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The Incredible Shrinking Woman
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The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a 1981 science fiction/comedy film, starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover and Elizabeth Wilson, and directed by Joel Schumacher. The film was written by Tomlin's longtime life partner and frequent collaborator, Jane Wagner. The original music score was composed by Suzanne Ciani. This film is a take-off on the 1957 science fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man, and credited as based on Richard Matheson's novel, The Shrinking Man.
Kramer is an ordinary suburban wife and mother until she gets exposed to a strange mixture of household chemicals, including "Galaxy Glue", a new product from her husband's advertising agency.
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Encyclopedia
The Incredible Shrinking Woman is a 1981 science fiction/comedy film, starring Lily Tomlin, Charles Grodin, Ned Beatty, John Glover and Elizabeth Wilson, and directed by Joel Schumacher. The film was written by Tomlin's longtime life partner and frequent collaborator, Jane Wagner. The original music score was composed by Suzanne Ciani. This film is a take-off on the 1957 science fiction classic The Incredible Shrinking Man, and credited as based on Richard Matheson's novel, The Shrinking Man.
Plot summary
Pat Kramer is an ordinary suburban wife and mother until she gets exposed to a strange mixture of household chemicals, including "Galaxy Glue", a new product from her husband's advertising agency. Soon after, she begins to shrink. As she becomes smaller and smaller, she finds it nearly impossible to fulfill her role as wife and mother. Eventually, she becomes a celebrity of sorts, appearing on the Mike Douglas show. Soon she is less than a foot tall, making her a doll to her children.
Pat is kidnapped by a group of mad scientists, who make it seem she perished in the kitchen garbage disposal. The scientists plan to shrink everyone in the world. With the help of the lab custodian and a super-intelligent gorilla, she escapes. Pat shrinks to microscopic size and falls into a puddle of spilled household product chemicals - which makes her return to normal size. The film ends with Pat's homecoming, however when her foot makes her shoe split open - the audience is led to believe Pat will now grow to giant size.
This film carries an anti-consumer message, since a collection of perfumes, cleansers, and assorted household products is what caused Pat to shrink, and some consider it an early acknowledgment of multiple chemical sensitivity disorder.
The attack on consumerism has also been associated with early criticism of the Reagan Administration and Corporate America that was present during the 1980's, although at the time of the film's release, Reagan had only been president for ten days.
Production Notes
- This was originally planned to be a 3D film, but the idea was ultimately scrapped.
- Prop products shown in the film included "Cheese Tease", an aerosol cheese spray; "Galaxy Glue", a household super glue; "Breathe Easy", a feminine hygiene spray; and the prototype for a new perfume called "Sexpot".
- Actor Dick Wilson plays a fussy supermarket manager - much like his famous Charmin tissue TV commercial character: Mr. Whipple.
- Mike Douglas sings the song "Little Things Mean A Lot" on his show before Pat Kramer comes out on stage.
- A scene was cut where Pat Kramer shrinks some more while backstage at The Mike Douglas Show. Judith Beasley comes to the rescue by fashioning a tiny dress for Pat to wear from the cut sleeve of her own blouse. In the final version, Judith is shown in the studio audience with one of her sleeves missing.
- Lily Tomlin plays four characters in this film: lead character Pat Kramer, her neighbor Judith Beasley (from her Broadway shows), Tomlin's Laugh-In characters "Ernestine" (a telephone operator) and "Edith Ann" (a little girl) who wanders in the lab.
- Rick Baker played Sidney the Gorilla. In 1981, he was the very first recipient of the Oscar for Best Make-Up for "An American Werewolf in London" when the category was first introduced. Baker's career, especially his early fascination with gorillas and his work in three movies featuring them is told in the TV documentary "Gorillas: Primal Contact."
- In one of the many editions of his books of movie reviews, Roger Ebert took special notice of the sets and color scheme in the film, as have several other reviewers since its release.
Cast
Soundtrack
- "Galaxy Glue" By Linda November (Billy Davis)
- "Little Things Mean A Lot" By Mike Douglas
- "Don't Tell me Why" By The Brainiacs
See also
External links
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