Big (1988)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Penny Marshall

Writers:

Gary Ross (written by) &
Anne Spielberg (written by)

Release Date:

3 June 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

Have you ever had a really big secret?

Plot:

When a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body literally overnight.

Plot Keywords:

Wish | Job | Friend | Toy | Best Friend

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 9 wins & 11 nominations

Cast

Tom Hanks	...	Josh Baskin
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Susan
Robert Loggia	...	MacMillan
John Heard	...	Paul
Jared Rushton	...	Billy
David Moscow	...	Young Josh
Jon Lovitz	...	Scotty Brennen
Mercedes Ruehl	...	Mrs. Baskin
Josh Clark	...	Mr. Baskin
Kimberlee M. Davis	...	Cynthia Benson
Oliver Block	...	Freddie Benson
Erika Katz	...	Cynthia's Friend
Allan Wasserman	...	Gym Teacher
Mark Ballou	...	Derek
Gary Howard Klar	...	Ticket Taker (as Gary Klar)
Alec Von Sommer	...	First Brother
Chris Dowden	...	Second Brother
Rockets Redglare	...	Motel Clerk
Jaime Tirelli	...	Spanish Voice
Paul Herman	...	Schizo
Nancy Giles	...	Administrative Woman
Jordan Thaler	...	Administrative Clerk
Dana Kaminski	...	Personnel Receptionist
Harvey Miller	...	Personnel Director
Tracy Reiner	...	Test Market Researcher
James Eckhouse	...	Supervisor
Linda Gillen	...	Woman in Red Dress
Mildred R. Vandever	...	Receptionist
Bert Goldstein	...	First Executive
Kevin Meaney	...	Executive #2
Peter McRobbie	...	Executive #3
Paul J.Q. Lee	...	Executive #4
Debra Jo Rupp	...	Miss Patterson
Keith Reddin	...	Payroll Clerk (as Keith W. Reddin)
Lela Ivey	...	Bank Teller
Dolores Messina	...	Real Estate Agent
Gordon Press	...	Moving Man
George J. Manos	...	Limousine Driver
Vince Cupone	...	Photon Laser Gunfighter (as Vinny Capone)
Susan Wilder	...	Karen
John Rothman	...	Phil
Judd Trichter	...	Adam
Pasquale Pugliese	...	Tenor / Dough Man
Tom Coviello	...	Singing Waiter
Richard Devia	...	Singing Waiter
Teddy Holiavko	...	Singing Waiter
Augusto Mariani	...	Singing Waiter
Alfredo Monti	...	Singing Waiter
Sergio Mosetti	...	Singing Waiter
Armando Penso	...	Singing Waiter
Edward Schick	...	Piano Player
F. Benjamin Stimler	...	Boy in Leaves
Jonathan Isaac Landau	...	Boy in Leaves
Samantha Larkin	...	Girl Friend of Cynthia
Bruce Jarchow	...	Photographer
Vaughn Sandman	...	Boy on Baseball Field
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Paul Basile	...	Child at Taxi Stand (uncredited)
Brian J. Cano	...	Basketball Player (uncredited)
Kevin Fennessy	...	Handball Spectator (uncredited)
Matt Mindell	...	Friend (uncredited)
Brooke Marie Procida	...	Student (uncredited)

Directed by
Penny Marshall

Writing credits
Gary Ross		(written by) &
Anne Spielberg		(written by)

Produced by
James L. Brooks	....	producer
Robert Greenhut	....	producer
Gary Ross	....	co-producer
Anne Spielberg	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Howard Shore

Cinematography by
Barry Sonnenfeld		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Barry Malkin

Casting by
Paula Herold		(as Paula Herald)
Juliet Taylor

Production Design by
Santo Loquasto

Art Direction by
Speed Hopkins
Tom Warren

Set Decoration by
Susan Bode
George DeTitta Jr.		(as George DeTitta)

Costume Design by
Judianna Makovsky

Makeup Department
Lyndell Quiyou	....	hair stylist
Mickey Scott	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Todd Arnow	....	production supervisor
Timothy M. Bourne	....	assistant production manager (as Timothy Marshall Bourne)
Robert Greenhut	....	unit production manager
Amy Herman	....	production supervisor
Amy Lemisch	....	post-production supervisor
Richard Sakai	....	executive in charge of production: Gracie Films

