Honey, I Blew Up the Kid
Encyclopedia
Honey, I Blew Up the Kid is the 1992 sequel
to the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
. Directed by Randal Kleiser
and released by Walt Disney Pictures
, the film stars Rick Moranis
, Marcia Strassman
, Robert Oliveri
and Amy O'Neill
, who reprise their roles as Wayne, Diane, Nick, and Amy Szalinski respectively, as well as newcomer Keri Russell
as Mandy, Nick's love interest and babysitter of Adam, the Szalinskis' new two-year-old son, whose accidental exposure to Wayne's new industrial-sized growth machine causes him to gradually grow to enormous size.
The antagonist to Wayne and his family is Dr. Charles Hendrickson (John Shea
), who wants the giant baby stopped at all costs and would like to take over Wayne's invention that is now owned by the major corporation they work for, which is in turn owned by the kind Clifford Sterling (Lloyd Bridges
).
This film would be followed by one last sequel in 1997, this time a direct-to-video
film, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
. A TV show would also follow the film in 1997, called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
.
) shrunk his kids. He and his family have now relocated from California to Nevada and have welcomed a new son into the family, 2-year-old Adam. His wife, Diane, is going to help their daughter, Amy (Amy O'Neill
) get ready for college, for which she is departing. As she is gone, Wayne is supposed to look after Adam and their oldest son, Nick (Robert Oliveri
).
Nick has matured since the last film. He is more interested in guitars and has a liking for a girl he met at his job, Mandy Park (Keri Russell
), although she does not feel the same way about him. Wayne takes Adam and Nick to his job as Sterling Labs, where he is the head of a project, even though Dr. Charles Hendrickson (John Shea
) is trying to take over it. Wayne begins to experiment with an idea on a machine that can make objects grow. He uses Adam's toy, Big Bunny, as the test subject. As something goes wrong while Wayne and Nick are distracted, Adam gets out of his stroller, gets in the way of the machine, and is zapped. Suddenly, the machine breaks.
Later on, Adam begins to grow via electric waves from the microwave. Wayne and Nick try to take him back to the lab, but are stopped by Hendrickson. Diane (Marcia Strassman
) comes back home and is shocked to find her son 7 feet (2.1 m) tall. She and Wayne drive to a warehouse to find his original shrink ray to shrink Adam back to normal size. While Nick watches him at the house, Mandy Park comes by. She sees Adam and faints. Nick then has her bound to a chair and gagged, to prevent her from running away and screaming. He unties and ungags her, only to find that Mandy goes hysterical, so Nick ties her up and gags her yet again. After Nick explains to her what happened and she finally calms down, Adam is then exposed to the television set, breaks through the walls of the house, and is loose on the streets, now 14 feet (4.3 m) tall. Nick and Mandy begin to search for him through the town.
At the warehouse, Wayne and Diane search for the shrink ray through tons of crates. They finally find it and leave to return home. Hendrickson finds out about the "big baby" and reports it to his boss, Clifford Sterling (Lloyd Bridges
). He and law enforcers put Adam in a truck after finding him. Wayne and Diane return home with the shrink ray, only to find the boys gone. Adam breaks free from the truck when he grows to 50 feet (15.2 m) tall. Meanwhile, Sterling realizes what a good man Wayne is, fires Hendrickson, and gives his support to Wayne and Diane to shrink Adam back to normal size. Wayne suddenly discovers that Adam grows while he is near electricity, and Marshall Brooks tells him that Adam is headed straight for Las Vegas. After finding him, Nick and Mandy are mistaken for toys and he puts them in his pocket.
Now 112 feet (34.1 m) tall, Adam begins roaming the streets of Las Vegas. The citizens and visitors are stunned to see the gigantic baby in Godzilla
esqe manner, but he seems to think that the likes of "Vegas Vic
" and all the neon lights are some kind of playground for him. Wayne and Diane arrive in time with Sterling, but there is still a problem; Adam needs to stand still for twelve seconds for the shrink ray to work. In an effort to keep him still, Diane convinces Wayne to enlarge her with the shrink ray, stating that although Adam will listen to his parents, as he 'knows' that his mother is larger than him, he will not register her at his current size. Meanwhile, he has approached a Hard Rock Cafe
and rips off the guitar from its sign. Hendrickson arrives via helicopter and proceeds to shoot him with tranquilizer cartridges. The first shot misses him, but the second hits the guitar, giving him a painful electrocuting shock, to which he starts crying. The once-panicked crowd below watches in sympathy for Adam's pain, realizing that he was not a menace but merely an innocent baby. Before Hendrickson has a chance to fire again, Diane (now enlarged) stops Hendrickson (and his pilot, who is only too glad as he never wanted to participate), and prevents Adam from being knocked out. She holds him still, and Wayne shrinks both of them back to normal size.
