# Anyone else remember the alternate ending to "Big"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 16, 2002, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864 "2002-04-16T02:03:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/261 "2014-09-08T19:29:27Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I imagine the “in the butt” was not admitted to because it was crass and embarrassing for the time period and for a risque, but family-friendly show. > > What could possibly be the motive to not admit to or talk about the alternative ending? It’s not a secret that people think this ending exists, so why all the hush-hush? Since I have not seen any of these alleged “denials” of the alternate ending, I can’t comment on that. But again, if someone would care to post a link, I would be happy to look at them. I can think of some possibilities, but I would just be guessing. For example, if someone asked Tom Hanks about a different ending, would he even _know_ about a scene in which he wasn’t even present? I guess Penny Marshall would be the one to ask. What has she said about it? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/262 "2014-09-08T19:33:33Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > Since I have not seen any of these alleged “denials” of the alternate ending, I can’t comment on that. But again, if someone would care to post a link, I would be happy to look at them. I can think of some possibilities, but I would just be guessing. For example, if someone asked Tom Hanks about a different ending, would he even _know_ about a scene in which he wasn’t even present? I guess Penny Marshal would be the one to ask. What has she said about it? I’m not talking about active denials. The rumor is all over the internet. I’m curious why no one from the production staff every came forward and settled the issue. Again, I’m curious what would be the motivation to keep quiet? Do you think they don’t know people are speculating about it? ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/263 "2014-09-08T19:35:35Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > So you find it more likely that you are among a group of people suffering from mass delusion than they shot two endings and screened then in different markets? See, I find the _latter_ more believable than the former. We’ve been discussing this for years, on a board where people find answers if there are answers to find, often hilariously quickly. \*\*There is not one shred of evidence that there was any ending to _Big_ ever shown than the standard theatrical one. \*\*In a world where a celebrity can’t fart without it ending up on YouTube or TMZ, every deleted scene including ones the director forgot about shows up somewhere and the most obscure media holding find their way to public view, not one still, clip or full-length sequence of this supposed alternate ending has ever come to light. Of all the people who supposedly saw it, some more than once, none has ever recorded it. There has been plenty of time for someone, from a videotape addict in Omaha to any of the principals of the film, to come along and say, “hey, you’re wrong, here’s the clip to prove it.” Hear that? **crickets** Wishful thinking, based on sublime storytelling, coupled with a vaguely similar film ending in the supposed alternate way. You’re welcome to prove us all wrong… with something more than “I’m sure I saw it once, somewhere.” You can repeat all the repeated arguments from this thread all you want, but the absolute lack of so much as a blurry still of the supposed classroom scene is pretty telling. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/264 "2014-09-08T19:35:36Z")
I think we need to remember that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/265 "2014-09-08T19:37:58Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > We’ve been discussing this for years, on a board where people find answers if there are answers to find, often hilariously quickly. > > \*\*There is not one shred of evidence that there was any ending to _Big_ ever shown than the standard theatrical one. \*\*In a world where a celebrity can’t fart without it ending up on YouTube or TMZ, every deleted scene including ones the director forgot about shows up somewhere and the most obscure media holding find their way to public view, not one still, clip or full-length sequence of this supposed alternate ending has ever come to light. Of all the people who supposedly saw it, some more than once, none has ever recorded it. There has been plenty of time for someone, from a videotape addict in Omaha to any of the principals of the film, to come along and say, “hey, you’re wrong, here’s the clip to prove it.” > > Hear that? **crickets** > > Wishful thinking, based on sublime storytelling, coupled with a vaguely similar film ending in the supposed alternate way. > > You’re welcome to prove us all wrong… with something more than “I’m sure I saw it once, somewhere.” You can repeat all the repeated arguments from this thread all you want, but the absolute lack of so much as a blurry still of the supposed classroom scene is pretty telling. The closest argument I’ve seen was that it showed up only in VHS/DVDs in New Zealand. Were that true, wouldn’t there now be tons of copies floating around and clips on Youtube? What’s the big secret? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/266 "2014-09-08T19:39:09Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I imagine the “in the butt” was not admitted to because it was crass and embarrassing for the time period and for a risque, but family-friendly show. > > What could possibly be the motive to not admit to or talk about the alternative ending? It’s not a secret that people think this ending exists, so why all the hush-hush? The clip that supposedly proved the rumor true did not match the rumor - the contestant said “in the ass”, not “That’d be the butt, Bob”. Also the clip was from a show aired in 1978. I first heard the rumor in _1975_, so it started at least 2 1/2 years before that show was taped. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/267 "2014-09-08T19:42:36Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > not one still, clip or full-length sequence of this supposed alternate ending has ever come to light. I think you’re forgetting that people did not carry cell phones with video cameras in them in 1988. If the ending were changed when it went to television, who exactly would you expect to have recorded the theater version? And even if someone did, how would you expect _yourself_ to have seen it? I’ll just bring up the Newlywed Game again. These EXACT same arguments were made, and millions of people believed it never happened, myself included. Yet it DID happen. This is not a mystery. The fact that you can’t instantly find a thing on YouTube that happened before the internet era does not prove it doesn’t exist. