him upon first appearing. Showing that she loves Wayne, but sometimes is at odds with him.
    • Russ Sr. is first shown to be the typical grumpy neighbor. Justifiably so since, he's been hearing Wayne work on his machine and disturbing him with the noise. He's also shown to put immense pressure on his kids, especially Russ Jr. Believing that it would toughen them up. However once he gets a slight hint that they are in danger he goes as far as to physically threaten Wayne, believing him responsible.
    • Mae Thompson, is the only one that seems to keep calm and even get along with the Szalinskis. Even asking Diane if she's seen the kids around and vice versa. When Wayne's antics prove too much for Russ or their own kids seem to cause him trouble. She's the only one that tries to get him to calm down. The only time this breaks is when Diane accidentally implicates that the machine may have blown up her kids. (It didn't but the thought still scared her.)
    • Quark the dog, is the first to have one. It really says something when the mailman, a dog's natural enemy can give Quark the mail instead of just putting it in the box. Not only does Quark take it without trouble, but also knows who to give it too. It shows how much of a smart and nice dog he is.
  • Eureka Moment: After using a baseball bat to shoo a bee (which Nick and Russ are riding on)...

Wayne: Wait a second... Nick doesn't play baseball. [looks up at his attic/lab, which the window broke]

  • Everything's Worse with Bees
  • Family-Unfriendly Death: Anty getting practically impaled through the torso by the scorpion.
  • Fantastic Voyage Plot: Narrowly averted in both Shrunk movies. Played straight, however, in the premier episode of the TV show. In Diane's own father no less.
  • Flat What: Diane's initial reaction when Wayne confesses that his machine shrank their kids.
    • Followed by another when Wayne told Diane the Thompson kids also shrank and they're all in the backyard. Then grabs Wayne after he told her he threw them out with the trash. Then faints when Wayne tells the police (Diane called the police to report the kids missing before finding out they were shrunk) that the kids aren't missing, they're in the backyard.
  • Footsie Under the Table: Russ and Amy at the end of the movie.
  • Forgotten Fallen Friend: Anty (the only character in the whole franchise to be killed).
  • Giant Food
  • God Guise: In Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, Wayne's brother Gordon pretends to be the voice of God, scaring off all the guests at his daughter Jenny's party. It Makes Sense in Context.
  • Happily Married: Wayne and Diane (although they're having some difficulties at the beginning of the first movie) and Russ Sr. and Mae.
  • Here We Go Again: At the end of the second movie, Adam's stuffed bunny is still huge and Wayne tells a doubtful Diane he'll get the machine fix to shrink it back. Though Adam doesn't seem to mind.
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Anty again.
  • Hollywood Science: Shrinking an object by reducing the open space inside it wouldn't remove any weight, and the Square-Cube Law would mean that the shrunken characters wouldn't be able to move at all. They also probably wouldn't be able to breathe or digest normal-sized food and would stand a good chance of imbedding themselves in most materials they stood on.
    • Similarly, enlarging an object by increasing the open space inside it wouldn't add any weight, the subject would still have trouble breathing or digesting food, and any enlarged objects would become much more buoyant in air, possibly light enough to float away if they're made large enough.
  • Homemade Inventions
  • Hot Mom: Diane, especially in the series.
  • How Did That Get in There?: Russ Sr., almost word-for-word, when Mae finds a packet of cigarettes hidden in his baseball cap.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Anty.
  • Incredible Shrinking Man: The premise of the plot.
    • And the third movie, and a few episodes of the series. Though in the second movie, Wayne accidentally shrunk Nick (again) and his girlfriend Mandy when he shrank Diane and Adam back to normal size.
  • Insufferable Genius: Dr. Hendrickson from Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.
  • Ironic Echo: "Weird family."
  • It's a Small World After All: (And we're not even going for Incredibly Lame Pun here!) Russ Jr. and Nick get caught on a bumble bee and flown all over the yard, inexplicably being dropped off not far from Amy and Ron.
  • Jerkass: Ron, initially. He isn't such a jerk by the end of the movie, though.
    • Dr. Hendrickson in Honey, I Blew Up The Kid.
  • Jerk Jock: Ricky in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Russ Sr.
  • The Jimmy Hart Version: The instrumental theme of the first movie includes an obvious pastiche of "Powerhouse B".
    • Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves features a similar but distinct instrumental theme in the opening credits.
  • Kids Wilderness Epic: The first movie spends a lot of time in the backyard, playing it up for all its hazards.
  • Kiss of Life: Russ performs this on Amy without doing chest compressions, and it somehow still works. They do show her coughing up the mud she inhaled when she comes around, though.
  • Late to the Punchline: Russ told Nick in the middle of the movie that he learned CPR from French Class. At the end of the movie:

Nick: Hey wait! I get it! FRENCH CLASS!

    • Which could also serve as a meta-example, given that a kid watching this movie might not get that joke until several years later.
  • Leaving Audience: Happens to Wayne Szalinski.
  • Line in the Sand: Russ Thompson Sr. willingly volunteers to be the test subject to see if the repaired shrink ray will work.
  • Mama Bear: From Honey, I Blew Up The Kid:

Diane: (Quietly and dangerously) "Sir, I believe that was a rifle you were shooting at my baby."
Dr. Hendrickson: "They were tranquilizer cartridges, they wouldn't have hurt him, I promise.'
Diane: (sarcastic laughing) "Tranquilizer cartridges..." (KNOCKS OUT Hendrickson)
Wayne: (to Adam) "Never cross mommy."

