# 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:** 40
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/781 "2019-07-29T21:01:47Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > She might not have been able to stop it from happening but she would absolutely be told about it. Directors have a guild which makes sure rules are followed. I mentioned the Director’s Guild a page or so ago, and he just ignored it. > [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > No, no, a thousand times no! Not unless she has final cut! She submits her final cut to the studio, which they can change a little or a lot if they like. **Her only recourse would be to take her name off as director**. And since her name is STILL ON THE FILM, she didn’t have a disagreement about the ending, or rogue directors making their own alternate ending on the side with no money. geeze! And she wouldn’t have forgotten! I swear it’s like arguing with a five year old. The Chewbacca Defense makes more sense! ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/782 "2019-07-29T21:05:51Z")
This is like young earth creationism: Them: “Were you there?” Everyone: “Well, obviously not.” Them: “Then how can you KNOW???” ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/783 "2019-07-29T21:11:14Z")
Sooo…they all forgot to fill out the proper paperwork, _then_ they forgot that they redid the scene, _then_ all filming of the re-did scene disappeared after being shown in New Zealand. Is that about right? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/784 "2019-07-29T21:17:27Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > So based on this, do we assume “that’s the beauty of it, it doesn’t DO anything” didn’t happen, or is that different, because many long time posters here remember it, so it must be so? Pretty glib off-handed reference to a series of threads over a decade old… from someone here for 7 months. Like to read 11 year-old threads you had no part in, eh? :rolleyes: > **["It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it!" Pt. 2](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530415)** > > So I’m (re)reading a book this evening (weird, I know, but hey, it’s my thing) and I stumble across something. It jogs a neuron, then another, then a whole cascade of memory later I’m flogging the hamsters to dig up this old thread. In particular,... > **[Mystery quote: ''It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it.''](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413962)** > > This question has come up a number of times. I happened upon this little gem today: Pretty dog-gone close, huh? > **[The mind-boggling movie quote?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=317339)** > > I don’t know if SDMB’s ever had a post about where the darned thing came from, but I’ve seen it brought up on about 10 different message boards without a definitive answer. If it has been brought up, please link me because I didn’t find it when I did... ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/785 "2019-07-29T21:21:33Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yeah, you really don’t know much about the film industry. > > SAG doesn’t have a problem with an actor getting promoted to a larger role during the course of filming. What they do have a problem with, is that actor not getting pay commensurate to the expanded role. And they do very much consider, “Background,” and “Foreground with significant action” to be different jobs. Even if the role doesn’t get into the film (and, as such, doesn’t appear in the credits) there’s still a paper trail generated to track extra costs. There’s also a lot of legal requirements around working with child actors, and those, also, change if the role goes from, “Sit in the background,” to, “Be the focus of the shot.” Even if the change doesn’t make it into the final cut of the film, it still generates a lot of paperwork to track the increased pay and legal liability. Paperwork that, again, does not appear to exist. And its because of all of that that a second unit director would absolutely not just randomly decide to shoot new content, with a new actress, on a whim. The whole point of having a second unit is that you’ve got an extensive shot list you need to complete the film, and not enough time for your primary camera crew to do it. The idea of the second unit just going rogue a filming a bunch of stuff that’s not supposed to be in the film is absurd. Almost as absurd as your apparent notion that the other kids in that class were just kids who happened to go to that school. So your reason the scene doesn’t exist is based partly on the fact that there is no “paper trail” for a 30 year old film showing an extra was possibly asked to do something different than originally planned? Because the pay stub for a one day extra would be kept in the vaults in one big box for “all things Big”?. Lets say this box does exist- whose to say its not in there? This boards research of this topic included the review of the financials for the film? Amazing! Howd you get access? And, OOPSIE, did we REALLY TRULY imply there that film extras often don’t come from the area the movie was shot in? Really? OOPSIE! You blew it, easy rider! Seriously? I would probably end my involvement in the thread, and maybe take time off from the board in general, after that stinker! “It is absurd to think an extra in a movie scene would be a local from the area”- there aren’t enough eye-rolls for that one! That’s 90% of the extras in every movie in history! Will love to see you explain that one away in two days after you wipe the egg off your face! Even your cronies are laughing at you now! ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/786 "2019-07-29T21:24:51Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Pretty glib off-handed reference to a series of threads over a decade old… from someone here for 7 months. Like to read 11 year-old threads you had no part in, eh? :rolleyes: > > ["It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it!" Pt. 2 - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=530415) > > [Mystery quote: ''It doesn't do anything. That's the beauty of it.'' - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=413962) > > [The mind-boggling movie quote? - Cafe Society - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=317339) Why yes, you are I think one of the ones who astutely noticed I joined a few months before I ever posted- I’ve read pretty much every CS and BBQ thread of interest? What else would I have been doing, other than posting?:rolleyes: But those threads are pretty benign, you are apparently accusing me of trolling in a thread that wasn’t even trolled in?:dubious: And yes, you can be aware of the board and read threads, even if not a member! What is your point, or better, who are you accusing me of being? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/787 "2019-07-29T21:36:37Z")
Hey, Doork? You truly have no idea how the movie industry works. None. You don’t even know what “final cut” means if you say “She submits her final cut to the studio, which they can change a little or a lot if they like”. No, they do not. Not if she has “Final Cut”. If she has final cut, and it meets typical release-quality standards (like it gets the rating called for in the contract (see below), etc), then she has _final_ cut. There’s no “they can change a little or a lot if they like”. Also, all this shit works via contracts. You just don’t call up people who have fulfilled their contracts, and say “we need to shoot a final scene”… unless that’s in their contracts. Otherwise, you’re screwed. And you sure as hell don’t do this after the movie has been released. _Why_? Even more importantly, **How**? All those people are gone, working on different projects! They don’t care about your “New Zealand TV needs 3 minutes of _Big_ to fill out running time, and stat!” desire. LOL. The “second unit” is not a group of guys sitting around waiting for a call - “we need a car chase for Spielberg!” “We need a new ending for Altman!” - at the studio’s beck and call. No, the second unit, most often, [is used for shots that do not need the director’s attention](http://getinmedia.com/careers/second-unit-director) - establishing shots, insets, more. Just as with the SGA, the DGA would frown heavily upon using a second unit to replace the first unit directors without a corresponding bump in salary, billing, more. Since _this didn’t happen either_, it’s safe to say the “second unit being called to film principal photography” theory you espoused is, again, pure fantasy. Lastly, Penny Marshall in 1987 wasn’t merely a “2nd-time director”. She and her brother Gerry Marshall made themselves to be power brokers by the early 80s - him first, with his creation of _Happy Days_, _Mork and Mindy_, _Laverne and Shirley_ and other shows for ABC, then directing such films as _Pretty Woman_, _Beaches_, and more, her as an actress, then director. A typical power couple, only this one wasn’t married. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/788 "2019-07-29T21:37:37Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > Why yes, you are I think one of the ones who astutely noticed I joined a few months before I ever posted- I’ve read pretty much every CS and BBQ thread of interest? What else would I have been doing, other than posting?:rolleyes: > > But those threads are pretty benign, you are apparently accusing me of trolling in a thread that wasn’t even trolled in?:dubious: > > And yes, you can be aware of the board and read threads, even if not a member! What is your point, or better, who are you accusing me of being? Just Asquing Questions, guuy. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/789 "2019-07-29T21:38:05Z")
I honestly can’t remember, did Big actually feature any scenes at a school? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/790 "2019-07-29T21:41:30Z")
I think it was the scene where Tom Hanks released all those frogs… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/791 "2019-07-29T21:44:41Z")