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sue Fellows	....	dga trainee
Danny Irom	....	second second assistant director
Ken Ornstein	....	second assistant director
Thomas A. Reilly	....	first assistant director (as Thomas Reilly)

Art Department
Jeff Balsmeyer	....	storyboard illustrator
Jane Clark	....	storyboard illustrator
Glenn Lloyd	....	art department coordinator
James Mazzola	....	property master
Jeff Mazzola	....	assistant property master
Arne Olsen	....	chief construction grip
Ron Petagna	....	construction coordinator
Michael Smith	....	assistant art director
Cosmo Sorice	....	stand-by scenic artist
James Sorice	....	master scenic artist
Dave Weinman	....	set dresser
Joseph Alfieri	....	carpenter (uncredited)
Frank Didio	....	head carpenter (uncredited)
Christopher Nelson	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Michael Scarola	....	construction grip (uncredited)

Sound Department
Gary Alexander	....	sound re-recording mixer
James Ashwill	....	foley recordist
Michael Bedard	....	cable person (as Mike Bedard)
Tom Bellfort	....	sound editor
Beth Bergeron	....	supervising adr editor
Joe Dorn	....	assistant sound editor
Jay Dranch	....	sound editor
Ann Ducommun	....	assistant sound editor
David Fechtor	....	sound editor
Julie Feiner	....	assistant sound editor
Christopher Flick	....	assistant sound editor
Sukey Fontelieu	....	sound editor
Avram D. Gold	....	dialogue editor (as Avram Gold)
Chris Jenkins	....	sound re-recording mixer
Bobbe Kurtz	....	sound editor (as Bobbe P. Kurtz)
Les Lazarowitz	....	production sound mixer
Cindy Marty	....	sound editor
James Matheny	....	sound editor
Susan Mazzei	....	assistant sound editor
Linda Murphy	....	boom operator
Steve Pederson	....	sound re-recording mixer
Jerry Ross	....	supervising sound editor
Frank Smathers	....	sound editor
Hugo Weng	....	sound editor
Linda Whittlesey	....	sound editor
Robert Yamamoto	....	assistant sound editor (as Rob Yamamoto)
Brian Eddolls	....	sound designer (uncredited)
Donald C. Rogers	....	technical director of sound (uncredited)
Mel Zelniker	....	adr recordist (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jerry DeBlau	....	best boy
John W. DeBlau	....	gaffer (as John DeBlau)
Dennis Gamiello	....	key grip
Michael Green	....	assistant camera
Brian Hamill	....	still photographer
Tony C. Jannelli	....	camera operator (as Anthony Jannelli)
Jay Levy	....	assistant camera
John Lowry	....	second grip
Bobby Mancuso	....	assistant camera
Sal Martorano	....	electrician
Russell Caldwell	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Richie Ford	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Ron Kunecke	....	musco light operator (uncredited)
Eric Leigh	....	electrician (uncredited)
Peter John Petraglia	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Lance Shepherd	....	lamp operator (uncredited)
Robert Shepherd	....	electrician (uncredited)

Casting Department
Judie Fixler	....	extras casting
Barbara Harris	....	voice casting
Ellen Lewis	....	casting associate
Dawn Steinberg	....	casting assistant
Todd M. Thaler	....	extras casting (as Todd Michael Thaler)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
William A. Campbell	....	wardrobe supervisor: men (as Bill Campbell)
Patricia Eiben	....	wardrobe supervisor: women
Elizabeth Shelton	....	assistant to costume designer
Libby Titus	....	wardrobe assistant
Andrea Wallace	....	wardrobe assistant

Editorial Department
Dennis Brookins	....	negative matcher
Elizabeth Canney	....	assistant film editor
Patrick Crane	....	second assistant film editor
Peter B. Ellis	....	second assistant film editor
Bob Hagans	....	color timer
Dale E. Grahn	....	color timer (uncredited)

Music Department
Elliot Abbott	....	music coordinator
Walt Borchers	....	scoring crew
Terry Brown	....	scoring crew
Homer Denison	....	orchestrator
Chuck Garsha	....	scoring crew
Scott Grusin	....	music editor
Jimmie Haskell	....	additional music arranger
Suzana Peric	....	music editor
Armin Steiner	....	music scoring mixer
Jim Weidman	....	music editor
Brian Eddolls	....	music preparation (uncredited)
John Moses	....	musician: clarinetist (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Harold 'Whitey' McEvoy	....	transportation captain
Bobby Marsh	....	driver (uncredited)

