# 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:** 47
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/921 "2021-07-18T17:02:51Z")
A couple of things to share with you, @BiggieRemembersSusan, regarding this message board (and, by the way, welcome!) - “I swear that this is what I remember” is generally not going to be well-accepted as proof of one’s argument on the SDMB. As several people have mentioned to you in their replies to you, human memory is far from perfect. - Unless you have any _actual_ evidence, other than your memory, as to the different ending, or any evidence that a different ending was shown outside of the U.S., you’re going to get pushback, especially in this thread, which has been resurrected again and again by people making similar claims to what you’re making. - When you do have citations that you want to provide to bolster your case (here or in other threads), it’s a good idea to share a link to it. For instance, you cited the 2005 Book of Lists, Canadian edition – provide a link to that for the rest of us, so we can see it ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/922 "2021-07-18T17:07:06Z")
BiggieRemembersSusan, slow down. By my count, you’ve posted fourteen times in seventeen hours. Think about your replies carefully before you post them. First, do you understand which film we’re talking about which you might have seen which we think you might confuse with _Big_. We’re talking about _14 Going on 30_, not _13 Going on 30_. Is it possible you’ve seen it? Do you really remember all the films you’ve seen in your life? Have you ever mixed up two films in your memory? Do you see a lot of films all the time? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/923 "2021-07-18T18:11:22Z")
> [@BiggieRemembersSusan](#): > > But this little snippet here; > > The Book of Lists, Canadian Edition, 2005 includes the following account: “During test screenings, an additional scene was included at the end, in which Josh is back at school, and a new girl named Susan arrives. The implication is that Susan used the same machine to make herself young to grow up with Josh. Due to audience feedback, this scene was cut, and so the movie ends when Josh goes back home.” @BiggieRemembersSusan, did you get that “snippet” from IMDB? I ask, because the below link, to the “Alternate Versions” page for _Big_, is, word-for-word, what you posted. The full paragraph reads thusly (and note that the rest of it is essentially “some people believe that…”): > [@](#): > > Some believe that a home video release of this movie in New Zealand included an alternate ending. The alternate ending allegedly shows young Josh sitting in his classroom at school when he turns around to notice a young female classmate of whom who he recognizes as Susan- who went back to the fairground machine and wished that she was Josh’s age. Some claim that this version was also seen on Latin American television. The Book of Lists, Canadian Edition, 2005 includes the following account: “During test screenings, an additional scene was included at the end, in which Josh is back at school, and a new girl named Susan arrives. The implication is that Susan used the same machine to make herself young to grow up with Josh. Due to audience feedback, this scene was cut, and so the movie ends when Josh goes back home.” > **[Big (1988) - Alternate versions - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/alternateversions/)** > > Big (1988) - Movies, TV, Celebs, and more... If that was where you pulled your reference from, you should know that IMDB is partially crowd-sourced material (not unlike Wikipedia), and anyone with a registered IMDB account can submit information for inclusion. At least, back in the day, such submissions had to be vetted by an IMDB staff member, but it’s absolutely possible that that passage above was added either by (a) someone who “believes” in the alternate ending, and created the “citation” as evidence, or (b) someone who’s trolling. Either way, the above doesn’t really prove that that 2005 “Book of Lists” actually contains that passage; it only shows that some random person on the internet _says_ that it does. Even if the passage _is_ in the Book of Lists – what is the subject matter of that list in question? “Mandela Effects”? “Urban Myths and Legends?” We just don’t know, without more proof. Beyond that, if the alternate ending did exist – where are the contemporaneous stories about this? Is there any evidence that the director, the writer, the producer, or the actors talked about this? Is there any evidence, other than people’s memories, that the “alternate ending” version was what was released outside the U.S.? ---
**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:** [July 18, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/924 "2021-07-18T18:22:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Even if the passage _is_ in the Book of Lists – what is the subject matter of that list in question? “Mandela Effects”? “Urban Myths and Legends?” We just don’t know, without more proof. Here’s the book: > **[The Book of Lists, The Canadian Edition: The Original Compendium of Curious...](https://www.amazon.com/Book-Lists-Canadian-Compendium-Information/dp/0676977200)** > > The Book of Lists, The Canadian Edition: The Original Compendium of Curious Information \[Wallechinsky, David, Wallace, Amy D., Basen, Ira, Farrow, Jane\] on Amazon.com. \*FREE\* shipping on qualifying offers. The Book of Lists, The Canadian Edition: The... It’s probably the “10 notable film scenes left on the cutting room floor” list. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/925 "2021-07-18T18:37:41Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Even if the passage _is_ in the Book of Lists – what is the subject matter of that list in question? “Mandela Effects”? “Urban Myths and Legends?” We just don’t know, without more proof. An even better question would be, “Why should we trust what’s printed in some random trivia book?” Do the authors of that book have a reputation for careful fact-checking? ---
**Author:** ![BiggieRemembersSusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@BiggieRemembersSusan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BiggieRemembersSusan)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/926 "2021-07-18T18:46:32Z")
Hey man, all i can tell you is that its no coincidence that many people abroad have seen this from different eras that have not seen this other movie you have talked about. I think its safe to say there is a notable group of people out there that deserve to be heard and not waved aside in some internet battle because for me im just interested where the rest of the movie is not whos right or wrong. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/927 "2021-07-18T18:54:35Z")
> [@BiggieRemembersSusan](#): > > because for me im just interested where the rest of the movie is It’s nowhere. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2021, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/928 "2021-07-18T18:56:15Z")
Being heard, sure. Being unquestionably believed, not so much. Sometimes being heard includes being challenged. ---
**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 18, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/929 "2021-07-18T18:57:17Z")
Hey, let’s not get my legacy locked here. Just calm down a bit and let’s leave it like this: Come back when you have the video clip to show us. If it is VHS, record from your tv screen using a phone and upload that. ---
**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 18, 2021, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/930 "2021-07-18T18:58:09Z")
More people have seen Sinbad’s “Shazaam” than have seen the alternate ending to “Big”. For reference: [Sinbad’s ‘Shazaam’: The Strange Case of a Movie That Doesn’t Exist (ourcommunitynow.com)](https://ourcommunitynow.com/film/sinbads-shazaam-the-strange-case-of-a-movie-that-doesnt-exist) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/931 "2021-07-18T19:04:30Z")
Why don’t you rent or stream _Big_ and _14 Going on 30_ to see what the resemblance between the two is? This may tell you more about whether you are confusing the two. It also would help us if you would use the correct title for the films. It would help if you would slow down enough in your posting to make sure you’re not running together sentences. It’s hard to read your posts. There are many books of lists. They aren’t academic publications that publishers are careful to fact-check beforehand and which get reviews in academic journals. This would tell us that someone cares about the accuracy of the claims in the books. As is, authors and publishers mostly care about how much money the book makes: > **[The "Book of Lists" List (66 books)](https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/14054.The_Book_of_Lists_List)** > > 66 books based on 16 votes: The People's Almanac Presents the Book of Lists by David Wallechinsky, The Literature Lover's Book of Lists: Serious Trivia f... ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/932 "2021-07-18T19:15:29Z")
> [@BiggieRemembersSusan](#): > > Hey man, all i can tell you is that its no coincidence that many people abroad have seen this from different eras that have not seen this other movie you have talked about. Correct. It’s not coincidence. It’s the [Mandela Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory#Manifestations_and_types). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2021, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/933 "2021-07-18T19:24:42Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Being heard, sure. Being unquestionably believed, not so much. Sometimes being heard includes being challenged. Yes to this. And, as I noted to @BiggieRemembersSusan previously, on this message board, and in this thread, “but that’s how I remember it” isn’t going to be sufficient proof to win anyone over. Even if a _lot_ of people remember it that way, without some manner of tangible proof, it’s just memory – human memory is a fragile and mutable thing, and we are incredibly susceptible to the power of suggestion (even if the idea that our memories are unreliable makes us uncomfortable). This debate has been going on, here and in other places on the internet, for 20 years or more. As far as I know, despite all of that, and despite a lot of people being seriously wedded to the idea of the alternate ending, no solid proof of that alternate ending has ever been uncovered – no copy of the film, no copy of the VHS tape, no interview with the director or the actors in which they described it actually being filmed (much less making it into test screenings or general release), etc. ---
