# 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:** 52
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1021 "2021-10-23T19:54:27Z")
My response was intended to be every bit as serious as EliotNess intended his to be. ---
**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 23, 2021, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1022 "2021-10-23T19:55:09Z")
EliotNess and references to organized crime? Nah, totally serious ---
**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 23, 2021, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1023 "2021-10-23T20:10:50Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > My response was intended to be every bit as serious as EliotNess intended his to be. > [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > EliotNess and references to organized crime? Nah, totally serious, This thread, which I am responsible, has reached such levels, I can’t tell what is real or fake with people’s responses anymore! ---
**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 23, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1024 "2021-10-23T21:22:50Z")
_America’s Most Wanted_ premiered the same year as _Big_ freeing the Bureau from the task of chasing down fugitives. This excess manpower was put to good use thwarting those who victimized poor, defenseless Hollywood studios. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1025 "2021-10-23T21:31:40Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > This thread, which I am responsible, has reached such levels, I can’t tell what is real or fake with people’s responses anymore! It’s time for **Mahaloth** ’s Law, a mashup of Poe’s and Godwin’s Laws: As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of parody posts being mistaken for real posts approaches unity. ---
**Author:** ![dmcvay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@dmcvay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dmcvay)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2021, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1026 "2021-10-23T22:04:09Z")
Einstein’s theory of BIG. Passengers on a train passing through a station are watching the movie BIG. They see one ending. People on the platform watching through the windows see a different ending. ---
**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 23, 2021, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1027 "2021-10-23T23:26:50Z")
Oh, the infrared and ultraviolet versions. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2021, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1028 "2021-10-24T01:23:33Z")
Heisenberg’s cut - the people who made _Big_ made one ending, while the people who watched it saw another one. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1029 "2021-11-06T17:54:59Z")
In the alternate ending, Josh’s mom tells him that there are 14 k of g in a f p d. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2021, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1030 "2021-11-06T18:10:35Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > 14 k of g in a f p d. THAT’S what’s on the blackboard in the final scene! The kids are facing the board before the new girl is shown in… I always wondered about that equation. (See, I have a copy… on 3/4" Betamax, Region 3 format, Phase Alternating Line standard with the red channel boosted, from Penny Marshall’s cleaning lady’s jewelry fencer… _No, you can’t see it! What are we, best buds? Sheesh…)_ ---
**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:** [November 6, 2021, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1031 "2021-11-06T20:06:55Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > In the alternate ending, Josh’s mom tells him that there are 14 k of g in a f p d. I’m glad I am not the only one around to remember that. Sometimes things do get solved, [like our quest to find out what happens on May 33rd, but only on leap years.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happens-on-may-33rd-but-only-on-leap-year/39637) ---
**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:** [November 6, 2021, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1032 "2021-11-06T20:08:16Z")
The Marianas Trench appears like Brigadoon, but only for 15 minutes, right? ---
**Author:** ![Sarias\_song](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Sarias\_song](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarias_song)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1033 "2022-03-13T23:46:00Z")
Look all i can say is that ive seen this ending, im in the UK and Big was on tv and i was expecting the end that I remember and it didnt happen! I dont recall ever seeing this 14 going on 30 film. All i know is i was expecting it at the end of Big. And it was annoying me which led me to this thread. Its a bit of a coincidence that people remember it from the end of Big, thats all Im saying. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1034 "2022-03-14T00:02:31Z")
The year is 3217. What parts of the Earth are not flooded with shallow seas are plains of radioactive dust, both devoid of all life. Suddenly, somewhere in some improbably still-powered bunker deep underground, a new post appears in this thread… ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1035 "2022-03-14T00:07:07Z")
