# 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:** 50
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/981 "2021-10-19T12:32:40Z")
It’s a conspiracy by Big Big. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2021, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/982 "2021-10-19T12:52:39Z")
They’re really not that organized, but they have their fingers in many forms of communication. They’re more of a Little Big Medium. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2021, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/983 "2021-10-19T15:01:12Z")
> [@dmcvay](#): > > There is some interesting commentary by the writers on the Blu-ray, and I will talk more about that later. If you search the thread, the DVD commentary actually has come up before, back in 2014, so this isn’t new ground we’re treading, although the transcription hasn’t been posted before. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/984 "2021-10-19T15:04:56Z")
You win! ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2021, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/985 "2021-10-19T15:16:29Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of this, which this post is too narrow to contain. Hah!! ---
**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:** [October 19, 2021, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/986 "2021-10-19T15:22:31Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Mark my words: in the not-too-distant future, after some improvements to the quality and accessibility of CGI technology, some prankster is going to create a very convincing deepfake of this alternate ending. And this forgery will be held up by those it duped as proof of the existence of the genuine article. Dozens of people, including many in this very thread, will emphatically swear that it’s _exactly_ the same scene they watched so many decades ago. It’s like the alternate ending to my post. 🙂 > [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > One day, probably in the next five years, someone somewhere is going to make a “deep fake” video of the “alternate ending”, and the world as we know it will end. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/987 "2021-10-20T18:19:57Z")
I remember much of _Big_, including the ending (the _actual_ end, where Elizabeth Perkins kisses Tom Hanks on the forehead before he gets out of the car, and watches him walk away; then looks back and he’s reverted to a little boy in an oversized suit). But for some odd reason, the scene that most sticks in my mind is when Josh’s friend visits him in his office, and notices an expensive toy. Josh says tells him “that only costs, like, five bucks to make.” Why “Josh learns about mark-ups” should stick in my mind I don’t know; but as this thread establishes, memory is a weird thing. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/988 "2021-10-20T18:25:12Z")
> [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > But for some odd reason, the scene that most sticks in my mind is when Josh’s friend visits him in his office, and notices an expensive toy. Josh says tells him “that only costs, like, five bucks to make.” > > Why “Josh learns about mark-ups” should stick in my mind I don’t know; but as this thread establishes, memory is a weird thing. I can imagine it being memorable to see a child learning something about the adult world that seems unremarkable to adults, but would be earthshaking to kids. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2021, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/989 "2021-10-20T22:06:14Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > learning something about the adult world that seems unremarkable to adults, but would be earthshaking to kids. Well, okay; but I get to be on top. ---
**Author:** ![dmcvay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dmcvay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmcvay)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/990 "2021-10-21T12:38:36Z")
I missed that it was referenced above. For people that don’t have the Blu-ray I will transcribe the part where Anne mentions the schoolroom scene to the interviewer. This is from 2007 for the twentieth anniversary release. Gary: "It would be very hard to take this particular plot and find a sequel to it. Anne: I think the only sequel or some kind of sequel we ever thought of was what if Susan makes a wish to be twelve, and suddenly she is back in Josh’s school saying “here I am honey”. Interviewer: Did you ever consider using that as the ending for the movie. Anne: No, no. Gary: No, other people did. Anne: Yeah Gary: other people suggested… The interviewer moves on and we don’t find out who these other people are, but it’s probably these same people Penny Marshall spoke about in Premiere in 1989 “At one point, the studio wanted her to go back”, “we talked about it”. “this was the script that the studio bought, and if they were worried about the ending being bittersweet, they should have worried about it a few years earlier.” The studio wanted it so badly they ordered it to be made on a sound stage and screened it in front of audiences. But ultimately the producer and director dug in their heels and stopped it. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/991 "2021-10-21T12:40:30Z")
> [@dmcvay](#): > > The studio wanted it so badly they ordered it to be made on a sound stage and screened it in front of audiences. But ultimately the producer and director dug in their heels and stopped it. This is where you shift from “things that Gary and Anne said” to “things that you hypothesize” ---