Other crew
Richard Baratta	....	location manager
Saul Bass	....	title designer
Nicholas Bernstein	....	location scout (as Nick Bernstein)
Patricia Birch	....	choreographer
Diane Brooks	....	production executive
Sam Bruskin	....	studio manager
Kay Chapin	....	script supervisor
James A. Davis	....	location scout (as James Davis)
Michael DeCasper	....	production assistant
Lisa Fisher	....	production assistant
Paul Germain	....	production associate
Joseph Hartwick	....	production associate
Thomas A. Imperato	....	production auditor (as Thomas Imperato)
Craig Knizek	....	production assistant
Amy Lemisch	....	assistant: Penny Marshall
Deborah Lupard	....	production assistant (as Debra Lupard)
Patty MacDonald	....	executive assistant: James L. Brooks
Brian Mannain	....	production assistant
J. Michael Mendel	....	production assistant
Jan Nizen	....	assistant production auditor
Jeffrey A. Okun	....	title coordinator (as Jeff Okun)
Douglas S. Ornstein	....	production assistant (as Doug Ornstein)
Lana Repp-Lewis	....	assistant to co-producers (as Lana Lewis)
John Saffir	....	production assistant
David Satin	....	engineer: computer display
Scott Schaffer	....	craft service
Bill Scheffer	....	production assistant
Pamela Thur	....	location scout
Sonia Villalba	....	production assistant
Gilbert S. Williams	....	location scout
Jack Winter	....	special advisor
Paula Abdul	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Elaine Bass	....	title designer (uncredited)

Thanks
Carol Caldwell	....	special thanks
Battle Davis	....	special thanks
Ken Estin	....	special thanks
Michi Kakutani	....	special thanks
Garry Marshall	....	special thanks
Monica Mcgowan Johnson	....	special thanks (as Monica Johnson)
Polly Platt	....	special thanks
Remo Saraceni	....	thanks: walking piano
Pat Scott	....	thanks: The New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting

Production Companies

• Gracie Films
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1988) (USA) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1991) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CBS/Fox (Argentina) (video)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (video)

Other Companies

• Apogee Productions  opticals
• Camera Mart  thanks
• Cerruti 1881  men's wardrobe
• D.E.B. Film Services  negative cutting
• FAO Schwartz  thanks
• Juniper Post  sound
• New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission  thanks
• New York City Mayor's Office of Film, Theater & Broadcasting, The  thanks
• New York State Governor's Office for Motion Picture & Television Development  thanks
• New York Yankees  thanks
• PMK Public Relations  publicity
• Pacific Title  opticals
• SMA Realtime  computer graphic design
• Schneeman Studio  tailoring: Miss Perkins
• TAJ Soundworks  foley recorded at
• Todd-AO/Glen Glenn Studios  recorded at

Runtime:

104 min | 130 min (extended edition)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M (TV rating) | West Germany:6 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | South Korea:12 | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | UK:12 (2007, uncut; re-rating) | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Canada:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:S | Peru:PT | Spain:T | Sweden:7 | USA:PG | Singapore:PG | UK:PG (cut) | Norway:10 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

435 Greenmount Avenue, Cliffside Park, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Gracie Films

Trivia:

Albert Brooks turned down the role of Josh Baskin.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Young Josh is at the Zoltar machine, just before the machine starts working, the "man" in the machine has it mouth halfway open. In the next close-up, the mouth is now closed.

Quotes:

Interviewer: Where did you go to school?
Josh: It was called George Washington.
Interviewer: Oh G.W. My brother-in-law got his doctorate there. Did you pledge?
Josh: Yes. Every morning.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Pokémon Ruby Version (2002) (VG)

Soundtrack:

WE GO TOGETHER

Bittersweet and beautifully acted

Tom Hanks is at his best -- as are the others in this wonderful movie. Manages to be lighthearted and profound at the same time. The individual scenes are funny and memorable (the boy in a man's body unabashedly devours the food at the office party, surrounded by the restrained and constrained adults), but the whole narrative works as well. Underrated by IMDb users, based on the ratings! If you haven't seen it, rent it next time you are in the mood for something fun.