Big 168597 225952754 2008-07-16T04:39:58Z 122.49.160.178 /* Similar films */ {{dablink| This article is about the movie. For other uses, see [[Big (disambiguation)]].}} {{Infobox Film | name = Big | image = Big_Poster.jpg | caption = Promotional film poster for ''Big''. | director = [[Penny Marshall]] | producer = [[James L. Brooks]]<br />[[Robert Greenhut]] | writer = [[Gary Ross]]<br />[[Anne Spielberg]] | starring = [[Tom Hanks]]<br />[[Elizabeth Perkins]]<br />[[Robert Loggia]]<br />[[John Heard (actor)|John Heard]] | music = [[Howard Shore]] | cinematography = [[Barry Sonnenfeld]] | editing = | distributor = [[20th Century Fox]] | released = [[June 3]], [[1988]] ([[USA]]) | runtime = 104 min. | language = [[English language|English]] | budget = $18,000,000 (est.) | rated = PG | amg_id = 1:5343 | imdb_id = 0094737 }} '''''Big''''' is a [[1988]] comedy [[film]] about a boy who wished to be aged to adulthood by a magical fortune-telling machine. It stars [[Tom Hanks]], [[Elizabeth Perkins]], [[Robert Loggia]], [[John Heard (actor)|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'') 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 30-year-old man ([[Tom Hanks]]). Josh, after having a cycle around town as an adult, reluctantly decides to show his mother his new look. As soon as he enters his house and tries to explain, his mother sees him and runs and screams around her own home. Josh's mom then brandishes a steak knife at Josh, unaware that what appears to be a menacing intruder is really her son. Eventually, screaming blood-curdlingly, she drives the now 30-year-old out of her house, and 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 Billy's 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 (music)|Chopsticks]]'' and ''[[Heart and Soul (song)|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. A romance begins to develop, much to the annoyance of her current boyfriend, Paul ([[John Heard (actor)|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. They part, with a hint that they may meet later, when he has grown up. It is widely rumored<ref>[http://www.ultimatedisney.com/big.html Big: Extended Edition DVD Review<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 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.<ref>http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=BIG%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin&v_id=5343&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes</ref> ''Big'' was nominated for [[Academy Awards]] for [[Academy Award for Best Actor|Best Actor in a Leading Role]] (Tom Hanks) and [[Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay|Best Writing, Original Screenplay]]. The film is number 23 on [[Bravo (television network)|Bravo's]] "100 Funniest Movies". In June of 2008, AFI revealed its "Ten Top Ten" — the best ten films in ten "classic" American film genres — after polling over 1,500 people from the creative community. ''Big'' was acknowledged as the tenth-best film in the fantasy genre.<ref>{{cite news | author = [[American Film Institute]] | title = AFI Crowns Top 10 Films in 10 Classic Genres | work = ComingSoon.net | date = 2008-06-17 | url = http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=46072 | accessdate= 2008-06-18}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title= Top 10 Fantasy | url = http://www.afi.com/10top10/fantasy.html | publisher= [[American Film Institute]] |accessdate= 2008-06-18}}</ref> ==Broadway musical== {{main|Big, The Musical}} In [[1996]], ''Big'' was made into a musical for the [[Broadway theatre|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, named either the "Extended Edition" or "Family Fun Edition", was released on [[May 8]], 2007, in Regions 1 and 4; this DVD adds 25 minutes of extra footage to the original cut, making the film 130 minutes, as well as providing the original version on the first disc and additional features on the second disc. On [[October 22]], [[2007]], the DVD was released in Region 2. ==Filming locations== The Carnival at the beginning of the movie was one of the largest traveling carnivals in the U.S.: Reithoffer Shows, Inc. It set up the carnival specially for the movie. In addition to the company being cited in the "special thanks" section of the credits, the company's