Afterwards, Hendrickson makes an excuse for shooting Adam, saying that the tranquilizer cartridges would not mean to hurt him, but Diane angrily punches him out. Meanwhile, Nick, now shrunk again by the ray, finally wins Mandy's heart. Adam is excited to see that his Big Bunny is now over fifty feet tall. As Wayne and Diane share a kiss, the credits roll.
. Originally titled Big Baby, it was about a young toddler who grew to giant size by a freak accident involving a growth ray and eventually terrorized Las Vegas in a non-violent, yet Godzilla
esque way. Disney saw the possibilities of making this into a follow up to Honey and rewrote the script to the movie. Where as most of the characters from Big Baby were rewritten as characters from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
, there was no character that could take the place of Amy Szalinski, Wayne and Diane's eldest child and only daughter, portrayed by Amy O'Neill
. Instead of excluding her character from the story, Amy is going away to college in the beginning of the film.
returns from the original film to portray "wacky" inventor Wayne Szalinski. Also returning is Wayne's wife, Diane, who is portrayed by Marcia Strassman
. Amy O'Neill
and Robert Oliveri
return to portray the Szalinski children, Amy and Nick. Nick has matured in his personality and interests since the last film. He is still considered "nerdy", but has taken more interest in girls and guitars.
The casting director was Renee Rousselot. She searched in a sea of 1,100 small children for someone to portray the newest addition in the Szalinski clan, Adam. She searched for mostly three to four year old boys because casting a younger child might have been difficult, since they were supposed to carry the film's $32 million dollar budget. Rousselot came across two young twins, Daniel and Joshua Shalikar, from New Jersey and immediately cast them in December 1990. One twin would act in the morning, while the other one was eating lunch or taking a nap. Baby consultant Elaine Hall Katz and director Randal Kleiser would plan the twins' scenes a week in advance. Tom Smith reported that, "On his own, Dan was almost too adventuresome to repeat one move, and Josh seemed very cautious. Put them together and they could do anything." However, the film did have difficulties in working with such small children, and one crew member later remarked it was "like playing hopscotch on hot coals".
At the time, the Shalikars were scheduled to appear in two more Honey films. They did appear once, but were recast in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
.
In the film, Nick has a crush on a girl named Mandy Park, played by Keri Russell
in her first feature film. John Shea
portrays Dr. Charles Hendrickson, who is scheming to get Wayne's control of the project, while Lloyd Bridges
portrays Clifford Sterling, the owner of Sterling Labs.
, of Grease
and White Fang fame, was chosen to direct this film, replacing Joe Johnston
. Kleiser would return to film with the cast in the 3D show, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
, which was at several Disney parks until 2010. Like Grease
, Honey I Blew Up the Kid had animated opening credits.
Production began on June 17, 1991. Filming took place in Simi Valley, California
for the parts involving the Szalinski's house. Also used extensively was well known places in Las Vegas such as the Hard Rock Cafe
and the Mirage Hotel. The water park where Nick worked and where Mandy is first introduced is Wet 'n Wild
in the Las Vegas area. It closed in 2004, twelve years after the film.
Special effects were used heavily throughout the film, but some were not. When Adam knocks down his room's door, production designer Leslie Dilley
created a set with miniature furniture about four feet away from the camera, while the adult actors would be about fifteen feet away. Kleiser recalled, "Danny was generally better at improvising and fresh reactions. Josh was better at following directions, so we would alternate."
, who came up with the idea of an oversized toddler after babysitting his granddaughter and watching her topple over building blocks. His screenplay had been reviewed but never made into a movie, and it was titled "Now, That's a Baby!". The script had a few different ideas though. One was the baby was to be a little girl instead, who became gigantic as a result of a genetic experiment instead of a ray machine. Her parents were scientists desperately finding some way to change her back. The antagonist in the script was not a coworker, but instead a hawkish military officer who seeks to eliminate the gigantic little girl by deploying a missile battery against her, arguing with Washington that she will ruin all cities if left unchecked, but also seeking it to be his one chance to be hailed as a hero.
Alter sued Disney in 1991, claiming several similarities between the movie and his treatment. The case went to trial in 1993, and resulted in the jury awarding Alter $300,000.
