Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (or HISTA for short) opened in EPCOT at Walt Disney World on November 21, 1994. It was one of the greatest 3-D attractions ever built.
Randal Kleiser (‘Honey, I Blew Up The Kid’, ‘Grease’, ‘The Boy in the Plastic Bubble’, ‘The Blue Lagoon’, ‘Flight of the Navigator’, ‘Big Top Pee-Wee’) and Bruce Broughton (‘Honey, I Blew Up The Kid’, the ‘Spaceship Earth’ attraction, ‘Harry and the Hendersons’, ‘The Monster Squad’, ’Moonwalker’, ‘The Rescuers Down Under’, the ‘The Timekeeper’ attraction, ‘Stay Tuned’, ‘Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey’, ‘So I Married an Axe Murderer’, ‘Tombstone’, ‘Baby’s Day Out’, the ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ remake, ‘Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco’, the ‘Ellen’s Energy Adventure’ attraction, ‘A Simple Wish’, ‘Lost in Space’, the ‘It’s Tough To Be A Bug’ attraction, the ‘Soarin’ Around the World’ attraction, and ‘The Making of Me’ attraction ) return to direct and score the attraction, respectively.
Bill Prada (‘Muppet*Vision 3-D’, ‘Here Come the Munsters’, 55 episodes of ‘Dharma and Greg’, 17 episodes of ‘The Muppets’ reboot, 280 episodes of ‘The Big Bang Theory’) and Steve Spiegel (26 episodes of ‘The Arsenio Hall Show’, the pre-shows and ride portion for the ‘Dinosaur’ attraction, the pre-show and ride portion for the ‘Star Tours: The Adventures Continue’ attraction, the pre-show and ride portion for the ‘Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure’ attraction, and the pre-shows and ride portion for the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind’ attraction) penned the screenplay.
Dean Cundey ( ‘Where the Red Fern Grows’, ‘Halloween’, ‘Rock n Roll High School’, ‘The Fog’, ‘Escape From New York’, ‘Halloween II’, ‘Halloween III: Season of the Witch’, ‘The Thing’, ‘Psycho II’, ‘Romancing the Stone’, ‘Back to the Future’, ‘Big Trouble in Little China’, ‘Who Framed Roger Rabbit’, ‘Back to the Future Part II’, ‘Back to the Future Part III’, ‘Road House’, ‘Nothing But Trouble’, ‘Death Becomes Her’, ‘Jurassic Park’, ‘Hook’, ‘The Flintstones’, ‘Casper’, ‘Apollo 13’, ‘Flubber’, ‘The Parent Trap’ remake, ‘What Women Want’, ‘Looney Tunes: Back in Action’, ‘Garfield: The Movie’, ‘Camp Rock’, and ‘Jack and Jill’) was in charge of cinematography. No wonder the film looked so good and realistic!
The plot is as follows: We are guests attending an open house for The Imagination Institute, where Wayne Szalinski will be accepting the Inventor of the Year award for his new Shrinking and Enlarging Machine. After several set-backs, the planned demonstration of the machine goes horribly awry, shrinking the entire audience as well as Wayne’s son Nick. The entire film was presented as if it were a live, in-theater awards show and the antics and chaos that occurred within the theater lasted for approximately fifteen minutes.
In-theater effects included strobes, wind, air, water, and smoke. There was also an air effect located on the floor or under the seats that would replicate escaping mice. The auditorium was mounted on a gimble (essentially a moving base) that could be raised or lowered four inches. The theater would rock and shake at certain moments as well, replicating foot-steps, and the sensation of being shrunk and blown up.
Most of the original actors reprise their roles including Rick Moranis as Wayne Szalinski, Robert Oliveri as Nick Szalinski, Marcia Strassman as Diane Szalinski, and Daniel and Joshua Shalikar as Adam. For whatever reason, Amy isn’t present. They are all as memorable as they were in the films. Eric Idle as Imagination Institute Chairman Nigel Channing is a welcome, funny addition to the cast. He fits in well.
The setting of The Imagination Institute is cool, inspired, and memorable. The Imagination Institute is an organization dedicated to technological innovation and the research and study of imagination. It seems to be a little on the wacky side. Scientists employed there besides Wayne Szalinski include Dream Finder, Prof. Phillip Brainard from Flubber, and Eugene Higgins (from The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes), among others. These additional scientists do not make appearances in the show proper, but are referenced in the nearby attraction ‘Journey Into Imagination With Figment’, which is also set within The Imagination Institute.
The whole experience definitely made audiences feel like they had stepped foot into the world of the films. I remember I would often attend multiple times in one day, and it always left me smiling. HISTA (Honey, I Shrunk The Audience) was definitely a million times better than Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves and Captain EO (the 3-D show that predated HISTA and ended up replacing it as well). HISTA permanently closed its doors on May 9, 2010. I know I still miss HISTA a good deal, and the memories made during the attraction will continue to stick with me for the rest of my life.
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