August 17: Honey, I Can't Believe We've Never Seen These Movies

Have you ever noticed that are certain movies that come back around from time-to-time and, when they do you, marvel at the fact that you've never seen them. Such was the case this past week with the Disney "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" (from 1989) and it's infamous sequel "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" (from 1992). Today, we watched the latter, having seen the original for the first time last weekend. I have to say, the original was the better of the two. The kids liked both. They were mesmerized by the idea of being smaller than an ant and going on an adventure in the backyard, and tickled by the sight of a 50-ft. infant walking the streets of Las Vegas. While I was entertained by both concepts myself, even laughing out loud a few times, I couldn't escape two questions as I watched these films: (1) Why had I never seen these before considering they are 21 and 18 years old, respectively?, and (2) What ever happened to Rick Moranis, as the guy used to be in everything? I don't really have an answer to the first question, only that seeing I was 21 and 24 at the time, without children, I probably had interests beyond shrinking kids and growing babies. But, I was able to gain some insight into the second question. Rick Moranis is, in fact, retired from the acting profession, with his last "role" being the voice of Rutt the Moose in "Brother Bear 2". He did so in 1997, citing other obstacles in his life. These obstacles were a result of losing his wife to liver cancer in 1991, and being a single father. Moranis felt that the travel requirements of an Actor were just not conducive to his need to be with his family, therefore he chose family over career. He now runs a production company, and he released a country/comedy album in 2005 called "The Agorophobic Cowboy". Even though I loved him as an actor, I think I now respect him as a man who decided that, even though he had it all so to speak, his family was still the most important thing in his life. You would think that would be an easy choice for any man, but I bet you would also be surprised and how many choose the other path instead. I salute you, Mr. Moranis.