OverviewReviewCastProduction CreditsAwards
   
Watch the trailer
Big
Plot Synopsis by Hal Erickson

More than anything else, 13-year old New Jerseyite Josh (David Moscow) wants to be "big". That's the wish he makes at an odd-looking amusement pier fortunetelling machine. The next morning, Josh wakes up-only to discover that he's grown to manhood overnight! (At this point, the part is taken over by Tom Hanks). Still a 13-year-old mentally and emotionally, Josh decides to hide out in New York City until he can figure out what to do next. He lucks into a job with a major toy company run by kid-at-heart McMillan (Robert Loggia). By cannily bringing a child's eye view to McMillan's business, Josh rises to the top-and in process, he falls in love with fellow employee Susan (Elizabeth Perkins). But he's still a kid, and he'd like to go back to his own world and own body. Written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg, Big proved a crucial success for budding director Penny Marshall, who'd work harmoniously with Hanks again on the radically different A League of Their Own. The cinematography was by Barry Sonenfeld, who went on to become a director himself with The Addams Family. That Big was heavily reliant upon the input of Tom Hanks and Penny Marshall was proven by the failed attempt to turn the property into a Broadway musical.

» View DVD Releases
Similar Works
Freaky Friday  (1976, Gary Nelson)
Like Father, Like Son  (1987, Rod Daniel)
Vice Versa  (1947, Peter Ustinov)
13 Going on 30  (2004, Gary Winick)
Vice Versa  (1988, Brian Gilbert)
18 Again!  (1988, Paul Flaherty)
Freaky Friday  (2003, Mark S. Waters)
14 Going on 30  (1988, Paul Schneider)
The Story of Three Loves  (1953, Vincente Minnelli, Gottfried Reinhardt)
Jack  (1996, Francis Ford Coppola)
Other Related Works
 Is related to:    Sliding Doors  (1998, Peter Howitt)
   The Twilight Zone: The Incredible World of Horace Ford  (1963, Abner Biberman)
   Teacher's Pet  (2003, Timothy Bjorklund)
   Saturday Night Live: The Best of Tom Hanks 
 Is spoofed in:    Teacher's Pet  (2003, Timothy Bjorklund)