My favourite handholds in a roughly chronological order:
Like just about everyone else, I started out with
King Kong (G.O.U.S.:
Gorillas
Of
Unusual
Size):
A human handhold I remember was a very late night showing of
The Amazing Colossal Man. (I call it
The Amazing Colossal Mr. Clean) The effects were cheap, but at least you got a good look. The G/t actress was Cathy Downs, an actress/model who sadly died young from cancer. I missed out on the double feature
Attack of the Puppet People with "Sally Reynolds":
"When I play 'The King and I', it's 'The King Kong and I'."
Then my mind was opened when
Land of the Giants came to syndication -- little people, peril, hot 60s girls, etc. While handholds were plenty, most occurred off-screen or with doll puppets. The big hand prop was rarely used. Still, the situations and other factors like kicking doll legs and the standard "Let Me Go! Put Me Down!" cries made them memorable:
"The Crash": we all know this scene
"Collector's Item": that dancing/skater costume with the little white kicking legs
"The Secret City of Limbo": Valerie really got to express her handhold outrage
"The Marionettes": Two gorilla handholds; several human handholds; plus Betty in a puppet costume who also gets handheld
The Adventures of Gulliver, later on
The Banana Splits
Flirtacia, the blonde Lilliputian. She wanted her giant man and she didn't care how giant he was. Always menaced by Gulliver's enemy Captain Leech (or Leach). Voiced by the late Disney Legend Ginny Tyler:
Dr. Shrinker, from
The Krofft Supershow:
More little people, peril, etc. (and that theme song!). More handholds with dolls, but introduced another feisty Shrinkie named B.J. Masterson (played by Susan Lawrence). She was always ready with a sarcastic comment about everything. The fact that she always wore a short skirt outfit didn't hurt either:
”I chase the Shrinkies. I catch the Shrinkies. The Shrinkies escape. It’s a vicious cycle and it’s driving me mad!”
Speaking of Krofft, does anyone remember
The Bugaloos? I've always wondered if the gang were supposed to be insect fairies or just humans wearing bug costumes. Like other boys in those days, seeing Joy (Caroline Ellis) gave me weird feelings in my tummy that I don't think were my stomach aching. She went on to some mature films and
Playboy...
Superfriends ("Yuna the Terrible"):
Everyone recalls the episode involving the cat with the shrink ray, but the 2-inch scale was a bit small for me. My personal
Superfriends size story was a silly tale called "Yuna the Terrible". Yuna the Terrible (not to be confused with Yuna from
Final Fantasy X) and her barbarian horde threaten Earth. This particular segment had a couple of nice pick-ups and handholds courtesy of Apache Chief ("INUK CHUK!"... "INUK SHUK!"... "INEH CHOH!"
?). Yuna is grabbed in a capture attempt that fails; and Wonder Woman is saved from some ferocious felines:
Super Dimension Fortress Macross / Robotech:
Anime giant aliens attack Earth! Earth fights back with anime fighter planes that transform into giant humanoid shapes! Sort of a science-fiction combat version of
Land of the Giants. Unfortunately, while there have been many other entries in the series, and the giant aliens occasionally show up, they're now in the background and no handholds or even menace has been in sight:
Myriad Colors Phantom World:
An anime in which humans live with extra-dimensional beings called "phantoms". One of the stars of the series is a small fairy or genie-like character named Ruru (her full name is Rururaruri Rurararirararururirirari Rirararururararururararirari). She's like the show's mascot, making fun of everyone and is really comfortable with her small status. She's a great example of a happy SW. She also has assss... assets...
And that's it! Since then, there hasn't been a memorable handhold scene for me! There have been a couple of close ones, but no hits:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix: That scene with Hermione and Grawp. Emma Watson makes a great SW, but the 1:3 scale is too short for me.
The Secret World of Arrietty: Great anime detail and scale, but handholds were a secondary thing here. Still, a wonderful film!
Alice in Wonderland: A sad waste of potential! A huge budget and Mia Wasikowska is pretty, but the handholds go by so fast you barely have time to register them. It's like the Hatter was afraid to even touch Alice. It makes me wish that the Knave of Hearts had discovered Alice in the tea pot...
Short of the Holy Grail of a
Land of the Giants reboot, I guess the only thing to long for in the near future are some scenes with Ella (Lina Hüesker) in the
Help, I Shrunk My Friends movie. Another possibility is having Giganta as the villainess in the next
Wonder Woman film (though the insiders are betting on Circe).
*****
Some of the fanfics I've enjoyed:
"The Shrunken Senator" by Minimizer (more
Star Wars shrinking would be nice)
"Glass Ceiling" trilogy by Minimizer (Kayla Robertson is a great SW!)
"Timmy's Little Problem" by ?
"Hermione Granger and the Titan of TIme" by SassyGal 84 (a more appropriate 1:12 scale) (can anyone finish?)
"Unfamiliar Ceiling" by Lord_Nova (
Evangelion) (can anyone finish?)
"Turnaround is Fair Play" by ?
"A Matter of Smallness" by AliceAD (as mentioned earlier, the Knave of Hearts
does find Alice in the tea pot. Can anyone finish?)
"The Slave Trade" by Dreamtales
"Land of the Giants -- Revisited" by The Reducer
"Christy" by azure_eyes
*****