Professor Wayne Szalinski is the eccentric scientist who invented the shrinking ray machine that almost caused the demise of his children in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Now he’s about to about to get an award for his great invention, and you’re invited to the awards ceremony.

Okay, it’s not a real awards ceremony. It’s a 3-D movie with terrific surprises.

Some of surprises might be too scary for small kids. So, if you have kids with you, read the sign.

Are you ready to go in?

Ask a Cast Member if Professor Maynard is here today. He can add another dimension to your 3-D experience.

Through the magic of 3-D “safety goggles,” you will soon feel as if things are happening right in front of your face.

As you wait, watch the clever messages on the video monitors and check the backlit posters.

Rick Moranis plays the part of Professor Wayne Szalinski, just as in the hit 1989 Disney movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. The Szalinski film family is back too—his wife Diane, their sons Nick and Adam, and their scene-stealing dog Quark.

The next poster shows Eric Idle. He wasn’t in the 1989 movie or its sequels, but here he’s the co-star.

The third poster looks like Robin Williams. In fact, it is Robin Williams as the star of Flubber, the disappointing 1997 remake of the brilliant 1961 comedy The Absent-Minded Professor. Despite the prominent poster, Williams is not part of the attraction. (The poster is just a bit of marketing synergy.)

Now just wait until the show begins.

Adventure Thru Inner Space isn’t the only Yesterland attraction that shrinks you. As the name of this attraction suggests, during the next 13 minutes you and the rest of the audience will become tiny as the entire theater is reduced to the size of a shoe box.

Put on your 3-D glasses. This won’t be an ordinary 3-D movie with long shots, close-ups, cuts, dissolves, and fades. Instead, you’ll feel as if you’re watching a continuous live show with life-size performers on a stage at the front of theater.

Oh, the faces will get a lot bigger during the show. But that will be after you’ve been shrunk.

I would tell you to sit back and relax, but it’s hard to relax when you’re in a shower of breaking glass or when cloned white mice are scurrying on your legs—or when someone picks up the entire theater and you feel it moving.

The gags were great. The in-theater effects were great. The plot had clever surprises. What a thoroughly entertaining show!

But now that you’ve seen it, are you going to want to see it again and again? Next time, the surprises won’t be surprises any more. Oh, it will still be fun. But, after you’ve seen it two or three times, you’ll probably find yourself skipping it on most of your future visits to the park.

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience opened at Disneyland on May 22, 1998, as part of the New Tomorrowland of 1998. It replaced Captain EO, the 3-D musical space adventure starring Michael Jackson, which had closed a little over one year earlier.

By the time Honey, I Shrunk the Audience opened at Disneyland in 1998, guests were familiar with Professor Wayne Szalinski and his family from two theatrical movies, one direct-to-video movie, and a TV series.

In the comedy-adventure movie Honey, Shrunk the Kids (1989), the Szalinski kids face perils as they cross their front lawn after being accidently miniaturized by one of their father’s inventions. In the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Baby (1992), the phrase “blew up” means a drastic increase in size, not an explosion; the Szalinski’s toddler inadvertently terrorizes Las Vegas. The third visit with the Szalinski family was the direct-to-video Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves (1997), in which the adults are ones who are miniaturized. Then there was Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. The series debuted in 1997 and ran for 64 episodes, with Peter Scolari playing the role of Wayne Szalinski instead of Rick Moranis.

Disney’s publicity art for Honey, I Shrunk the Audience suggested that the action would pop from the screen into the audience. In a way, it did. With a series of clever 3-D movie gimmicks, inventive in-theater effects, and even a motion base under the entire seating area, this 3-D movie went where no 3-D movie had gone before. The publicity art was a bit of an exaggeration as it showed an audience without 3-D glasses threatened by the mighty tongue of the Szalinski’s enlarged dog Quark.

Honey, I Shrunk the Audience was new to Disneyland, but it wasn’t a new Disney attraction. It had been running at Kodak’s Imagination pavilion in Future World at Epcot since November 21, 1994—back when that park was officially called Epcot ’94.

At Tokyo Disneyland, Honey, I Shrunk the Audience opened as MicroAdventure! on April 15, 1997. It’s dubbed in Japanese, but guests who prefer English or Chinese dialog can use headphones.

At Disneyland Paris, Captain EO lasted longer than at any other park, until August 17, 1998. Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!—or Cherie j’ai rétréci le public—opened March 28, 1999. The presentation is in English or French, depending on the time of day. If you prefer, headphones give you a choice of English, French, German, Dutch, Italian or Spanish.

Although the original Disneyland in California was the third Disney park to open Honey, I Shrunk the Audience, it was the first park to close it. After the final showing on January 3, 2010, Disneyland’s Imagination Institute closed its doors—probably forever.

The attraction that once replaced Captain EO would now be replaced by the return of Captain EO. It would be a “limited engagement” beginning February 2010. Wisely, there is no official end date. The speculation is that Hooter, Fuzzball, the Geex, and the rest of EO’s crew will entertain Disneyland guests at least through summer 2010, and possibly much longer if the demand is there.

When Captain EO is ready to retire again, let’s hope there’s something brand new in the Magic Eye Theater—not the return of a tired 3-D movie that already ran more than 11 years at Disneyland. Tomorrowland needs to replace pop culture from the 1980s with something that is once again innovative and fresh for the next decade.

Now you might want to take another look at Captain EO.

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© 2010 Werner Weiss — Disclaimers, Copyright, and Trademarks

Updated January 22, 2009.

Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience exterior by day: 2006 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience warning sign: 2009 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience path between planters: 2002 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience Cast members: 1998 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience safety goggles: 2009 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience queue are : 2002 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience Szalinski poster: 2009 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience Channing poster: 2009 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience Brainard poster: 2009 by Werner Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience doors: 2005 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience guests entering: 2009 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience auditorium: 2009 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience screen: 2009 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience 3-D glasses: 2006 by Tina Weiss.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience exterior at night: 2009 by Allen Huffman.
Honey, I Shrunk the Kids movie poster: Copyright Disney 1989.
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience publicity image: Copyright Disney.
Photo of Honey, I Shrunk the Audience at Epcot: 2006 by Allen Huffman.
Photo of MicroAdventure! at Tokyo Disneyland: 2009 by Jeff Gordon-Sm.
Photo of Cherie j’ai rétréci le public at Disneyland Paris: 2005 by Werner Weiss.