> [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > So your reason the scene doesn’t exist is based partly on the fact that there is no “paper trail” for a 30 year old film showing an extra was possibly asked to do something different than originally planned? Because the pay stub for a one day extra would be kept in the vaults in one big box for “all things Big”?. Lets say this box does exist- whose to say its not in there? This boards research of this topic included the review of the financials for the film? Amazing! Howd you get access? I’ve listed dozens of reasons why your ideas don’t make any sense. One of the really, really big reason why they don’t make sense (which, AFAICT, you have not addressed in any way) is that the studio that released the film says it doesn’t. Now, it’s possible that this scene was shot, and lost. That’s absolutely a thing that happens. But if it had, there’d generally be a record of it having existed. Making a movie generates a ton of paperwork. The studio cannot, apparently, find any of that paperwork, because if they could, they’d say, “Yeah, that existed, but it’s lost.” This is even more true if the scene existed and was released to the public in anyway, including as extras in a television release. > [@](#): > > And, OOPSIE, did we REALLY TRULY imply there that film extras often don’t come from the area the movie was shot in? Really? OOPSIE! You blew it, easy rider! Seriously? I would probably end my involvement in the thread, and maybe take time off from the board in general, after that stinker! No, I didn’t imply that at all. > [@](#): > > “It is absurd to think an extra in a movie scene would be a local from the area”- there aren’t enough eye-rolls for that one! That’s 90% of the extras in every movie in history! Will love to see you explain that one away in two days after you wipe the egg off your face! Even your cronies are laughing at you now! I have cronies? AWESOME! Go me! Anyway, you didn’t say, “Extras from the area,” you said, “probably attended that school.” Those are not the same claims. The extras in the classroom scenes were, probably, local to wherever they filmed it. (Google says New Jersey for Josh’s house and the carnival.) Whether they actually attended the school where the film was being shot begs a number of questions, the foremost being, “Was that even shot in a real school?” It seems unlikely, given that any reasonably large, open-floor room can be converted into a classroom easily and pretty cheaply, relative to film production costs in general. If that was a real school, and if any student in that scene happened to be a student of that school, was entirely coincidental. Your post gave the impression that you thought they filmed that by rolling up to a real classroom, with a lesson in progress, and asking if they could use the class as a backdrop for the movie they were making. Which, just in case you still think that, is not how movie casting works. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2019, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/792 "2019-07-29T21:44:52Z")
[Moderating] > [@Helmut\_Doork](#): > > Im done here because I have a low tolerance for nonsense No, you’re done here because the rest of us, and I as the moderator in particular, have a low tolerance for nonsense. Since it’s clear that there’s still just as much of a lack of evidence for this scene as there’s always been, and since I don’t anticipate that changing at any time, I’m going to go ahead and close this. If any actual evidence for the existence of this scene does emerge, then go ahead and start a new thread, possibly with a link to this one. But don’t bother posting “There’s no evidence, therefore it must exist!”. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/793 "2019-07-30T00:05:36Z")
In light of further developments, closure of this thread might not be necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/794 "2019-07-30T00:15:24Z")
Dammit! I opened this again, and STILL no new information ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/795 "2019-07-30T00:15:40Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > In light of further developments, closure of this thread might not be necessary. Let’s get along, everyone! The survival of this thread matters to me! It’s all I have! No insults! It’s just a movie! ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/796 "2019-07-30T00:16:25Z")
… further developments? Is there now an alternate ending to the alternate ending of “Big” thread? How meta can this get? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/797 "2019-07-30T00:21:06Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > … further developments? Is there now an alternate ending to the alternate ending of “Big” thread? How meta can this get? The **Helmut** has been banned. ---
**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:** [July 30, 2019, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/798 "2019-07-30T00:31:16Z")
Are we finally going to be talking about the alternate ending to 14 Going on 30? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/799 "2019-07-30T00:32:07Z")
Hey, everybody, remember the alternate ending to the _Big_ thread where it was closed? ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2019, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/800 "2019-07-30T00:32:59Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Hey, everybody, remember the alternate ending to the _Big_ thread where it was closed? That never happened. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=39) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=41)