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/268 "2014-09-08T19:43:02Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > The clip that supposedly proved the rumor true did not match the rumor - the contestant said “in the ass”, not “That’d be the butt, Bob”. Also the clip was from a show aired in 1978. I first heard the rumor in _1975_, so it started at least 2 1/2 years before that show was taped. Didn’t know that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/269 "2014-09-08T19:45:00Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > I think we need to remember that absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. We might do equally well to remember that memory is unreliable. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/270 "2014-09-08T19:46:36Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > I think you’re forgetting that people did not carry cell phones with video cameras in them in 1988. My god, you’re absolutely right. They were busy spending their money on VCRs. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/271 "2014-09-08T19:46:39Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > The clip that supposedly proved the rumor true did not match the rumor - the contestant said “in the ass”, not “That’d be the butt, Bob”. EXACTLY. Which proves that people remember the _substance_ of an incident, but not necessarily the exact details. People remember Susan changing back to a young girl, even if they couldn’t recite the precise details of the scene second-by-second. > [@](#): > > Also the clip was from a show aired in 1978. I first heard the rumor in _1975_, so it started at least 2 1/2 years before that show was taped. I doubt it. That’s probably a false memory on YOUR part. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/272 "2014-09-08T19:48:17Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > My god, you’re absolutely right. > > They were busy spending their money on VCRs. Wow! They had VCRs that could record a movie in a theater? That’s amazing. Here I was thinking they only worked with televisions. ---
**Author:** ![Killing\_Time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/76d3ee/32.png) [@Killing\_Time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killing_Time)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/273 "2014-09-08T19:50:35Z")
Sorry folks, but I just don’t buy the “If it happened, it would be on YouTube” argument. Very weak. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/274 "2014-09-08T19:52:49Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > Sorry folks, but I just don’t buy the “If it happened, it would be on YouTube” argument. Very weak. One of the main arguments for the alternative ending is that it was included in NZ and UK copies of the DVDs and VHS tapes. I’m utterly surprised that no one has uploaded this critical piece of evidence. Also, I’m still curious what you think the motive is to keep it all a secret. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/275 "2014-09-08T19:54:27Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > I think you’re forgetting that people did not carry cell phones with video cameras in them in 1988. If the ending were changed when it went to television, who exactly would you expect to have recorded the theater version? And even if someone did, how would you expect _yourself_ to have seen it? > > I’ll just bring up the Newlywed Game again. These EXACT same arguments were made, and millions of people believed it never happened, myself included. Yet it DID happen. This is not a mystery. The fact that you can’t instantly find a thing on YouTube that happened before the internet era does not prove it doesn’t exist. Sure. While I can’t say with certainty no alernate ending exists or has been shot, and I do remember the supposed ending people are talking about, conflated memories seems to be the most reasonable theory by far at this point. It’s not just that people say they saw it in the theaters in this format, but there are equally vocal claims that it’s on a DVD/VHS release in New Zealand, that it’s commonly shown in Venezuela, that it’s been recently shown on TV in the UK, and, yet, crickets. Unless a video does come out showing this alternate ending, this thread will never have closure, with people who swear they have seen this ending and it having been “Big” will just say that the skeptics are wrong. It is certainly possible. I personally find it more probable folks, including myself, are conflating memories. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/276 "2014-09-08T19:55:57Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > You may have better luck trying to contact the lesser-known actors & crew. [David Moscow,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Moscow) for example, who played the kid. He even has a Facebook page. > > Heck, even Elizabeth Perkins’ career has been fairly idle recently, ever since _Weeds_ was cancelled. That would be a good idea. But looking for David Moscow on Facebook shows three pages, none of which are run by him. Do you have other information? > [@shijinn](#): > > This is my favourite zombie. By far. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/277 "2014-09-08T19:56:40Z")
I admit, though, that it is a curious topic and wish somehow one way or the other it could be conclusively resolved. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/278 "2014-09-08T19:57:53Z")
> [@Killing\_Time](#): > > EXACTLY. Which proves that people remember the _substance_ of an incident, but not necessarily the exact details. People remember Susan changing back to a young girl, even if they couldn’t recite the precise details of the scene second-by-second. > > I doubt it. That’s probably a false memory on YOUR part. I graduated in 1978. The rumor was discussed to death all three years of high school. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/279 "2014-09-08T20:01:14Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > That would be a good idea. But looking for David Moscow on Facebook shows three pages, none of which are run by him. Do you have other information? Let’s say somebody does contact him and he denies the existence of such an ending. Would that be closure or would, as I guess is more likely, folks on the alternate ending side of things say he’s under some sort of NDA or something? Or perhaps point to the Eubanks example of the horse’s mouth denying the existence of the “in the ass/up the butt, Bob” story when, in fact, a video of a moment similar enough to be clearly referring to the same event did eventually surface? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/280 "2014-09-08T20:03:59Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I admit, though, that it is a curious topic and wish somehow one way or the other it could be conclusively resolved. Unfortunately, as long as people pull the “absence of evidence is not evidence” card, the only way to resolve it is in the affirmative. There will never be enough negative evidence, especially since even a denial that the ending was ever made would be suspect. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=15)