. Desson Thompson and Hal Hinson, both writers from the Washington Post, agreed that the film was "a one-joke film." Roger Ebert
, from the Chicago Times
, said that Adam "didn't participate in the real world but simply toddled around."
released the record in 1992, in time for the film's release. The film's score was composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton
, who would return to provide the score for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
. "Stayin Alive" by the Bee Gees
appears in the film. So does "Loco-Motion" by Carole King
and Gerry Goffin
. The soundtrack album consists of just the film's score.
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to the 1989 film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
. Directed by Randal Kleiser
Randal Kleiser
John Randal Kleiser is an American film director and producer, perhaps best known for directing the 1978 musical film Grease.-Life and career:...
and released by Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, the film stars Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
, Marcia Strassman
Marcia Strassman
Marcia A. Strassman is an American actress best known for her roles as Julie Kotter in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and Diane Szalinski in the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, its first sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! which...
, Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri is a former American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Nick Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award. He reprised the role in the 1992 sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3D...
and Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
, who reprise their roles as Wayne, Diane, Nick, and Amy Szalinski respectively, as well as newcomer Keri Russell
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
as Mandy, Nick's love interest and babysitter of Adam, the Szalinskis' new two-year-old son, whose accidental exposure to Wayne's new industrial-sized growth machine causes him to gradually grow to enormous size.
The antagonist to Wayne and his family is Dr. Charles Hendrickson (John Shea
John Shea
John Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
), who wants the giant baby stopped at all costs and would like to take over Wayne's invention that is now owned by the major corporation they work for, which is in turn owned by the kind Clifford Sterling (Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
).
This film would be followed by one last sequel in 1997, this time a direct-to-video
Direct-to-video
Direct-to-video is a term used to describe a film that has been released to the public on home video formats without being released in film theaters or broadcast on television...
film, Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves is a 1997 direct-to-video sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. It is the last film in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise...
. A TV show would also follow the film in 1997, called Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show is an American syndicated science fiction sitcom based on the 1989 film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. It expands upon the original film's concept of a shrinking experiment gone wrong to include a myriad of experiments gone awry...
.
Plot
It has been three years since "nutty" inventor Wayne Szalinski (Rick MoranisRick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
) shrunk his kids. He and his family have now relocated from California to Nevada and have welcomed a new son into the family, 2-year-old Adam. His wife, Diane, is going to help their daughter, Amy (Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
) get ready for college, for which she is departing. As she is gone, Wayne is supposed to look after Adam and their oldest son, Nick (Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri is a former American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Nick Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award. He reprised the role in the 1992 sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3D...
).
Nick has matured since the last film. He is more interested in guitars and has a liking for a girl he met at his job, Mandy Park (Keri Russell
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
), although she does not feel the same way about him. Wayne takes Adam and Nick to his job as Sterling Labs, where he is the head of a project, even though Dr. Charles Hendrickson (John Shea
John Shea
John Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
) is trying to take over it. Wayne begins to experiment with an idea on a machine that can make objects grow. He uses Adam's toy, Big Bunny, as the test subject. As something goes wrong while Wayne and Nick are distracted, Adam gets out of his stroller, gets in the way of the machine, and is zapped. Suddenly, the machine breaks.
Later on, Adam begins to grow via electric waves from the microwave. Wayne and Nick try to take him back to the lab, but are stopped by Hendrickson. Diane (Marcia Strassman
Marcia Strassman
Marcia A. Strassman is an American actress best known for her roles as Julie Kotter in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and Diane Szalinski in the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, its first sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! which...
) comes back home and is shocked to find her son 7 feet (2.1 m) tall. She and Wayne drive to a warehouse to find his original shrink ray to shrink Adam back to normal size. While Nick watches him at the house, Mandy Park comes by. She sees Adam and faints. Nick then has her bound to a chair and gagged, to prevent her from running away and screaming. He unties and ungags her, only to find that Mandy goes hysterical, so Nick ties her up and gags her yet again. After Nick explains to her what happened and she finally calms down, Adam is then exposed to the television set, breaks through the walls of the house, and is loose on the streets, now 14 feet (4.3 m) tall. Nick and Mandy begin to search for him through the town.
