Character Analysis
Little Russ Thompson is going through the most teenage-y experience of all time. A conflict with his pops over the old man's expectations? Check.
A seemingly unrequited crush on his popular next-door neighbor? Check.
Miniaturization as a result of a mad scientist's experiment gone wrong? Wait—what?
The Apple Fell Far From the Tree
Let's start with the normal stuff first. When we first meet Little Russ, he's being lectured by his dad for getting "cut" from the football team. See, Big Russ was quite the stud athlete back in the day and is obsessed with his namesake following in his footsteps, even if he has to drag the kid along.
Take a look:
BIG RUSS: I know it seems strange when you look at me today, but when I was your age I wasn't much bigger than you. [...] If you work out for three months, you'll be throwing farther, you'll be running faster, and you'll be hitting harder than anybody else on that team.
Big Russ is so hard on Little Russ because he doesn't think that his son is living up to his high standards of manliness. Unfortunately, Little Russ is too scared to confront his father about these issues, as highlighted by the fact that he claims to have been cut from the football team when he actually quit. Oops.
Loverboy
Little Russ' other big conflict is his love for his next-door neighbor Amy. Again, we see fear prevent him from doing something he wants. In the same way that Russ is afraid of his father's rejection should he admit that he doesn't want to play football, he's afraid of the potential pain of failing to woo Amy.
LITTLE RUSS: I would have come by, I wanted to, but I just always thought you were too popular to notice me.
AMY: I was too popular to notice.
The irony of this is that Russ proves himself to be incredibly brave when actual danger is involved. He leaps on the back of a bee that snags young Nick Szalinski. He dives into a pool of quicksand-esque mud to save Amy from certain death.
In this way, he proves to us (and his crush) that he's an incredibly good-hearted dude underneath his nervous exterior. And, more importantly for him, he scores some sweet makeout time with Amy, along with a date to the school dance the following weekend. Nice.
Teenage Daydream
Thankfully, this experience also helps his dad realize that he's been putting undue pressure on his son, which finally allows the two Thompson men to bond as equals. That's so heartwarming we need an ice pack.
Even if Little Russ and Amy end up breaking up in two weeks, Little Russ will walk away from this experience with a well-deserved sense of confidence and new appreciation for his family.