Unbeknownst to many fans, Oscar-winning actor Alan Arkin, whose movie career was revitalized with his 2006 role in the indie hit Little Miss Sunshine, also had a brief career as a science-fiction writer in the 1950s. People Soup is a charming and somewhat unsettling tale of two boys who inadvertently concoct a magical potion. The story is the inspiration for a short film with the same name that Arkin directed in 1969, starring his sons Matthew and Adam.