Harry and the Hendersons

Harry and the Hendersons is a 1987 American comedy film directed and produced by William Dear. It is the story of a family's encounter with the cryptozoological creature Bigfoot. The film won an Academy Award for Makeup, and inspired a follow-up TV series, also called Harry and the Hendersons.

According to science, Bigfoot does not exist. What you cannot believe with your eyes, trust with your heart.

George Henderson

 * I'm working with assholes.

Dialogue

 * George: I have no doubt that you saw him, but what really happened is when you saw him you were so scared shitless that you crashed your precious 10 Speeder into the stop sign, bumped your head on the curb and probably scared him half to the death in the process! All right, that's what really happened, isn't it? ISN'T IT?
 * Bicycle Man: [anguished] Yes!


 * Ernie: Hey, Dad. What if it's him?
 * George: Who?
 * Ernie: Bigfoot.
 * George: Bigfoot... ?
 * Ernie: Holy shit! Sorry, Dad.
 * George: That's okay, I was looking for the right words.


 * George: What are you looking for?
 * Man: Guns, just any gun!
 * George: We've got some big guns and some big-big guns. But I'm afraid I'm all out of big-big ammo!


 * After Harry pets a chinchilla, he sees its fur. Thinking it has died, Harry runs outside to bury it in the backyard
 * Sarah: Is that not the pelt Grandma left you, Mom?
 * Ernie: He must think it died and is giving it a funeral.
 * Nancy: It was already dead when Grandma gave it to me.
 * Ernie: Already dead? Who killed it?
 * Nancy: Well, I did not kill, nor did Grandma kill it. Some rancher killed it...to make money.


 * George: He walked into our kitchen and was eating out of our refrigerator. I thought he was going eat me, but he ate our daughter's corsage and then ate our goldfish!
 * Sergeant: And where is he now, Mr. Henderson?
 * George: In the bathroom.
 * Sergeant: Oh, of course. How stupid of me.


 * George: [on the phone] No, no. No Bigfoot here, Sergeant. I was just joking. It's just a prank. Uh, I'm not even George Henderson. You must have reached the wrong number.
 * [hangs up]
 * George: We're on our own.


 * Mr. Henderson: Son, I need your artistic skills to make a scary Bigfoot poster. This Bigfoot scare is good for us, we are going to move all our stock as every man in Seattle will be looking to us for firearms. We will call ourselves Bigfoot Headquarters, BHQ!


 * Nancy: How's it going George?
 * George: Lousy. This poster is all wrong. I am going to do a new one of an actual depiction of being peaceful, the way Harry actually is.
 * Nancy: I think that is a good idea.
 * George: I cannot understand my father. When I was a little boy one year the entire autumn I begged him to give me a paint set for Christmas. But what did I get, a BB gun!
 * Unknown to anyone, Harry later finds George's first poster, showing an enraged, violent Sasquatch and realizes this is how society views him


 * [George's father had changed George's kind drawing of Harry to make Harry look like a vicious monster]
 * George Henderson Sr.: See? You're not the only artist in the family. How's that's for an arthritic old shooter, huh?
 * George Henderson: What the hell did you do that for? It's my drawing! Why'd you change it?
 * George Henderson Sr.: Cool down, George, it's just a piece of cardboard.
 * George Henderson: Not to me. It means something to me! Can't you see that he means something to me?
 * George Henderson Sr.: What the hell are you talking about?
 * George Henderson: The hell with it! I quit! [storms out]
 * George Henderson Sr.: Over this? You can't quit! We're too busy! Hey, what the hell's the matter with you?


 * Wallace: I'm going to say this once. Going to say it simple. And I hope to God for all of your sakes that you all listen. There are no Abominable Snowmen. There are no Sasquatches. There are no Big Feet!
 * [the family begins to giggle. Unbeknownst to Wrightwood, Harry is standing right behind him]
 * Wallace: Am I missing something?


 * Wallace: So, what you're saying is you would be willing. Excuse me, Jack would be willing to take in this creature and care for it and love it like a pet?
 * George: No, like a member of the family.

Cast

 * John Lithgow as George Henderson
 * Melinda Dillon as Nancy Henderson
 * Margaret Langrick as Sarah Henderson
 * Joshua Rudoy as Ernie Henderson
 * Kevin Peter Hall as Harry
 * Lainie Kazan as Irene Moffat
 * Don Ameche as Dr. Wallace Wrightwood
 * M. Emmet Walsh as George Henderson Sr.
 * David Suchet as Jacques LaFleur