Ryan Reynolds, our favorite Twitter zaddy, dropped a series of ads yesterday promoting Mint Mobile, a wireless service he
owns. One ad featured a descendant of Paul Revere; another showed teacher of the year Rodney Robinson; while a third ad highlighted the scene-stealer of every movie of our
collective childhood: Rick Moranis.
Reynolds, a fellow Canadian who probably grew up with Moranis on "SCTV," seemed to be in tune with how much America missed the '80s actor, who's been absent from the limelight for the past 23
years. After star turns in “Ghostbusters,” “Spaceballs,” the “Honey, I Shrunk
the Kids” series and “Parenthood,” Moranis stepped away from the camera in
1997.
Let's also not forget, arguably, his best role: The stunning leading-man performance as
unlucky-in-love Seymour from "Little Shop of Horrors.”
What caused the Moranis disappearance? His wife Ann passed
away from breast cancer in 1991, and he became, in his own words, “picky” about his choice
of acting roles. He did some voiceover work (including 2003’s “Brother Bear”) and a cameo
roles here and there, but he largely focused on being a hands-on single dad to his
two young children.
His pop-up in the Mint ad saved the world, according to
Twitter. Or at least brightened people’s days.
We can all breathe a little easier now.
Hopefully, Rick is a harbinger of good luck to come.
We won one today, kids.
Happy tears all around.
Is this like when you see dolphins swimming in the canals in
Venice? Hopefully this one will be true, though.
And, furthermore, as pointed out by Reynolds, we have a
fantastic new reaction GIF.
Reynolds seems to think 2020 isn’t done with Moranis yet, either.
And actually, now that he brings it up, Moranis signed on to a new series called “Shrunk”
for Disney+. Moranis will reprise his role as Wayne Szalinski while Josh
Gad will play his adult son, Nick. In a 2015 interview, Moranis remarked that
he was surprised he hasn’t been approached by Disney for a round of “Honey, We
Shrunk the Grandkids,” so we’re hoping this is that.
Shooting on "Shrunk" was supposed to start this spring, but was delayed, of course, due to COVID-19. With shooting now resuming for many movies and shows, though, we're hopeful this one is a "go" to resume, too.
Don't expect to see Moranis everywhere, though.
The actor told the Hollywood Reporter, "Yes, I am picky, and I'll continue to be picky. Picky has worked for me."
We'll take a little Moranis any way he wants to dole it out. Welcome back to the spotlight, Rick. It's like a warm hug after a cold winter. And thank you, Ryan Reynolds, for knowing just what we needed.