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.

DVD Features:

2-Disc Set
Region 1
NTSC
Keep Case
Extended
Anamorphic Widescreen - 2.35
Full Frame - 1.33
Audio:
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo - English
Dolby Digital Mono - French, Spanish
Subtitles - Spanish
Disc 1: BIG - Extended Version
Additional Release Material:
Documentary: BIG Brainstorming - An audio documentary by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg using archival audio material of the original creation of the script
Disc 2:
Additional Release Material:
Deleted Scenes: 10 Deleted Scenes With Optional Intro By Penny Marshall
Featurette:
1. BACKSTORY: BIG
2. Carnival Party Newswrap
Trailers:
1. Trailers (2)
2. TV Spots
3. Fox Flix (Bachelor Party, Cast Away, The Man With One Red Shoe, That Thing You Do!)
Interactive Features:
Easter Egg - Zoltar Easter Egg

Tom Hanks: Oscar-winning actor/director/producer
Elizabeth Perkins: American actress, WEEDS, FINDING NEMO
David Moscow: Actor, BIG
Robert Loggia: American actor, JAGGED EDGE
John Heard: American actor, HOME ALONE (1990)
Jared Rushton: American Child Actor/"Big"
Samantha Larkin: 
Mercedes Ruehl: American Actress
Jon Lovitz: American Comedian/Actor
Josh Clark: 
Rockets Redglare: Character Actor
Jamie Tirelli: 
James Eckhouse: American TV/Film Actor
Tracy Reiner: Actress/Daughter Of Rob

Penny Marshall: American Film and Television Actress/Director, BIG, LAVERNE

James L. Brooks: Director/Producer/Screenwriter
Robert Greenhut: Producer
Juliet Taylor: Casting (Woody Allen)/Producer "Big"

Gary Ross: 
Anne Spielberg: Screenwriter/ Producer

Howard Shore: 

Barry Malkin: Editor

"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..."
"...Buoyant summer comedy....Hanks is an absolute delight..."
"...Funny, warm, sophisticated and above all, imaginative, from start to finish..."