**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:** [October 21, 2021, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/992 "2021-10-21T14:11:48Z")
> [@dmcvay](#): > > The studio wanted it so badly they ordered it to be made on a sound stage and screened it in front of audiences. But ultimately the producer and director dug in their heels and stopped it. How do you know this? This isn’t on the DVD/Blu-ray. Is it? My library carries the 2007 DVD. Can you just tell us if that quoted portion is on there or should I reserve it and listen to to see? I mean specifically that they recorded it on a sound stage and screened it. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/993 "2021-10-21T14:17:46Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > This is where you shift from “things that Gary and Anne said” to “things that you hypothesize” Very much this. It’s not even a new hypothesis in this thread: > [@TroutMan](#): > > > [@kunilou](#): > > > > And yet, so the story goes, that scene was actually shot, and then cut from the movie after test audience feedback. > > I think you have the story wrong. Test audiences wanted them to meet cute as youngsters, but Marshall and her co-producer wouldn’t change the ending. [She said](https://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/test-screenings/240053/51-movies-and-how-they-were-affected-by-test-screenings), “this was the script that the studio bought, and if they were worried about the ending being bittersweet, they should have worried about it a few years earlier.” > > Really, this alternate scene was **NEVER SHOT**. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2021, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/994 "2021-10-21T14:40:46Z")
> [@dmcvay](#): > > The studio wanted it so badly they ordered it to be made on a sound stage and screened it in front of audiences. And the director for that scene? Stanley Kubrick. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/995 "2021-10-21T14:55:04Z")
Tarantino would have been an interesting choice. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/996 "2021-10-21T15:06:22Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And the director for that scene? Stanley Kubrick. Which is why, if you happened to be in the Rialto Theatre in Kalamazoo that one night that Ol’ Willie Smerdley put on the forbidden third reel (the one marked “Never Ever Show This!”), you’d have noticed a moonscape out the classroom window. ---
**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:** [October 21, 2021, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/997 "2021-10-21T15:19:57Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And the director for that scene? Stanley Kubrick. And Josh’s NASA hat was a leftover from _The Shining_. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/998 "2021-10-21T15:29:30Z")
The interesting thing is that almost all of the people who think they saw this alternate ending also say how upset they were when they eventually saw it with the actual ending. This suggests to me that they were so unsatisfied with the ending that they (like most of us who don’t like how a film ends) thought of a “better” ending (in this case where the two romantic leads get to stay together.) ---
**Author:** ![dmcvay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dmcvay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmcvay)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/999 "2021-10-22T07:29:18Z")
I’m taking a little bit of liberty here with the sound stage stuff, that is not on the DVD so you don’t need to reserve it. But let me explain my reasoning for why and how it would be a logical choice. I am drawing from another source to get Penny’s comment that an alternate ending was put before a “test audience.” It is from Premiere magazine mentioned here: > **[51 Movies And How They Were Affected by Test Screenings](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/51-movies-and-how-they-were-affected-by-test-screenings/)** > > From 28 Days Later and Goodfellas to Big and Last Action Hero: here's the impact test audiences had on 51 movies... I am still trying to track down this issue of Premiere The Movie Magazine from 1989 to see the whole interview. Could use some help on that. To test something to an audience you got to have something to show. Also “the studio wanted her to go back.” We know Penny didn’t shoot this scene, no classroom is seen in any of Penny’s footage. that’s why I am saying the studio had it done themselves. A soundstage is were you can film something in secret. You control who is on set and you can have them sign a non-disclosure agreement before entering. Lastly, I have known about this alternate ending since the early 90’s when the movie came up in conversation with co-workers. Almost to 1000 ---
**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:** [October 22, 2021, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1000 "2021-10-22T08:36:21Z")
> [@dmcvay](#): > > that’s why I am saying the studio had it done themselves. Without letting the producer, director or most of the actors know what was going on, “the studio” filmed in secret and made all the remaining actors that were in that classroom scene and the entire crew involved sign a non-disclosure agreement…and then, for ghod knows what reason, they decided to ship a copy of it to some drive-in? The more details you add to this story, the more ridiculous it sounds. BTW, tell me again about having all those underage children sign non-disclosure contracts. 🙄 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=49) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=51)