The list of cast left out the most talented and charismatic actor, in my opinion: Cork, the Szalinski's cute dog! Obviously, a very smart dog, he plays his various scenes perfectly, adding to the humor and drama. Too bad there is no Oscar for dog actors!
Otherwise, this is a tale of two families, living side by side, in suburbia: the Szalinskis and the Thompsons. Mr. Wayne Szalinski: a short nerdy-looking father, with glasses, is the catalyst for the story, with his penchant for inventing high tech electronic gismos: the most salient one being his complex monstrosity he hopes will shrink things to a small fraction of their usual size. He has a half-grown son: Nick, who takes after his dad, in inventing electronic gismos, most saliently a remote controlled lawn mower, which will add drama when the kids are shrunken and practically invisible in the lawn. Amy is Nick's sexy teen older sister. The Thompsons have 2 boys, one: Russ being about Amy's age. All four kids will be accidentally shrunken to about a height of a couple of millimeters, I would guess, and accidentally deposited in a trash bag, along with floor sweepings, put outside for pickup. They manage to make a hole in the bag and walk to the nearby Szalinsky's lawn.
Naturally, the parents are soon looking all over for them. Wayne then discovers his miniaturized 'thinking couch' on the floor in front of his hoped-for shrinking machine, and realizes that the machine somehow has changed so that it actually works(It was hit by a baseball!),and may have shrunk the kids. He doesn't tell anyone, at first. He theorizes that he may have swept them up into the trash, and that they may have gotten out and moved to the lawn(a remarkably accurate guess!). So, he puts together a helmet bearing a couple of flood lights on a bar, and gets a large magnifying glass, makes a boom on a fulcrum, puts a counterweight on the one end and himself on the other, suspended over the lawn, and looks for the kids. Later, his wife joins him, acting in place of the counterweight. But, before this, Wayne has taken a break in the house, while his wife returns and calls the police for missing children. When the police arrive, Wayne answers the door with his headgear on, and his wife immediately faints, he having just told her his theory of where the kids are: a funny scene. Well, the parents never find their kids in the grass.
Meanwhile, the kids are trying to survive various dangers, such as drowning from a sprinkler, being cut up or sucked up by the remote control lawnmower, being operated by a neighbor kid. Or being eaten by a large ant or even larger scorpion. Fortunately, the ant turns out to be friendly, and they take a ride on its back. It also tries to defend them from the scorpion, which helps, but is stung and soon dies, to their sorrow. During their adventure, Amy eventually get horny and initiates some making out with Russ, believe it or not!
Eventually, the 4 get lucky and hop on Cork, who takes them inside, He puts his front paws up on the breakfast table and shakes off Nick, who lands in the milk of Wayne's Cheerios bowl, and nearly drowns. At first, Wayne doesn't hear his screams, and nearly swallows a spoonful that includes Nick. But Cork bites Wayne's ankle, distracting him, so that he hears Nick's screams, then sees him. The other 3 are soon found on the floor.
Now, the question becomes 'Can Wayne figure out how to adjust his shrinking machine to make it instead enlarge things and people?' He lucks out: the kids being enlarged back to their normal size. The 2 families celebrate by sitting down to a combined dinner, with an abnormally large turkey, and a humongous Milkbone for Cork.
Great entertainment for kids, and even for adults. Like me. Several subsequent films based on the same idea weren't as successful.
Otherwise, this is a tale of two families, living side by side, in suburbia: the Szalinskis and the Thompsons. Mr. Wayne Szalinski: a short nerdy-looking father, with glasses, is the catalyst for the story, with his penchant for inventing high tech electronic gismos: the most salient one being his complex monstrosity he hopes will shrink things to a small fraction of their usual size. He has a half-grown son: Nick, who takes after his dad, in inventing electronic gismos, most saliently a remote controlled lawn mower, which will add drama when the kids are shrunken and practically invisible in the lawn. Amy is Nick's sexy teen older sister. The Thompsons have 2 boys, one: Russ being about Amy's age. All four kids will be accidentally shrunken to about a height of a couple of millimeters, I would guess, and accidentally deposited in a trash bag, along with floor sweepings, put outside for pickup. They manage to make a hole in the bag and walk to the nearby Szalinsky's lawn.
Naturally, the parents are soon looking all over for them. Wayne then discovers his miniaturized 'thinking couch' on the floor in front of his hoped-for shrinking machine, and realizes that the machine somehow has changed so that it actually works(It was hit by a baseball!),and may have shrunk the kids. He doesn't tell anyone, at first. He theorizes that he may have swept them up into the trash, and that they may have gotten out and moved to the lawn(a remarkably accurate guess!). So, he puts together a helmet bearing a couple of flood lights on a bar, and gets a large magnifying glass, makes a boom on a fulcrum, puts a counterweight on the one end and himself on the other, suspended over the lawn, and looks for the kids. Later, his wife joins him, acting in place of the counterweight. But, before this, Wayne has taken a break in the house, while his wife returns and calls the police for missing children. When the police arrive, Wayne answers the door with his headgear on, and his wife immediately faints, he having just told her his theory of where the kids are: a funny scene. Well, the parents never find their kids in the grass.
Meanwhile, the kids are trying to survive various dangers, such as drowning from a sprinkler, being cut up or sucked up by the remote control lawnmower, being operated by a neighbor kid. Or being eaten by a large ant or even larger scorpion. Fortunately, the ant turns out to be friendly, and they take a ride on its back. It also tries to defend them from the scorpion, which helps, but is stung and soon dies, to their sorrow. During their adventure, Amy eventually get horny and initiates some making out with Russ, believe it or not!
Eventually, the 4 get lucky and hop on Cork, who takes them inside, He puts his front paws up on the breakfast table and shakes off Nick, who lands in the milk of Wayne's Cheerios bowl, and nearly drowns. At first, Wayne doesn't hear his screams, and nearly swallows a spoonful that includes Nick. But Cork bites Wayne's ankle, distracting him, so that he hears Nick's screams, then sees him. The other 3 are soon found on the floor.
Now, the question becomes 'Can Wayne figure out how to adjust his shrinking machine to make it instead enlarge things and people?' He lucks out: the kids being enlarged back to their normal size. The 2 families celebrate by sitting down to a combined dinner, with an abnormally large turkey, and a humongous Milkbone for Cork.
Great entertainment for kids, and even for adults. Like me. Several subsequent films based on the same idea weren't as successful.