Big

Big
Promotional film poster for Big.
Directed by	Penny Marshall
Produced by	James L. Brooks Robert Greenhut
Written by	Gary Ross Anne Spielberg
Starring	Tom Hanks Elizabeth Perkins Robert Loggia John Heard
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Barry Sonnenfeld
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date(s)	June 3, 1988 (USA)
Running time	104 min.
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000 (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Big is a 1988 comedy film about a teenage boy who is aged to adulthood by a magical fortune-telling machine. It stars Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, David Moscow, Jon Lovitz and Mercedes Ruehl. The movie was written by Gary Ross, with Justin Schindler, and Anne Spielberg. Penny Marshall directed, replacing Steven Spielberg whose sister was one of the writers.

Plot

After being humiliated while trying to impress an older teenage girl at a carnival, Josh Baskin (David Moscow) goes to a wish/fortune-telling machine, called Zoltar Speaks, in the shape of a gypsy wizard and wishes that he were "big." The next morning, he sees a face in the mirror he does not recognize: overnight, he has become a fully-grown adult (Tom Hanks).

When his mother sees him, she drives what appears to be a menacing intruder out of her house, then finding Josh gone, believes he has been kidnapped. In desperation, Josh corners his 13-year-old best friend Billy Kopecki (Jared Rushton), and convinces him of his true identity (by singing a secret song only they know). With his help, Josh rents a cheap room in Manhattan, and gets a lowly data-entry job at the MacMillan Toy Company.

In a memorable scene, he meets the company's owner, MacMillan (Robert Loggia), checking out the products at the FAO Schwarz toy store, and impresses him with his childlike enthusiasm. They end up playing a duet together on a giant foot-operated electronic keyboard, performing Chopsticks and Heart and Soul. This earns Josh a promotion to a dream job for a kid: testing toys all day long and getting paid for it. With his insight into what sells to children, he quickly rises up the corporate ranks.

He soon attracts the attention of the beautiful, ambitious Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins), a fellow toy executive, and a romance begins to develop, much to the annoyance of her current boyfriend, Paul (John Heard). In time, Josh sees his friendship with Billy start to fade as his relationship with Susan begins to grow, and he is faced with a choice: return to his old life with his family and friends, or remain an adult with Susan. Ultimately, he decides to return to his normal life and seeks out the Zoltar machine, wishing himself back to childhood.

Susan catches up to Josh right after he makes his wish. He tries to convince her to join him, but she isn't willing to relive her adolescence again. Susan drives Josh home and they part, with a hint that they may meet later, when he has grown up.

It is widely rumored^[1] that a different ending was used in test screenings, in which Josh is in class, and a "new girl in school" is brought into the classroom. Her resemblance to Susan and a shot of Josh's reaction imply that this is Susan, having also become young by using the Zoltar machine. There is no mention or evidence of this ending on the Extended Edition DVD released in 2007.

Acclaim

Big was received with almost unanimous critical acclaim, and is considered by many critics the gold standard of movies in which a child is trapped in an adult's body. Many critics praised Tom Hanks for his "believable" and "adorable" performance.^[2]

Big was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tom Hanks) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.

The film is number 23 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

Broadway musical

Main article: Big, The Musical

In 1996, Big was made into a musical for the Broadway stage. It featured music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and a book by John Weidman. Directed by Mike Ockrent, and choreographed by Susan Stroman, it opened on April 28, 1996.

DVD

Big has been available on DVD since 1999.

A two-disc extended edition was released on May 8, 2007; this DVD adds 25 minutes of extra footage to the original cut, making the film 130 minutes, as well as providing additional features on the second disc. Currently this DVD is only available within Region 1 & Region 4 naming it either the 'Extended Edition' or 'Family Fun Edition'.

Cultural references

• The keyboard scene was parodied in an episode of The Simpsons, where Homer plays an off-key rendition of "Rock Around The Clock" and a near-perfect rendition of the Simpsons main theme at the toy store.

• In an episode of the Family Guy entitled "The Story on Page One" Stewie is angry about being so small and stumbles upon a Zoltar Speaks machine from the movie. When Stewie says "I wish I was BIG" Zoltar responds with a card that reads "I wish I could weigh people."

• There is a homage to Big at the end of an episode of Newsradio entitled "Arcade". Video of scene on Putfile

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• One of the few films to be written by Anne Spielberg, director Steven Spielberg's sister.

• Penny Marshall wanted Robert DeNiro to play Josh.^{[citation needed]} He was unavailable and they later worked on Awakenings.

• The movie takes place partially at Playland amusement park in Rye, New York. Young Josh supposedly lives in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.

• Debra Jo Rupp (who played Kitty Forman on That 70's Show) makes one of her first screen appearances as Josh Baskin's assistant "Ms. Patterson".

• Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams and Harrison Ford were all considered for the role of adult Josh.^{[citation needed]}

• The Zoltar machine was featured in a Microsoft Windows Live Messenger on-line advertising campaign.

• Is one of the few PG-rated movies to use the word "fuck" in its uncut version; furthermore the word is used by one of the young actors, Rushton, rather than an adult.

• The movie 13 Going on 30 features a plot where a thirteen year-old-girl wishes herself to be an adult and was marketed as a girl version of Big.^{[citation needed]}

• The house that was used as the Baskin residence is located at 437 Greenmount Road in Cliffside Park, New Jersey. It can be viewed by clicking on this link: http://www.zillow.com/aerial/DualMapPage.htm?zpid=37859824.

See also

• 13 Going on 30
• Freaky Friday
• Vice Versa
• Jack
• Like Father Like Son
• Da Grande
• Big, The Musical

References

1. ^ http://www.ultimatedisney.com/big.html
2. ^ http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=BIG%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin&v_id=5343&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes

External links

• Big at the Internet Movie Database
• Da grande at the Internet Movie Database
• Big on Rotten Tomatoes
• DVDTalk.com Review of Extended Edition DVD
• The New York Times on Big
• Original Mike Munves Grandma Fortune Teller as seen in Big

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