Meet the Salinsky’s. They aren’t your normal suburban family. Their dad, Wayne (Rick Moranis) is an inventor, and he’s working on his latest gadget, much to the ire of their next door neighbors. After a chance accident, four kids find themselves at the mercy of his invention, when they find themselves shrunk down smaller than ants. Now, they have a short period of time to fix their situation before their own backyard becomes their demise.

I love this film. when I hear Wayne Salinsky, I automatically think of this franchise. It has a special place in my heart, and the practical effects looked terrific when I was a kid who still had eyesight. I remember visiting the set pieces they had built when they were at Disney MGM Studios, and later taking in the Honey I Shrunk The Audience experience at Epcot. This may seem like your traditional average kids film, but the spark of imagination here carries this even today. Joe Johnston directed the film, and went on to have a successful career across several films, including Jurassic Park 3.

What I Look For In Audio Description: As someone who has experienced this film sighted and not, I know the biggest thing here is the title effect of shrinking the kids. This includes size relativity, as they interact with several things that are bigger than them, and every tiny thing seem like an adventure. Non-verbal animals exist here too, with the family having a dog that is used in the plot, as well as an ant they befriend and keep for quite a while. While this film feels like it takes place in everyday world, there is this science-fiction/fantasy element that dominates typical description. Not to mention, Wayne has invented other things throughout the house. The main cast is relatively small, with really only 9 human characters in the film. But, it is a little less about what they initially look like, and more about how haggard their appearance becomes as they try to make it back through the mud and sludge. Still, character descriptions feel easy, since the shrinking happens a little bit into the film.

What It Does: I was actually really interested to know how this audio description would handle smoking. 1989 was not a year where smoking was out of style. One of the characters is trying to quit, but is sneaking one from time to time. it is actually important to the plot, and i was surprised to hear cigarette in the description in a Disney film. But, the one time we *have* to know it is a cigarette, is when he flicks the lit cigarette and it lands near the shrunken kids. They use it to light a torch, and also discuss their disappointment in their dad not being able to quit. Later on, however, the audio description dodges it when the same character volunteers to test out the shrink ray, which Wayne has fixed so it can also then grow them back. He takes off his hat, which has a pack of cigarettes in there, and he says “how did that get in there” when handing his extra stuff to his wife. A blind audience who had never seen the film would wonder how did what get in where? Aside from that, the character descriptions were pretty surface level for this entirely white cast, but the action in the backyard was done really well. The interactions with various flora and fauna really works, and you generally get an Indra of just how small they really are.

Final Thoughts: 35 years later, and I get to comment on the accessibility for a film I’ve seen multiple times. I thought it was pretty good audio description produced by Deluxe, likely with some restrictions from Disney. But, it hit the most important factors, and should draw a blind or visually impaired audience into this super small world after all.

Admitting my bias toward this film, nostalgia factors a lot in this grade, so it may not be fully reflective of the quality, but this movie makes me feel really good inside.

Final Grade: A