As Scott shrinks to the point where he can fit into a dollhouse, he has a battle with his family cat, leaving him lost and alone in his basement, where he is now smaller than the average insect.

Matheson's script was initially written in flashbacks, and Richard Alan Simmons rewrote it using a more conventional narrative structure.

Before the film's release in New York City on February 22, 1957, its ending first went to test audiences who felt the character's fate should be changed.

An antidote is discovered, halting his shrinking, but doctors caution that he will remain three feet tall for the rest of his life unless a solution is found to reverse his condition.

Carey faces significant challenges navigating his basement and is unable to climb the stairs back up, deciding to wait for Louise to come down.

Richard Matheson's idea for the original novel was inspired by a scene in the film Let's Do It Again, where Ray Milland's character leaves an apartment with the wrong hat.

[4] Matheson later discussed working with Universal, finding that the producer had a "very commercial mind" which made the script weaker in terms of character.

[9] On April 4, 1956, Williams and Stuart were screen tested and deemed acceptable for the roles of Scott and Louise Carey.

[20] While trying to find a way to simulate giant drops of water landing, Arnold recalled a time when he was a child and found condoms in his father's drawer.

The belief was this would give the film a better look, as a shorter frame would allow the production department to scale down the height of certain props for the special effects.

[26] Special effects shots using black velvet trick photography took three weeks of post-production and were scheduled after the film completed production on July 13, 1956.

"[19] Clifford Stine, whose field was process work and rear screen projection, is credited with "special photography".

[19] The boat scene at the beginning of the film was shot on Universal's process stage, which allowed for rear screen projection.

[31][32] After its release, Mel Danner, manager of the Circle Theater in Waynoka, Oklahoma, noted audiences felt it was a good film, but that Carey should have returned to his original size at the end.

[34] The film's title theme was composed by Fred Carling and Ed Lawrence and played by Ray Anthony and his Orchestra.

[38][39] The film was reissued theatrically in 1964,[40] but otherwise was rarely shown on television and screened only occasionally at science fiction conventions.

[4] It was released on laser disc in 1978 and 1991, on VHS in 1992, and on DVD in 2006 (as part of a box set containing a collection of Universal-International's science fiction films).

[41][42] In July 2021, The Criterion Collection announced a blu-ray of the film with a new 4K digital restoration; its bonus material includes audio commentary from Tom Weaver and David Schecter.

[43] Arnold's biographer Dana M. Reemes described The Incredible Shrinking Man as initially being received as a routine to above average film; its reception has steadily grown ever since.

[44] Philip K. Scheuer of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a fascinating exercise in imagination, as terrifying as it is funny [...] Science-fiction admirers who are accustomed to finding food for thought as well as vicarious thrills in such flights of fancy will not be disappointed, either.

[46] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times panned the film, writing that "unless a viewer is addicted to freakish ironies, the unlikely spectacle of Mr. Williams losing an inch of height each week, while his wife, Randy Stuart, looks on helplessly, will become tiresome before Universal has emptied its lab of science-fiction clichés.

"[47] William Brogdon of Variety commented that the film was not thoroughly satisfactory, but had enough good qualities, specifically declaring "unfoldment is inclined to slow down on occasion, resulting in flagging interest here and there".

He found it did not have the "schoolboy cynicism and moralizing of a Roger Corman film, nor any of the hysteria common to the Red-scare science-fictioners of the Fifties".

"[50] Rubin also compared it the other science fiction films Arnold made in the 1950s—The Creature From the Black Lagoon, It Came From Outer Space, Tarantula, Revenge of the Creature, and The Space Children—finding them competitively "interesting in patches", but lacking in comparison to the "unity and clarity" of The Incredible Shrinking Man, which "totally fulfills its central metaphor without being unduly constricted by it".

[58] Matheson said that, since the original film made "a lot of money", he was unsure why the sequel was not developed past the script stage.

This included John Landis developing, writing and directing The Incredible Shrinking Woman, which was cancelled after the budget was found to be too high.

[55] Arnold said he "hated" The Incredible Shrinking Woman, declaring the special effects weak and adding there was "no point of view...the major fault is that it's not a comedy even though they tried so hard to make it funny".

[55] In 2003, Universal and Imagine Entertainment attempted a remake, with Eddie Murphy to star and Keenen Ivory Wayans to direct.

[1][59] Following this, other directors were attached, including Peter Segal and Brett Ratner, with Murphy still slated to star in a comedic remake.

[61] The Los Angeles-based producer Patrick Wachsberger of Picture Perfect Federation was in France developing a French remake in 2023 starring Jean Dujardin.