|
The basic story involves a married, eccentric
scientist, Wayne Szalinski working on a shrinking ray machine
in the attic of the Szalinski family home. When his kids, Amy
and Nick, as well as the neighbor boys, Russ Jr. and Ronnie,
are accidentally zapped, they're shrunk to tiny sizes, ending
up trapped in the "jungle" of the backyard. Amy and
Russ Jr. are high school age, while Nick and Ronnie are in junior
high.
Misunderstood genius Wayne Szalinski, who is
scoffed at by his academic peers and despised by his next-door
neighbor, Russ Thompson, has a frustrating morning doing research
on his shrinking ray gun, that for some unknown reason, has
a problem and won't work. Deciding to take a break, Wayne leaves
the project, but forgets to turn off the ray machine. Ronnie
Thompson, the athletic younger son of Russ Thompson Sr., accidentally
hits a baseball through the attic window, hitting the ray machine,
temporarily fixing the problem that was frustrating Wayne. The
ray machine then goes amok, shrinking furniture as it moves
around. Russ Thompson Jr. the older, unathletic brother of Ronnie,
who has a crush on the popular Amie Szalinski, takes Ronnie
over to the Szalinski's to fess up and get the ball back from
Amie and Nick. Well, guess what happens when all four of the
kids wind up in the attic?
After the kids are inadvertently shrunk, Wayne
comes back to the attic, sees the glass mess made by the ball,
and sweeps up the glass and the kids, which he dumps into trash
bag, that he takes back to the garbage cans, way in the back
yard.
Even though the Szalinski and the Thompson kids
are very different from each other, they all have to work together
and use the different abilities they each have to survive the
physical dangers lurking in the backyard, both mechanical and
living. They learn to appreciate and tolerate their differences,
and learn about their own gifts & qualities that they didn't
realize they had.
The disappearance of the Thompson boys forces
Russ Sr. to examine his problems with his older son, Russ Jr.,
who displeased him immensely when cut from the football team,
despite all the inspirational stories told by Russ Sr., on how
he worked hard to get on the team in his day. Maybe it was OK
that his son wasn't athletic and didn't enjoy the outdoors.
There are plenty of good visual jokes in the
film. The biggest running gag is all the problems the kids face
in such an oversized world. Also, check out Amie and the phone
incident, and Wayne's colossal face looming over the kids, as
he searches for them in a contraption that attaches to the clothes
line, all which doesn't improve his image of being peculiar.
Rick Moranis was perfect for the part of Wayne,
adding his comedic talent and skills, & nice "acrobatic
clownage," all which make this movie sparkle with comedy.
Marcia Strassman offers fine, sympathetic support
as Moranis' loving wife, who helps Rick look for the kids, and
work with the Thompsons, despite their marital problems, which
they work out by the end of the movie.
Kristine Sutherland and Matt Frewer offers humorous
support as Moranis' neighbors.
Because this is a children and family film,
the animals and insects are given human qualities. Quark, the
Szalinskis' dog, is as much a character in the story as the
people are, and saves the day several times. "Anty",
the baby ant who becomes a friend and helps the shrunken kids,
behaves like a loyal pet dog.
The Szalinskis and the Thompsons each grow stronger
together as a family as a result of this strange, adventuresome,
stressful experience. Furthermore, the distrust and misunderstanding
between the two households is replaced by closeness and affection.
Everyone is a better person by the end. The main theme of this
great Disney movie is: "Shrinking has helped them to grow."
A favorite scene shows Moranis' shrunken young
son, floating in Moranis' breakfast cereal and in imminent danger
of being eaten by Moranis. The scene is fun and funny, with
great FX: dig those jumbo sized cherrios.
The FX here are very well done, particularly
the shrunken kids interacting with "giant" creatures
in the back yard. The wild bee flight, with the boys along for
the ride, is flawless, and the fight between the ant and the
scorpion is very effective, and looks pretty real. Phil Tippett
and David Allen are two of the responsible parties.
|