At the warehouse, Wayne and Diane search for the shrink ray through tons of crates. They finally find it and leave to return home. Hendrickson finds out about the "big baby" and reports it to his boss, Clifford Sterling (Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
). He and law enforcers put Adam in a truck after finding him. Wayne and Diane return home with the shrink ray, only to find the boys gone. Adam breaks free from the truck when he grows to 50 feet (15.2 m) tall. Meanwhile, Sterling realizes what a good man Wayne is, fires Hendrickson, and gives his support to Wayne and Diane to shrink Adam back to normal size. Wayne suddenly discovers that Adam grows while he is near electricity, and Marshall Brooks tells him that Adam is headed straight for Las Vegas. After finding him, Nick and Mandy are mistaken for toys and he puts them in his pocket.
Now 112 feet (34.1 m) tall, Adam begins roaming the streets of Las Vegas. The citizens and visitors are stunned to see the gigantic baby in Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
esqe manner, but he seems to think that the likes of "Vegas Vic
Vegas Vic
Vegas Vic is the unofficial, yet most widely used name for the Las Vegas, Nevada neon sign that resembles a cowboy that was erected on the exterior of The Pioneer Club in Las Vegas in 1951. The sign was a departure in graphic design from typeface based neon signs, to a friendly and welcoming human...
" and all the neon lights are some kind of playground for him. Wayne and Diane arrive in time with Sterling, but there is still a problem; Adam needs to stand still for twelve seconds for the shrink ray to work. In an effort to keep him still, Diane convinces Wayne to enlarge her with the shrink ray, stating that although Adam will listen to his parents, as he 'knows' that his mother is larger than him, he will not register her at his current size. Meanwhile, he has approached a Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
and rips off the guitar from its sign. Hendrickson arrives via helicopter and proceeds to shoot him with tranquilizer cartridges. The first shot misses him, but the second hits the guitar, giving him a painful electrocuting shock, to which he starts crying. The once-panicked crowd below watches in sympathy for Adam's pain, realizing that he was not a menace but merely an innocent baby. Before Hendrickson has a chance to fire again, Diane (now enlarged) stops Hendrickson (and his pilot, who is only too glad as he never wanted to participate), and prevents Adam from being knocked out. She holds him still, and Wayne shrinks both of them back to normal size.
Afterwards, Hendrickson makes an excuse for shooting Adam, saying that the tranquilizer cartridges would not mean to hurt him, but Diane angrily punches him out. Meanwhile, Nick, now shrunk again by the ray, finally wins Mandy's heart. Adam is excited to see that his Big Bunny is now over fifty feet tall. As Wayne and Diane share a kiss, the credits roll.
Cast
- Rick MoranisRick MoranisFrederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
as Wayne Szalinski - Marcia StrassmanMarcia StrassmanMarcia A. Strassman is an American actress best known for her roles as Julie Kotter in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and Diane Szalinski in the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, its first sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! which...
as Diane Szalinski - Robert OliveriRobert OliveriRobert Oliveri is a former American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Nick Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award. He reprised the role in the 1992 sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3D...
as Nick Szalinski - John SheaJohn SheaJohn Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
as Dr. Charles Hendrickson - Lloyd BridgesLloyd BridgesLloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
as Clifford Sterling - Keri RussellKeri RussellKeri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
as Mandy Park - Amy O'NeillAmy O'NeillAmy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
as Amy Szalinski - Ron CanadaRon CanadaRon Canada is an American actor. He began as a television newscaster during the 1970s in the Baltimore-Washington area mainly on WBAL-TV Channel 11 in Baltimore, until the early 1980s when he became an actor. He was a tour guide at NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza...
as Marshall Brooks - Joshua Shalikar as Adam Szalinski
- Daniel Shalikar as Adam Szalinski
- Gregory SierraGregory SierraGregory Sierra is an American actor known for his roles as Detective Sergeant Chano Amenguale on Barney Miller and as Julio Fuentes, the Puerto Rican neighbor of Fred G...
as Terence Wheeler - Michael Milhoan as Captain Ed Myerson
- Leslie Neale as Constance Winters
Production
The film was, at first, not supposed to be a sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the KidsHoney, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
. Originally titled Big Baby, it was about a young toddler who grew to giant size by a freak accident involving a growth ray and eventually terrorized Las Vegas in a non-violent, yet Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
esque way. Disney saw the possibilities of making this into a follow up to Honey and rewrote the script to the movie. Where as most of the characters from Big Baby were rewritten as characters from Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a 1989 comedy film. The directorial debut of Joe Johnston and released through Walt Disney Pictures and Silver Screen Partners III, the film tells the story of an inventor who accidentally shrinks his and his neighbor's kids to 1/4 of an inch with his electromagnetic...
, there was no character that could take the place of Amy Szalinski, Wayne and Diane's eldest child and only daughter, portrayed by Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
. Instead of excluding her character from the story, Amy is going away to college in the beginning of the film.