> [@Sarias\_song](#): > > All i know is i was expecting it at the end of Big. And it was annoying me which led me to this thread. Its a bit of a coincidence that people remember it from the end of Big, thats all Im saying. I’m betting that if you read through this thread you’ll end up knowing more, and that you might have a bit more to say. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1036 "2022-03-14T00:10:21Z")
> [@Sarias\_song](#): > > Look all i can say is that ive seen this ending, im in the UK and Big was on tv and i was expecting the end that I remember and it didnt happen! I dont recall ever seeing this 14 going on 30 film. All i know is i was expecting it at the end of Big. And it was annoying me which led me to this thread. Its a bit of a coincidence that people remember it from the end of Big, thats all Im saying. First, welcome to the SDMB! If you’ve read the thread, then you have seen that it was first created nearly 20 years ago, and that it’s been “resurrected” again and again, by people like yourself, who stumble across it while googling “alternate ending to Big”. And you’ve also seen that, other than memories (most of which are 30+ years old), there is not any actual evidence that such an alternate ending was ever written, nor filmed, nor shown in test screenings, nor included in general distribution of the film. No one connected with the film has ever mentioned such an ending. Given that this is a topic which has remained on people’s minds for decades, and keeps resurfacing on social media, if there _had_ been such an alternate ending, someone who was actually involved with the film would have produced evidence of it by now, or at least publicly acknowledged that it had, at one time, existed. There is, however, and as you note, evidence that at least one other film, which came out at about the same time, _did_ have an ending which was similar to the ending which people insist they had seen in _Big_. Human memory is not nearly as immutable or accurate as we like to think it is. Welcome to the [Mandela Effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_memory). ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1037 "2022-03-14T01:01:35Z")
> [@Sarias\_song](#): > > Look all i can say is that ive seen this ending, im in the UK and Big was on tv and i was expecting the end that I remember and it didnt happen! I dont recall ever seeing this 14 going on 30 film. All i know is i was expecting it at the end of Big. And it was annoying me which led me to this thread. Its a bit of a coincidence that people remember it from the end of Big, thats all Im saying. Hey, thanks for replying to me. Yeah, so I started this thread 20 years ago in a month and I was just a young 23 year old. I can firmly tell you now as a not-so-young 43 year old that this ending was not on Big. **Even the kid who played Josh in the movie confirmed this for us.** Seriously, go back and you will see he did tell us that there was no ending like that for Big. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1038 "2022-03-14T01:52:11Z")
Why are the vast majority of those claiming an alternative ending coming from folks overseas? It’s weird. It would be interesting to know when _14 going on 30_ premiered on UK television. I know it came out before _Big_ in the US. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2022, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1039 "2022-03-14T02:10:26Z")
As I noted earlier in this thread, in foreign markets, there was even a very similar movie that came **earlier** than Big. With an ending where the woman turns into a girl to be with the kid protagonist in the end. > **[Da grande (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_grande_(film))** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Da grande is a 1987 Italian romantic comedy film directed by Franco Amurri, starring Renato Pozzetto, Ottavia Piccolo and Alessandro Haber. > Da grande is one of the coming-of-age comedies that were released in the late 1980s. It has been said to be the inspiration for Big, the 1988 international blockbuster directed by Penny Marshall and starring Tom Hanks. > Eight-year-old Marco Marinelli is a bedwetter, scolded by his mother (Ottavia Piccolo) and... My theory is that it is more likely that in other countries, in European ones specially, TV shows about entertainment loved to make fun or to criticize Hollywood movies when it was clear that they “stole” ideas from them. So, clips shows comparing Da Grande and Big were confused in the minds of many young ones then. ---
**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:** [March 14, 2022, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864/1040 "2022-03-14T02:37:14Z")
Okay, that sounded good in theory, but I just watched the ending of ‘La Grande’ and you’d have to be insane to conflate that with _Big_ or _14 Going on 30_. In La Grande, the final scene is indeed in a classroom and the boy is a boy again. However, his love interest was the _teacher_, and at the very end she turns into a little girl. Like a six or seven-years old. The boy is supposed to be eight. It wouldn’t surprise me if the writer/director Franco Amurri shopped the script around Hollywood for a few years and someone ripped off the idea. That’s entirely plausible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=51) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-remember-the-alternate-ending-to-big/103864.md?page=53)