Film
name	Big
image	Big_Poster.jpg
caption	Promotional film poster for ''Big''.
director	Penny Marshall
producer	James L. Brooks Robert Greenhut
writer	Gary Ross Anne Spielberg
starring	Tom Hanks Elizabeth Perkins Robert Loggia John Heard
music	Howard Shore
cinematography	Barry Sonnenfeld
editing
distributor	20th Century Fox
released	June 3, 1988 (USA)
runtime	104 min.
language	English
budget	$18,000,000 (est.)
rated	PG
amg_id	1:5343
imdb_id	0094737

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

''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".

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

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

Penny Marshall wanted Robert DeNiro to play Josh.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.*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''.*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.