MovieChat Forums > Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) Discussion > 'Put your lips together, and blow.'

'Put your lips together, and blow.'

posted 15 years ago by edlitz36
12 replies | jump to latest

In the scene where the kids are whistling for Quark (the Szalinskis' dog), Russ is the only one unable to. Amy says to him, "You know how to whistle. You put your lips together, and blow."

This HAS to be a reference to the quote that Lauren Bacall spoke in the 1944 film, To Have and Have Not.

The exact quote from the movie is "You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow." I've never seen the film, but it has to be a homage. The movie:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037382/

Quote:

#34 Greatest Movie Quote on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movie Quotes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AFI%27s_100_Years%E2%80%A6100_Movie_Quote s

Anyone else notice this?

NO, YOU IS DEFINITELY SUCK!
See? I can type like a moron, too.

[–] xdaysx 15 years ago

Maybe? Lol. I mean there's not that many ways to show people how to whistle. I actually suck in to whistle, though.

[–] prestonpopp 15 years ago

It is definitely playing to that pop culture reference. Such a classic line.

Every time whistling difficulty comes up in a conversation in my life I always feel like using that, and sometimes do.

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[–] zeeboe82 12 years ago

I was like in the second grade before I could whistle finally. I knew how Russ felt. :( But now I whistle like a pro, and never mock anyone if they don't. :) I usually am able to teach em' how.

[–] meteor_storm 12 years ago

Whistling is done with the tongue more than the lips. Putting your lips together and blowing won't do anything.

You can whistle through your teeth. Your lips are only used to shape the sound of the whistle, but you're not whistling through your lips. I can whistle two ways with my teeth, pushing my tongue to the front of the teeth, or pushing the sides of my tongue to the back of the teeth.

If that doesn't work, you can do an awesome (and great way to annoy people) whistle by closing your throat and letting air seep out by exhaling very slowly. Makes a very high-pitched squeal that makes people look around.

You can also whistle with fingers in your mouth by pushing the sides of your tongue up. There're a myriad ways of whistling. The one I want to do most is the really loud piercing whistle people do. Can't figure it out. It's all tongue and teeth, no lips.

tinyurl.com/meteorstorm

[–] DoctorShemp 12 years ago

She's also talking about sucking dick

[–] meteor_storm 12 years ago

^ Like he said, not only is it a reference to the original line (that's more than obvious), but the original line itself is a reference to oral sex. Nothing like getting past the censors in a creative way!

tinyurl.com/meteorstorm

[–] Strazdamonas 11 years ago

Shes wrong. it is obvious you use some form of technique to whistle that you evil humans have refused to disclose to me. I felt insulted by her mockery and she should feel bad to have ever read such a line.
The fact that this can make it to the greatest quotes list makes me feel ashamed to be human.

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Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.

[–] marvelass 11 years ago

Well, I don't know if it was a reference, per se, to To Have and Have Not, but it's definitely a famous line that most everyone has quoted without knowing its origin. Just like there have been variations of "I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore." I knew some people who surprisingly didn't know it was from The Wizard of Oz. They'd heard it first in Avatar when Colonel Quaritch says "You're in Kansas anymore, you're in Pandora." But that Kansas line has been used so much, especially when a character in a movie or TV show finds themselves in new surroundings, that it's a cliché now. Same with "Put your lips together and blow."

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