GIMP Version: 2.6
Operating System: Windows
OS Version: Windows 7
GIMP Experience: Basic Level

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I'm trying to create a film strip with 4 photos in it using Filters ---> Combine ---> Filmstrip. But the photos aren't the same size and when I try to scale the image so that they are all exactly the same size, the photos scrunch all up and look terrible (I am trying to do this before I put them in the filmstrip). I know it is probably a simple answer to this, but I just can't figure out how to get the photos all the same size?

You might want to try finding out what size each photo needs to be, and then scaling each photo individually. Once you've done that you can use them as needed. I would use the smallest photo as a guide and then scale each photo to the needed dimensions.
Note... It's best to scale any photo down instead of up, for better continuity of image resolution.

You need to get all of your images to have the same aspect ratio. The aspect ratio is the ratio between the width of an image and its height. For example, an image that is twice as wide as it is tall would have an aspect ratio of 2.

Aspect ratios are typically expressed as two integers separated by a colon. Therefore an aspect ratio of 2 might be expressed as 2:1, but it might also be 4:2 or 720:360. As long as the ratio of the number on the left side of the colon to the number on right is the same, the aspect ratio is the same.

So before scaling your images, you want to crop them to share the same aspect ratio. At this point it won't matter what the actual sizes of the images are, as long as the ratio between their widths and heights are identical. GIMP's Crop Tool simplifies the task of cropping images to a fixed aspect ratio using the option circled in the following graphic.



For the four image shown above, I chose to crop them to an aspect ratio of 4:3. The first image (the B&W photo) already had a 4:3 aspect ratio so no cropping was necessary. The other three images all needed to be cropped to varying degrees. When cropping, you need to choose the placement and size of the retained area to create an aesthetically pleasing result -- this operation requires human decision-making and can not be automated with a script.

Once you have all of your images cropped appropriately, all that remains is to use the Filmstrip plug-in. You don't have to worry about scaling your images to have the same dimensions, as this will be taken care of automatically by the filter.

I think I just found my new avatar.

That image was created by Oregonian.

Dang, I have no recollection of that thread whatsoever and it wasn't that long ago. I must have really been under the weather or Alzheimer's has fully set in.