Casting
Rick MoranisRick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...
returns from the original film to portray "wacky" inventor Wayne Szalinski. Also returning is Wayne's wife, Diane, who is portrayed by Marcia Strassman
Marcia Strassman
Marcia A. Strassman is an American actress best known for her roles as Julie Kotter in the TV sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter and Diane Szalinski in the 1989 feature film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, its first sequel Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3-D film spin-off Honey, I Shrunk the Audience! which...
. Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill
Amy O'Neill is a performer and a former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on The Young and the Restless in 1986, she was cast as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award...
and Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri
Robert Oliveri is a former American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Nick Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, for which he was nominated for a Young Artist Award and a Saturn Award. He reprised the role in the 1992 sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid and the 3D...
return to portray the Szalinski children, Amy and Nick. Nick has matured in his personality and interests since the last film. He is still considered "nerdy", but has taken more interest in girls and guitars.
The casting director was Renee Rousselot. She searched in a sea of 1,100 small children for someone to portray the newest addition in the Szalinski clan, Adam. She searched for mostly three to four year old boys because casting a younger child might have been difficult, since they were supposed to carry the film's $32 million dollar budget. Rousselot came across two young twins, Daniel and Joshua Shalikar, from New Jersey and immediately cast them in December 1990. One twin would act in the morning, while the other one was eating lunch or taking a nap. Baby consultant Elaine Hall Katz and director Randal Kleiser would plan the twins' scenes a week in advance. Tom Smith reported that, "On his own, Dan was almost too adventuresome to repeat one move, and Josh seemed very cautious. Put them together and they could do anything." However, the film did have difficulties in working with such small children, and one crew member later remarked it was "like playing hopscotch on hot coals".
At the time, the Shalikars were scheduled to appear in two more Honey films. They did appear once, but were recast in Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves is a 1997 direct-to-video sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. It is the last film in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise...
.
In the film, Nick has a crush on a girl named Mandy Park, played by Keri Russell
Keri Russell
Keri Lynn Russell is an American actress and dancer. After appearing in a number of made-for-television films and series during the mid-1990s, she came to fame for portraying the title role of Felicity Porter on the series Felicity, which ran from 1998 to 2002, and for which she won a Golden Globe...
in her first feature film. John Shea
John Shea
John Victor Shea III is an American actor and director who has starred on stage, television and in film. He is best known for his role as Lex Luthor in the 1990s TV series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and also starred in the short lived 1990s TV series WIOU as Hank Zaret...
portrays Dr. Charles Hendrickson, who is scheming to get Wayne's control of the project, while Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Bridges
Lloyd Vernet Bridges, Jr. was an American actor who starred in a number of television series and appeared in more than 150 feature films. Bridges is best known for his role of Mike Nelson in Sea Hunt, the most-popular syndicated American TV series in 1958...
portrays Clifford Sterling, the owner of Sterling Labs.
Direction
Randal KleiserRandal Kleiser
John Randal Kleiser is an American film director and producer, perhaps best known for directing the 1978 musical film Grease.-Life and career:...
, of Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
and White Fang fame, was chosen to direct this film, replacing Joe Johnston
Joe Johnston
Joseph Eggleston "Joe" Johnston II is an American film director and former effects artist best known for such effects-driven movies as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, Jurassic Park III, the period drama October Sky, The Wolfman, and Captain America: The First Avenger.- Life and...
. Kleiser would return to film with the cast in the 3D show, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! was a 3-D film spin off of the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids film series that was shown at several Disney theme parks.-Synopsis:...
, which was at several Disney parks until 2010. Like Grease
Grease (film)
Grease is a 1978 American musical film directed by Randal Kleiser and based on Warren Casey's and Jim Jacobs's 1971 musical of the same name about two lovers in a 1950s high school. The film stars John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Stockard Channing, and Jeff Conaway...
, Honey I Blew Up the Kid had animated opening credits.
Production began on June 17, 1991. Filming took place in Simi Valley, California
Simi Valley, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Simi Valley had a population of 124,237. The population density was 2,940.8 people per square mile...
for the parts involving the Szalinski's house. Also used extensively was well known places in Las Vegas such as the Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...
and the Mirage Hotel. The water park where Nick worked and where Mandy is first introduced is Wet 'n Wild
Wet 'n Wild
Wet 'n Wild is a chain of United States water parks founded by Seaworld creator George Millay in Orlando, Florida in 1977. The Wet 'n Wild name is currently branded onto two water parks owned by different companies: Wet 'n Wild Orlando, operated by Universal Parks & Resorts under the Wet 'n Wild...
in the Las Vegas area. It closed in 2004, twelve years after the film.
