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Parents' Guide to

Help I've Shrunk the Family

By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 8+

Family fantasy has some scares, swearing.

Movie NR 2014 100 minutes
Help I've Shrunk the Family Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 9+

Based on 7 parent reviews

age 10+

10 out of 10

I love this movie it is so good. It’s so funny i think its interesting how they get shrunk pretty good movie. Watch it 10 out of 10 👍 👍 👍. GREAT AND ITS NOT A RIPOFF. THE BEST PART IS WEAR THEY ARE EATING HOT DOGS.

This title has:

Educational value
Great messages
Great role models
age 10+

Honey i shrunk the family

Watched it on Tubi it's definitely a rip off of honey i shrunk the kid's and awfully dubbed doesn't even look like the word's are coming out of there mouth's which i guess is what dubbing is like don't waste ur time Tubi has plenty of other movies for childre

This title has:

Too much swearing
Too much consumerism

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (7 ):
Kids say (2 ):

This offbeat fantasy may sound like a knockoff of Honey I Shrunk the Kids, but it's actually an amusing tale based on a Dutch children's book. Help I've Shrunk the Family starts slowly, and some stilted dubbing makes everyone seem slow-witted at first. But patience pays off as the movie becomes the kind of child-pleasing dream fantasy reminiscent of Mary Poppins and The Indian in the Cupboard. The mischief of Wiplala, the helpful but temperamental sprite, eventually brings two shy lovers together and heals a family's wounds in a manner that will please younger tweens. Geza Weisz makes Wiplala a whimsical hero. Johannes, the thoughtful boy he befriends, looks enough like the Little Prince for that great character's aura to leave a mark on this story, too. As Wiplala heads back home to repair damage he's done there, he leaves Johannes his distinctive jacket, magically several sizes bigger. When Johannes puts it on at the end, it feels as if both the magic and his sense of self-confidence have been passed on forever into this boy's life.

One of the movie's obvious messages is: "Don't think, but do." While sometimes inspiring for those stuck in inertia, this advice might not be the wisest for children, whose frontal lobes (governing impulse control) are not yet fully developed.

Movie Details

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