Harry and the Hendersons

**Harry and the Hendersons** is a 1987 film starring John Lithgow, Melinda Dillon, Don Ameche, David Suchet, Margaret Langrick, Lainie Kazan, Kevin Peter Hall and M. Emmet Walsh, directed by William Dear, written by Dear, Bill Martin and Ezra D. Rappaport and produced by Dear and Richard Vane.

## Plot

George Henderson is returning to his suburban Seattle home with his family from a camping trip in the nearby Cascade mountains when they hit something with the family Ford Country Squire. George discovers, to his horror and awe, that they have hit a Sasquatch. Thinking they have killed it, the family straps the creature to the roof of their car. A mysterious hunter tracking the creature discovers the Hendersons' license plate, which fell off when they hit the creature.

Later that night, George goes to the garage to examine the creature and discovers it is not dead, and has escaped. He finds the creature in the kitchen, having knocked over the fridge looking for food. The family realizes the creature is friendly and kind, and George has a change of heart; initially planning to make money from the creature, he decides to return him to the wild. Naming the creature "Harry", George tries to lure him into the station wagon, but Harry believes the Hendersons mean him harm and disappears.

Saddened, the family resume their normal lives, but sightings of Harry become more frequent as media fervor heightens. George tries to find Harry, and visits the "North American Museum of Anthropology" to speak with Dr. Wallace Wrightwood, an expert on Bigfoot, but is disheartened by its ramshackle state. Giving his phone number to the museum clerk, George resumes his search. The hunter from the woods is Jacques LaFleur, a legendary hunter now a laughingstock for his obsession with Bigfoot, who tracks down the Hendersons.

George follows a Harry sighting into the city, while the police deal with "Bigfoot mania" by apprehending multiple Bigfoot hunters, believing the sightings are due to a costumed prankster. After a car chase, George saves Harry from LaFleur, who is arrested. At work, George's father asks him to make a poster of a violent Sasquatch to drum up gun sales, but George throws the picture away, replacing it with a proper depiction of Harry.

The next day, George invites Dr. Wrightwood to dinner to speak about Bigfoot. The museum clerk arrives, revealing he is Wrightwood. He urges the Hendersons to give up on Bigfoot, as it has destroyed his life, but then meets Harry, restoring his enthusiasm. Bailed out of jail, LaFleur heads to the Henderson house. George and Harry escape with Dr. Wrightwood in his old truck, and LaFleur gives chase.

Fleeing back to the mountains, George tries to make Harry leave, going so far as to hit Harry. Confused and upset, Harry does not leave. LaFleur catches up to the Hendersons and throws the family dog. Harry captures LaFleur, but George intervenes when LaFleur escapes. Through Harry's kindness and George's faith, LaFleur changes his mind and decides that Harry deserves to live peacefully. As the family says goodbye, George thanks Harry, who gives him a hug, for all he has done for the family. George tells him to take care of himself, to which Harry replies, "Okay" – his first spoken word. As Harry leaves, several other Sasquatches appear and they disappear into the wilderness together, to the Hendersons’ amazement. When Dr. Wrightwood asks LaFleur what he will do next, LaFleur replies, "I don't know. There's always Loch Ness." They laugh, as the Hendersons wave goodbye to Harry.