Special effects were used heavily throughout the film, but some were not. When Adam knocks down his room's door, production designer Leslie Dilley
Leslie Dilley
Leslie Dilley is a Welsh production designer and art director. He has won two Academy Awards and has been nominated for three more in the category Best Art Direction.-Selected filmography:...
created a set with miniature furniture about four feet away from the camera, while the adult actors would be about fifteen feet away. Kleiser recalled, "Danny was generally better at improvising and fresh reactions. Josh was better at following directions, so we would alternate."
Lawsuit
Disney would later find itself the subject of a lawsuit as a result of the film, brought on by TV game show director Paul AlterPaul Alter
Paul Alter was a former American television director, specializing in game shows for Mark Goodson Productions...
, who came up with the idea of an oversized toddler after babysitting his granddaughter and watching her topple over building blocks. His screenplay had been reviewed but never made into a movie, and it was titled "Now, That's a Baby!". The script had a few different ideas though. One was the baby was to be a little girl instead, who became gigantic as a result of a genetic experiment instead of a ray machine. Her parents were scientists desperately finding some way to change her back. The antagonist in the script was not a coworker, but instead a hawkish military officer who seeks to eliminate the gigantic little girl by deploying a missile battery against her, arguing with Washington that she will ruin all cities if left unchecked, but also seeking it to be his one chance to be hailed as a hero.
Alter sued Disney in 1991, claiming several similarities between the movie and his treatment. The case went to trial in 1993, and resulted in the jury awarding Alter $300,000.
Box office
The film opened on July 17, 1992 to 2,492 theatres, almost twice as many as the first film. It was #1 on opening weekend with $11,083,318, and grossed $58,662,452 in the U.S.Critical
The film has received generally mixed reviews. It has a "rotten" rating of 40% at Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. Desson Thompson and Hal Hinson, both writers from the Washington Post, agreed that the film was "a one-joke film." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, from the Chicago Times
Chicago Times
The Chicago Times was a newspaper in Chicago from 1854 to 1895 when it merged with the Chicago Herald.The Times was founded in 1854, by James W. Sheahan, with the backing of Stephen Douglas, and was identified as a pro-slavery newspaper. In 1861, after the paper was purchased by Wilbur F...
, said that Adam "didn't participate in the real world but simply toddled around."
Soundtrack
Intrada RecordsIntrada Records
Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California. Intrada Records is an American record company based in Oakland, California...
released the record in 1992, in time for the film's release. The film's score was composed and conducted by Bruce Broughton
Bruce Broughton
Bruce Broughton is a film, video game, and television soundtrack composer who has composed several highly acclaimed soundtracks over his extensive career, including American music classics such as "Homeward Bound," "Silverado", "Tombstone," and wonderfully lyric music for "Miracle on 34th...
, who would return to provide the score for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience
Honey, I Shrunk The Audience! was a 3-D film spin off of the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids film series that was shown at several Disney theme parks.-Synopsis:...
. "Stayin Alive" by the Bee Gees
Bee Gees
The Bee Gees are a musical group that originally comprised three brothers: Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio was successful for most of their 40-plus years of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a pop act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as a...
appears in the film. So does "Loco-Motion" by Carole King
Carole King
Carole King is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. King and her former husband Gerry Goffin wrote more than two dozen chart hits for numerous artists during the 1960s, many of which have become standards. As a singer, King had an album, Tapestry, top the U.S...
and Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin
Gerry Goffin is an American lyricist. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990 with former songwriting partner and first wife, Carole King. he has co-written six Billboard Hot 100 chart-toppers.-Career:Goffin enlisted with the Marine Corps Reserve after graduating from...
. The soundtrack album consists of just the film's score.
Track listing
- "Main Title" – 3:03
- "To the Lab" – 1:53
- "Adam Gets Zapped" – 0:35
- "Putting on Weight?" – 1:19
- "Macrowaved" – 3:15
- "How'd She Take It?" – 3:11
- "Sneaking Out" – 1:12
- "Don't Touch That Switch!" – 0:26
- "The Bunny Trick" – 2:41
- "Get Big Bunny" – 4:11
- "Clear The Streets!" – 3:00
- "Car Flight" – 4:38
- "Ice Cream!" – 3:47
- "Look At That Mother!" – 2:26
- "That's All, Folks!" – 4:20