The chaotic zaniness of James Horner’s Honey, I Shrunk The Kids soundtrack is its tremendously orchestrated charm, with some similarly rambunctious main themes and a heartwarming family feel overall cementing it as one of the composer’s wackier yet appealing film scores.
Credit where credit’s due, James Horner was absolutely phenomenal at writing for orchestra. You can hear his talent for it in a great many (if not all) of his film scores; the thunderous ferocity of the action music in Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan for example, or the frantic brass of Aliens, the controlled electronic chaos of Commando, the soaring strings romance of The Mask Of Zorro, the breathtaking wonder of Apollo 13, the solemn serenity of Glory… I could go on, but my point is this; the use of orchestra throughout them all is so complex, with an incredible meticulousness and attention to detail that then makes them utterly magnetic to listen to. The late composer had a tremendous knack for thoughtful complexity in his music, and that statement while certainly true for all the projects above, is particularly so in Honey, I Shrunk The Kids. The chaotic, whimsical and almost child-like mania of the orchestrations featured throughout Horner’s score for the iconic 1989 film is something to behold simply as despite said musical chaos, it’s delightfully listenable. We need look no further than the score’s opening cue and “Main Title” for this, which introduces a main theme inspired by both Raymond Scott’s 1937 “Powerhouse” composition (utilised in a great many classic Warner Bros. cartoons) and Nino Rota’s theme for 1973 film “Amarcord”.
The thematic intermix this musical borrowing provides leaps into gear straight away in the “Main Title”, as sudden and intensely breathless surges of brass together with swathes of enthuastic percussion kick off a frantic pace to power the ever-chaotic main theme for Honey through its two minute debut here. The sheer orchestral mania that I mentioned at the start is tremendously abound here, leaping and thudding along at breakneck speeds for an absolutely fantastic opener overall. The subsequent “Strange Neighbours” then plays another motif, this time a slower yet still delightfully wacky theme for scientist Wayne Szalinski (Rick Moranis’ loveable character) that darts along on sprightly saxophone, upbeat electronics, plinking percussion and even what sounds like a harmonica! This frenetic charm however quickly fades at the start of the subsequent “Shrunk”, as a rapid and rather frightening crescendo is reached on tense orchestra. Slowly the mood then starts to rise again with brassy excerpts of the main theme running jazzily through at various intervals, though an air of orchestral anxiety is kept through much of the rest of the five minute track with tense percussive action also leaping into centre stage from the four minute mark. The infamous four-note danger motif then echoes warily at the start of “A New World” alongside abrasive woodwinds to hammer this new orchestral anxiety home.
Crashing drums and a keen sense of dread open “Scorpion Attack”, with blasts of aggressive brass, swirling strings and pounding drums – rather akin to Horner’s Aliens in their militaristic sound – firing on all cylinders for three frantic minutes. Wayne’s ever-manic motif then reprises at the beginning of “Test Run” on superb-sounding saxophone and accompanying harmonica, with the main theme following in similarly bombastic jazzy style shortly afterward and building to a deafening crescendo. Wayne’s theme then takes centre stage again in the first minute of the subsequent “Flying Szalinsky” with tremendously zany brass and percussion as the centre of attention, before the music then settles in the back half as a third theme is introduced on heartfelt woodwinds; this time a quieter and more innocent-sounding piece for Wayne’s children and their friends. This kids theme then gets an extended treatment through the five minute “Night Time”, as tranquil strings, brass and woodwinds all evoke a serene and rather peaceful tone with said motif floating gently along. This orchestral peace doesn’t last though as Wayne’s ever-wacky theme returns in “Watering The Grass” with the saxophone and harmonica darting playfully along at a rapid pace atop rollicking drums. The four minute “Ant Rodeo” then descends into a mixture of moodier, Aliens-styled ambience and flurrying, excitable brass and strings.
The manic main theme returns on jazzy brass in “The Machine Works”, working alongside similarly sprightly interjections from Wayne’s theme. The music then once again turns quiet and gentle for the first two minutes of “Lawn Mower” as the kids theme reprises on heartwarming strings, before sudden great crashes of tense brass and organ notes thunder action back into frame with the chaotic main theme playing a central role. The shorter “Eaten Alive” then continues in a similarly anxious vein, with Wayne’s theme getting an unusually determined rendition on brass in the second half before a crashing organ crescendo is reached. The minute-long “Big Russ Volunteers” then reprises the main theme in a much quieter, more withdrawn manner on light strings and woodwinds, before final and Standout Cue “Thanksgiving Dinner” closes the score with a delightfully lengthy arrangement of all the score’s major themes for the end credits; opening with a luscious strings rendition of the kids theme, the music then leaps back into zany musical mania for boisterous playthroughs of the main and Wayne motifs, with Horner’s ever-meticulous compositional approach to orchestral chaos enjoyably abound. Thus ends the tremendous score, and if you’re lucky enough to own Intrada’s expansion – which I was not able to track down this time, unfortunately – you also get a bunch of bonus cues; “Test Run”, “A Long Way Home” and “Bee Flight/After The Bees” in the main score program, and a handful of extras afterward.
Overall, James Horner’s score for Honey, I Shrunk The Kids makes for a charming listen. The “Main Title” (inspired by Raymond Scott’s “Powerhouse” and Nino Rota’s theme for “Amarcord”) is a delightful piece, as Horner skillfully applies a meticulous compositional approach to absolute orchestral mania, resulting in a jazzy main theme that’s somehow both insanely chaotic and incredibly listenable (not to mention memorable too). Joining it is then a similarly zany theme for Rick Moranis’ Wayne Szalinski (“Strange Neighbors”), with a swing-styled saxophone and frenetic harmonica cementing both its upbeat nature and catchiness. These two main themes then intertwine tremendously all across this fifty minute soundtrack, with cues like the fast-paced “Test Run”, the wacky “Watering The Grass” and the conclusive “Thanksgiving Dinner” all highlighting both the composer’s attention to orchestral detail and his talent for memorable motifs. Grounding these two wackily science-y themes is then a heartfelt piece for Wayne’s children and their friends (who of course, are the ones who get ‘shrunk’ in the film), with its introduction in “Flying Szalinsky” – after a particularly manic rendition of Wayne’s theme – providing a gentler and more traditionally orchestral moment of woodwind-focused tranquility that then recurs through the rest of the score. All-in, Honey is heartwarming Horner at its best.
Score: 7.5/10
Standout Cues: Main Title, Thanksgiving Dinner
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