**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:** [July 19, 2021, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/934 "2021-07-19T17:57:33Z")
My position is that it is exceedingly unlikely that such an alternate ending exists, given all the facts I have. I’ll be the first to concede that my conclusion was incorrect when solid evidence of its existence surfaces. I’m certainly not saying that’s impossible. But it’s been nigh how many years now, no copy of the film has been found; no contemporaneous account of the alternate ending has been found, nobody who worked on the movie has admitted publicly the existence of an alternate ending, mass fake memories are reasonably common as evidenced by the Mandela Effect. It makes no sense for me and would be completely unscientific and irrational of me to believe a number of strangers’ remembrances on an anonymous message board. I would say it would be madness for me, personally, to believe so. The facts, from my perspective and as I currently know them, simply do not point to there being another ending to Big. You, on the other hand, you have your memory. It’s difficult disbelieving your own memory. Way early in the thread I remembered the “happy” ending of Big as well. I did realize, then, after seeing the Fred Savage movie, that it was 14 on 30 I was remembering. That said, I don’t know why you would have seen that particular movie; I know why I have – because it was shown on TV here in the US. I don’t know if it was out where you were or not. I don’t think it’s necessary that the only explanation is a conflation of the two movies. I do believe memories could have simply been created out of whole cloth and misremembered. Once again, see the Mandela effect. Now, it’s possible one day it’ll finally turn up in the manner of “In the ass?” (for the "up the butt, Bob, story) or the alternate _Mac and Me_ ending (where the kid in the wheelchair gets shot.) Until then, though, I do not have any evidence to believe such a thing exists, and plenty of counterevidence. ---
**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 19, 2021, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/935 "2021-07-19T18:38:43Z")
> [@BiggieRemembersSusan](#): > > for me the ending had always ended with the girl not the boys walking down the street… Okay, but that’s a different ending altogether than what had been discussed. So are you saying there are now **two** alternate endings? ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2021, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/936 "2021-07-19T18:45:44Z")
Dear Mahaloth: I don’t have anything to contribute to the question but I Googled the question and noticed that in all the various forums that have pondered this question, none of them are anywhere near as old as Mahaloth’s Original Post. Did you create this enduring mystery? ---
**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 19, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/937 "2021-07-19T18:47:43Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > Dear Mahaloth: I don’t have anything to contribute to the question but I Googled the question and noticed that in all the various forums that have pondered this question, none of them are anywhere near as old as Mahaloth’s Original Post. Did you create this enduring mystery No, but this thread is sometimes cited in other articles discussing the Mandela Effect in general and this one specifically. I think I just have the good fortune to have asked about it on the internet at one of the earliest points. Things like this have no origin; we all just remembered it wrong because of that other movie. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/938 "2021-07-20T06:30:20Z")
On the _14 Going on 30_ IMDB page, there is this tidbit: > Edited into [Disneyland: 14 Going on 30: Part 1](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2639424/?ref_=tt_trv_cnn) (1988) It’s possible that those who don’t think they saw the tv movie instead ran across it on _Disneyland._ I don’t recall this anthology show at all, but it ran for 36 years. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/939 "2021-07-20T08:04:44Z")
Wow, there are now people who don’t recall _The Wonderful World of Disney_ (and all the other names it went by). It started in 1954 and jumped back and forth between all the American networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). It did a variety of things. One of them was to show entire movies (or edited versions of them) which were made by Disney. My supposition that I think I’ve mentioned before is that the people who think they’ve seen an alternate ending to _Big_ turned on their television to watch _The Wonderful World of Disney_ (or whatever it was called then) and fell asleep. Towards the end of the show they woke up and saw the end of the show, which was the last scene of _14 Going on 30_. They remembered the ending of this. Later they saw _Big_ at a movie theater, possibly falling asleep during it. They liked the ending of _14 Going on 30_ so much that they soon blurred the two movies together in their minds. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2021, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/940 "2021-07-20T13:25:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > alternate _Mac and Me_ ending (where the kid in the wheelchair gets shot.) Until then, though You come from a universe with a movie called Mac and Me? Are you sure you didn’t just have a fever dream after watching ET? ETA: On a serious note, apparently, that alternate ending of Mac and Me actually does exist. > **[Alternate Mac and Me Ending Unearthed and It's Insane](https://movieweb.com/mac-and-me-movie-alternate-ending-video/)** > > Following its Blu-ray/DVD reissue, a rare and surprisingly controversial alternate ending has surfaced for the E.T. rip off Mac and Me. …unless I’m being whooshed by the internets, anyway. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=46) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=48)