Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (franchise)

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Franchise logo
Created by	Stuart Gordon Brian Yuzna Ed Naha
Original work	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)
Owner	The Walt Disney Company

The Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise consists of a series of American family-science fiction-comedy film and a television adaptation, based on a concept created by Stuart Gordon and Brian Yuzna, and an original story co-written by Gordon, Yuzna, and Ed Naha. Following the release of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989), and its subsequent financial and critical success, two sequels and a television series followed; titled Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992), Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997), and Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show, respectively. A fourth sequel titled Shrunk entered development in 2019.

The film series expanded into a franchise with the addition of a TV show. This continued in 1999 when the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids films, along with a number of other Disney film series, were combined into a franchise as a part of Disney Parks' attractions where elements from each movie were included.

Film[]

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989)[]

Rick Moranis stars as Wayne Szalinski, an eccentric inventor who accidentally shrinks his kids, Amy (Amy O'Neill) and Nick (Robert Oliveri) as well as the next-door neighbor's kids Russ Jr. (Thomas Wilson Brown) and Ron Thompson (Jared Rushton). Marcia Strassman portrays his wife, Diane, to whom he delivers the titular line. Matt Frewer and Kristine Sutherland also star as Russ and Mae Thompson, the parents of Russ Jr. and Ron.

Honey, I Blew Up the Kid (1992)[]

Three years after the events of the first film, the Szalinskis have moved to a new neighborhood while Wayne and Diane have given birth to their third child, Adam (Joshua and Daniel Shalikar). Nick is now a teenager with Amy heading off to college. Wayne has given up his shrink ray days and invented an alternative which makes objects grow in size. One day when Adam is exposed to the effects of Wayne's new machine, he mistakes Nick and his crush Mandy Park (Keri Russell) as toys and wanders into Las Vegas. While Wayne and Diane race to reverse Adam's effects, Wayne's insolent co-worker Dr. Charles Hendrickson (John Shea) has overpowered Sterling Labs, rounded up the military and ordered Adam to be stopped at all costs.

Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997)[]

Wayne is now banned from using his shrink ray by the committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Diane (Eve Gordon). Nick is now away at college and Adam (Bug Hall) is ten years old. Diane is planning a vacation with Patti (Robin Bartlett), her sister-in-law, while Wayne and his brother, Gordon (Stuart Pankin), watch Adam and his cousins Jenny and Mitchell Szalinski (Allison Mack and Jake Richardson). While tampering with the shrink ray, Wayne accidentally shrinks himself, Diane, Gordon, and Patti. The kids have a party in the house after thinking they have it to themselves. The adults struggle to get the kids attention before disaster strikes among them.

Shrunk (TBA)[]

In February 2018, it was announced that a reboot film was in development, with the project being courted for a Disney+ exclusive.^[1] By March 2019, this changed when the project was announced to be a legacy-sequel to the original trilogy. With The Walt Disney Studios developing the film for theatrical release, Josh Gad was announced to star as Nick Szalinski. The plot will reportedly center around Nick following in the footsteps of his father, Wayne Szalinski, and becoming a scientist/inventor.^[2] In December 2019, Joe Johnston had entered early negotiations to return to the franchise as director.^[3]

In January 2020, it was announced that Rick Moranis had entered early negotiations to come out of his acting retirement, and reprise his role as Wayne Szalinski. Johnston was confirmed to direct, with Todd Rosenberg set to write the script, from an original story by Gad, Ryan Dixon, Ian Helfer, and Jay Reiss. By February, Moranis had officially signed onto the project to reprise his role. David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman will serve as producers. The film will be a joint-venture production between Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures as the distributing company.^[4] Principal photography was scheduled to begin in early 2020, with filming taking place in Toronto, as well as Atlanta, Georgia.^[5] In March of the same year however, filming on all Disney projects were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and industry restrictions worldwide.^[6]

In November 2020, Disney CEO Bob Chapek announced that filming on all movies that had been postponed by the coronavirus had resumed, and in some cases completed, principal photography.^[7] However, Gad stated in a June 2021 interview that filming had not yet started and that he was hoping the shoot would begin in early 2022.^[8]

Television series[]

The television series, exclusive to Disney Channel, expanded upon the original film's concept where a shrinking experiment had gone wrong, to include a variety of experiments malfunctioning and causing unfortunate circumstances for the Szalinski family. It debuted on September 1, 1997 and ran for three consecutive seasons. The series concluded after the 66th episode aired on May 20, 2000. The series was a joint-production between Plymouth Productions, St. Clare Entertainment, and Walt Disney Television; while Buena Vista Television distributed the show through Disney Channel.

Theme park attractions[]

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience![]

A 4-D movie-ride attraction titled, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience debuted at Epcot in 1994 and featured at the Disney theme parks until 2010. Rick Moranis, Marcia Strassman, Robert Oliveri, and the Shalikar twins reprise their roles from the feature-length films. While being given an award by Dr. Nigel Channing (Eric Idle) about his shrink ray, Wayne accidentally shrinks the audience and sends them on an adventure with rats, snakes, and babies.

Journey into Imagination with Figment[]

In 1999, the theme of Journey into Imagination was changed and re-titled to include Figment. The ride features Dr. Nigel Channing, from Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!, who "hosts" an area known as the Imagination Institute. The story states that Channing's grandfather established the institute, while the area features references to Wayne Szalinski, as well as Dr. Philip Brainard from Flubber and Dean Higgins (Joe Flynn's role in the Dexter Riley films). Walt Disney and Thomas Edison also make an appearance.

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: Movie Set Adventure[]

The attraction was a playground area at Disney's Hollywood Studios, designed to look like the outdoor backyard of the first film. It closed in 2016.

Main cast and characters[]

Additional crew and production details[]

Reception[]

Box office performance[]

Critical and public response[]

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