A boy asks a mechanical swami at a fair to grant his wish to be grown up -- oops! Luckily his best friend recognizes him and helps him get a job at a toy factory where his fresh, uncomplicated innocence wins the president's respect, his colleagues' envy -- and a beautiful woman's love. Academy Award Nominations: Best Actor--Tom Hanks, Best (Original) Screenplay.
A 13-year-old boy named Josh wants, more than anything else, to be "big". And when he makes a wish on a carnival wishing booth his dreams come true: he transposes into the body of a 35 year old man -- though his mind and spirit remain that of a child. Since he can't really go to school looking like an adult, and his mother doesn't know him in his new guise, he heads to New York with his pal Billy, where they proceed to goof off, play around, and act basically like the kids they are. But when Billy leaves, Josh is subjected to the encroaching needs and responsibilities of adulthood, and he quickly discovers both the pleasures and the problems of being grown-up.
Shot in DuArt color, release prints processed by DeLuxe. Location shooting was done in Cliffside Park and Fort Lee, New Jersey; New York City and Rye, New York.
Saul Bass designed the titles.
Estimated budget $20 million.
One of four films released between 1987 and 1988 that have a child/adult role-reversal theme. The other three are: "Vice Versa" (Brian Gilbert, USA, 1988); "18 Again!" (Paul Flaherty, USA, 1988); and "Like Father, Like Son" (Rod Daniel, USA, 1987). Previous to this mini-explosion in the late 1980s, there were several other titles that also dealt with the same basic theme. They include the original "Vice Versa" (Peter Ustinov, UK, 1948), which is among the first such films, and "Freaky Friday" (Gary Nelson, USA, 1977) which differs from the rest in that it focuses on a mother/daughter switch.
Blu-ray Disc Features:
Region [unknown]
NTSC
Dual Side
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85
Audio:
DTS HD Master Audio, Stereo - English
Mono - French, Spanish
Subtitles - English - SDH, French
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes
Disc 1/Side A: Theatrical Version
Additional Release Material:
Audio Commentary: Big Brainstorming - An Audio Documentary by Gary Ross & Anne Spielberg
Deleted Scenes:
1. Billy's Home Life
2. Susan Interrupts Wedding Shower
3. Josh Calls His Mom
4. Susan and Paul Having Breakfast
5. Josh and Billy Pick Up the Tuxedo
6. Quacky Duck
7. Josh and Susan Work Late
8. Sequence of Events After Susan and Josh Fight
Trailers:
1. Trailer A
2. Trailer B
3. TV Spot - "Women"
4. TV Spot - "Adult Review"
Featurette:
1. Zoltar Easter Egg
2. BIG Beginnings
3. Chemistry of a Classic
4. The Work of Play
5. Hollywood Backstory: BIG
6. Carnival Party Newswrap
Disc 1/Side B: Extended Cut
Distributor Notes: At a carnival, young Josh Baskin (Hanks) wishes he was big-only to awake the next morning and discover he is! With the help of his friend Billy (Jared Rushton), Josh lands a job at a toy company. There, his inner wisdom enables him to successfully predict what children want to buy, making the awestruck, naïve Josh irresistible to a beautiful ladder-climbing colleague (Elizabeth Perkins). But the more he experiences being an adult, the more Josh longs for the simple joys of childhood.
Source: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Director of Photography
Barry Sonnenfeld: American Director of Photography/Director
Production Designer
Santo Loquasto: Woody Allen's pd
Costume Designer
Judianna Makovsky: Costume Designer, SEABISCUIT (2003)
Review 1:
"Tom Hanks accomplishes something quite special here....He convinces you that he really is a 12-year-old-trapped in a body 20 years older..."
Source: USA Today
p.3D 03/24/1989
Review 2:
"...Buoyant summer comedy....Hanks is an absolute delight..."
Source: New York Times
p.C8 06/03/1988
Review 3:
"...Funny, warm, sophisticated and above all, imaginative, from start to finish..."
Source: Los Angeles Times
p.C1 06/03/1988
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