Ever notice that every blockbuster movie has the same fundamental pieces? A hero, a journey, some conflicts to muck it all up, a reward, and the hero returning home and everybody applauding his or her swag? Yeah, scholar Joseph Campbell noticed first—in 1949. He wrote The Hero with a Thousand Faces, in which he outlined the 17 stages of a mythological hero's journey.

About half a century later, Christopher Vogler condensed those stages down to 12 in an attempt to show Hollywood how every story ever written should—and, uh, does—follow Campbell's pattern. We're working with those 12 stages, so take a look. (P.S. Want more? We have an entire Online Course devoted to the hero's journey.)

Ordinary World

The "ordinary" world of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids isn't all that ordinary.

At the Szalinski home, father Wayne is hard at work on his latest invention—a shrink ray—while his children Amy and Nick struggle to gain his attention. His wife, on the other hand, is so fed up that she's staying at her mother's house for a few days.

Over at the Thompson household, the family is preparing for a weekend fishing trip, led by father Big Russ. Big Russ is upset at his eldest son Little Russ for getting "cut" from the football team, while ignoring his youngest son Ron altogether.

Call To Adventure

Diane Szalinski calls her husband and tells him that she's coming home. The house is a mess, but Wayne doesn't have any time to clean it, as he has to present his still-unproven shrink ray to a group of investors.

Meanwhile, Ron accidentally hits a baseball into the Szalinski home and smashes the shrink ray. This ironically makes it work perfectly. Huh. Through a crazy series of events, the shrink ray ends up blasting all four children and—well—shrinking them.

Refusal Of The Call

Wayne's presentation is an utter failure. Oof. He returns home and smashes his shrink ray out of anger, not realizing that it's now working. He also sweeps up the kids and throws them into a trash bag, which he then tosses by the curb. Double oof.

The four kids come into conflict over what's the best way to get back to the house, which is roughly three miles away when taking into account their newly tiny stature.

Meeting The Mentor

The kids shout out for Quark, the Szalinski family dog, in the hopes of hitching a ride on his furry frame, but the pup is too afraid of the Thompson family cat to help out.

In the ensuing chaos, Nick falls into a flower and gets covered in pollen, attracting the unwanted attention of a swarm of bees. A bee snags him, but Little Russ leaps on its back and is carried away as well. The kids are now divided in two groups.

Crossing The Threshold

After seeing Ron's baseball bat, and subsequently the baseball mysteriously lodged in his shrink gun, Wayne realizes that the kids have been shrunk. Whoops. He then goes out in search of them in the yard, being careful not to smoosh them.

Tests, Allies, Enemies

After a series of size-related hijinks, the kids are finally reunited. Little Russ ends up saving Amy when she falls into a river of quicksand, which lights a tiny spark of romance between the two. Soon after, the kids come across a tasty looking dessert cake and start munching away, but their feast is interrupted by a hungry ant.

Instead of fighting it, however, they use the cake as a carrot-on-a-stick to transform the insect into a friendly steed. They also name it Antie. Real original.

Approach To The Inmost Cave

After a day of travel, the kids find a Lego brick sitting in the yard and decide to sleep inside it for the night. Ron has grown close to Antie and tries to send it back to its family, but the insect doesn't seem like it wants to leave its new friends. Aww.

In another aww-worthy moment, Little Russ and Amy finally admit their attraction to one another and make out.

Ordeal

The kids' reverie is interrupted by the entrance of a fearsome new foe—a giant scorpion. They manage to survive its initial onslaught, but things aren't looking good until Antie suddenly reappears and starts battling the much larger creature.

The kids provide the assist and drive the scorpion away. Unfortunately, it's already landed the killing blow on Antie. The group hosts a makeshift funeral for their friend.

Reward (Seizing The Sword)

By now, Wayne has told Diane about the whole "shrinking the kids" thing and both parents are desperately searching the yard. That's good timing too, because the kids are within meters of the front door. Things are looking up.

That is, until Nick's friend arrives to mow the lawn (as Nick had bribed him to do earlier in the film), which nearly kills our tiny heroes. Luckily, Wayne and Diane stop him before the deed is done.

The Road Back

Unfortunately, Wayne still can't hear the kids as they shout at him from a short distance away, leaving them more hopeless than ever. It's a real bummer.

Luckily, the kids manage to get Quark's attention once again, and this time the dog overcomes his fear of his fearsome feline foe and gives the kids a ride inside. Wayne nearly eats Nick after he gets lodged in a bowl of cereal, but Quark once again saves the day by alerting Wayne to his son's presence. Close call.

Resurrection

Both sets of parents are now assembled in Wayne's lab. Nick shows his dad that Ron's baseball was what made the shrink ray work, but before they use the machine to bring the kids back to size, they test it out on Big Russ Thompson. It works.

Finally, Wayne fires the newly-repaired laser and returns the kids to their normal size, leading to a warm reunion for both families.

Return With The Elixir

At the end of the movie, we see both families enjoying a nice dinner together, their former conflict now forgotten. Plus, Amy and Little Russ are dating. Sounds like a win to us.