  • Medium Awareness
  • Miraculous Malfunction: A stray baseball landing on the shrinking machine is what actually makes it work. Though Wayne is able to figure out why the baseball made the machine functional, and replicate the results.
  • Mood Whiplash: A romantic scene between Russ Jr. and Amy in the first movie suddenly turns into a moment of sheer terror when the scorpion turns up...
  • Motivation on a Stick: The shrunken kids do this with Anty and a discarded piece of food.
  • Mouthy Kid: Ron.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Wayne, after realizing his kids have shrunk, when he looked at his broom...
  • My Life Flashed Before My Eyes:

Nick: "When we crashed, my entire life flashed before my eyes. It didn't take too long."

  • Never My Fault: After Ron accidentally hits his baseball through the Szalinskis' attic window:

Russ: Just tell 'em what you did.
Ron: It never would've happened if the house wasn't so close!
Russ: He hit a baseball through your attic window.
Amy: He what?
Ron: It shouldn't have been closed in the first place; it's a nice day!

  • No Antagonist
  • No OSHA Compliance: The shrink ray faced the attic door and they left the door to the attic unlocked with minors in the house despite the fact that the ray was capable of blowing things up. Add to this the lawn mower left outside and available for minors to use unsupervised.
  • Not Quite Back to Normal: After Wayne tests the shrink ray on Russell Sr. and subsequently resizes him, Russ Sr. finds that his baseball cap is a little big for him.
    • Fridge Brilliance: He hid his cigarettes in the hat; his wife may have removed them while holding it.
  • Object Tracking Shot: A complex system at the beginning of Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves makes it easier for the Szalinskis to get their mail.
  • Oh Crap: A LOT of these throughout the series.
  • Papa Wolf: Russ Sr.
  • Person of Mass Destruction: Adam is an unintentional example. Because he doesn't know he's been enlarged and growing bigger, he sees some real life cars, people and buildings as toys to be played with. Some of which he accidentally breaks when trying to play with them. Such as the Hard Rock Cafe sign he mistakes for a real guitar.
  • Pride: The only possible reason why Russ Sr. didn't tell his fishing buddy the truth why he couldn't go.

Russ Sr. Eighty bucks, Mae! Nonrefundable! Those kids are grounded!

  • Reasonable Authority Figure: Clifford Sterling in the Honey I Blew Up the Kid.
  • The Reason You Suck Speech: While it's mostly because he didn't believe Wayne at first, Russ Sr. gives an epic one motivated by the fact that he may have something to do with the latter's kids missing. Though he was later proven wrong, he has every right to still be mad about it.

Russ Sr.: You're the one who needs a shrink, Szalinski. You are a nut case. And I'll tell you something: I have got an air hammer in my attic, and if you did do something to my kids, there's gonna be pieces of you ALL OVER THE NEIGHBORHOOD!

  • Scary Scorpions: Oh dear God.
  • Sequel Non Entity: The Thompsons after the first movie, only mentioned once by Nick in passing.
    • Nick and Amy were each only mentioned once in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (when Adam talks with Diane about going to baseball camp), replaced by cousins Mitch and Jenny.
  • Shout-Out: In the sequel, when Wayne and Diane are looking for the boxed-up shrink ray in the warehouse, there is a very clear shot of him standing in front of a crate labeled "ARK OF THE COVENANT".
    • In the first movie, there's a shout-out to the classic movie To Have and Have Not when Amy says to Russel "You know how to whistle, don't you? You just put your lips together and blow."
  • Square-Cube Law: Obviously broken for Rule of Funny; otherwise, the kids would be crushed by air pressure by virtue of not having an insectoid exoskeleton. And the baby wouldn't have the strength to stand up when he's 50 feet tall.
  • Team Pet: Anty, to an extent.
  • Tempting Fate: When the kids take refuge from the lawnmower in an earthworm tunnel:

Nick: I think we'll be safe in here.
(lawnmower rests on top of an exit in the tunnel, resulting in Nick suddenly getting sucked towards it)

Ron: They're never gonna find us! We were right under their noses and they didn't even see us!
Russ Jr.: Don't panic, Ron. We'll... we'll find a way.
Ron: (panicking) I'm not panicked! Who's panicked? NOBODY'S PANICKED!

Wayne (in the first movie): I shrunk the kids.
(in the second movie): I blew up the baby.

(mysterious sound appears)
Ron: What's that?
Nick: Sounds like Mom.
Amy (nervously while looking up): Or more like a swarm of...
Nick: Bees!

  • You Fail Your Medical Boards Forever: In Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves, Mitch suffers from a potassium deficiency, and later on in the movie, when he can't find his medication, has an attack. The other kids revive him by force-feeding banana slices down his throat, which works as an almost-instant miracle cure. While bananas are a great source of potassium, there's a reason people have potassium prescriptions: they're almost essentially just the vitamin. The potassium in a banana, like a vitamin in any other food, would have to be digested and separated before it is distributed into the blood stream, a process that takes hours. Not to mention, shoving a soft, lumpy food into an unconscious person's mouth will cut off their oxygen, putting them in that much more danger.
    • Well, to be fair, Mitch was only semi-conscious at the time...
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