name appears on the Super Loop operator's shirt. The movie takes place partially at [[Playland (New York)|Playland]] [[amusement park]] in [[Rye, New York]]. Young Josh lives on Greenmount Avenue in [[Cliffside Park, New Jersey]]. The MacMillan Toy Company office exterior shots where the movie was filmed was also the New York Toy Fair showroom for [[Hasbro]] Toys, which closed in 2004. The toy company's interior shots, offices, reception lobby, meeting rooms, corridors et al. were shot in the office space of Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt, Inc., a New York advertising agency which was then located at 40 West 23rd St. in New York. BJK&E is cited in the credits. The Hasbro Toys showroom was located on the ground floor of this building. Bozell Worldwide, Inc. was subsequently acquired by True North, an advertising agency holding company. Many parts of the movie were filmed on Main Street and South Highland Avenue in [[Ossining, New York]]. ==Cultural references== *The keyboard scene was parodied in an [[Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy|episode]] of ''[[The Simpsons]]'', where Homer plays an off-key rendition of "Rock Around The Clock" and a near-perfect rendition of main theme of ''The Simpsons'' at a toy store. *In an episode of the ''[[Family Guy]]'' titled "[[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]]'' titled "Arcade". [http://media.putfile.com/BIG-83 Video of scene on Putfile] *In the popular [[Game Boy Advance]] games ''[[Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire]]'' and ''[[Pokémon Emerald]]'', there is a TV inside the house of the main character; if a player faces it, the main character will say: "There is a movie on TV. Two men are dancing on a big piano keyboard. Better get going!" *The Zoltar machine was featured in a [[Microsoft]] [[Windows Live Messenger]] on-line advertising campaign. *In the web comic ''[[Looking For Group]]'', a guy looking like the Zoltar Genie walks in behind a window, stroking his beard, while a small Richard wishes to be big. *In an episode of "[[The Office]]" titled "[[The Injury]]", Michael has a meeting to have people understand his "disability" after burning his foot on a George Foreman Grill. He has several pictures of "disabled" figures where Tom Hanks appears twice, once in Forest Gump and Big (Lifesize Piano Keyboard Scene) as he claimed was a scene from Philadelphia. Michael later states "he was a boy who grew into a adult overnight: it's a rare disease." ==See also== {{wiktionarypar|big}} ===Spin-offs=== *''[[Big, The Musical]]'' —===Similar films=== *''[[Da grande]]'' (1987) *''[[Like Father Like Son (1987 film)|Like Father Like Son]]'' (1987) *''[[Vice Versa]]'' (1988) *''[[18 Again!]]'' (1988) *''[[Dream a Little Dream]]'' (1989) *''[[Jack (film)|Jack]]'' (1996) *''[[Seventeen Again]]'' (2000) *''[[Freaky Friday (2003 film)|Freaky Friday]]'' (2003) *''[[Naani]]''(Telugu)(2003) *''[[13 Going on 30]]'' also known as Suddenly 30 (2004) *''[[New(Tamil)]]'' (2004) *''[[17 Again (film)|17 Again]]'' (2008) ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *{{imdb title|id=0094737|title=Big}} *{{imdb title|id=0164519|title=Da grande}} *[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/big/ ''Big'' on Rotten Tomatoes] *[http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=27946 DVDTalk.com Review of Extended Edition DVD] *[http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=BIG%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin&v_id=5343&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes The New York Times on Big] *[http://www.gameroomshow.com/index.php?photos/album/2/photo/8.php Original Mike Munves Grandma Fortune Teller as seen in Big] *[http://film.virtual-history.com/film.php?filmid=3547 Movie stills] {{Penny Marshall Films}} <!-- Tom Hanks --> [[Category:1988 films]] [[Category:20th Century Fox films]] [[Category:Fantasy-comedy films]] [[Category:1980s romantic comedy films]] [[Category:Films directed by Penny Marshall]] [[Category:Coming-of-age films]] [[Category:American films]] [[Category:English-language films]] [[de:Big (Film)]] [[es:Big]] [[fr:Big (film)]] [[he:ביג]] [[it:Big]] [[nl:Big (film)]] [[ja:ビッグ (映画)]] [[pt:Big]] [[ru:Большой (фильм)]] [[fi:Big – isoksi yhdessä yössä]] [[sv:Big]]