# What happened to the alternate ending to Big? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 17, 2008, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801 "2008-07-17T05:06:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/41 "2008-07-18T03:19:20Z")
[QUOTE=Dan Norder] Yes, it was definitely 14 Going on 30 – “Young Peggy” (Peggy was the love interest of the boy in the grown up body) in that is played by Amy Hathaway, who was on some episodes of “My Two Dads” – and the IMDB photos of her as an adult make it clear she is the same person I remember as being in the ending of the TV movie ripoff of Big… very distinctive eyes. [/QUOTE] Anyone have this on tape? I’d absolutely love to see the ending. I’m positive I remember the scene, and am positive I could identify it as the ending I’m referring to. This is one of those topics that has been on the back of my mind for nearly 20 years. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/42 "2008-07-18T03:34:44Z")
[QUOTE=squeegee] [Here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alternate_ending) is a list of movies that have alternate endings. Note that _First Blood_, 1982, had an alternate ending. [/QUOTE] Assuming I can trust my memory, Kirk Douglas wrote in his autobio that he’d been offered the Col. Trautman role (which eventually went to Richard Crenna) and turned it down because the movie didn’t end the “right” way, virtually identical to the alternate listed on the page, and largely because Sylvester Stallone had far more creative control than the director. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/43 "2008-07-18T11:13:48Z")
If only I had remembered it’s name back at post #3! ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/44 "2008-07-18T12:11:41Z")
In college I saw an alternate ending to _Election_ that I’ve never seen anyone mention. My roommate downloaded the movie online while it was still in theaters, and he clearly got some in-house studio version. _SPOILERS_ In the theatrical release, Mathew Broderick flees to New York and becomes a museum tour guide; he sees Tracy getting into a limo in Washington D.C. one time and throws a milkshake at the car. The End. In the version my roommate downloaded, the story of the teacher who rigs a student council election hits the news wire and Mathew Broderick receives a small amount of unwanted notoriety. He doesn’t move to New York, instead staying local and becoming a car salesman. Tracy shows up at his job one day, they make up, and he signs her yearbook (I think, could be wrong about the yearbook). The End. The released version is better, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/45 "2008-07-18T13:47:35Z")
The alternate ending to Big makes no sense. Where is she going to live? In her apt in the city? Who is going to be the ‘adult’ in her life, you know, to enroll her in school and stuff? Who would willing repeat grade school and high school? I’m sorry but that alternate ending sounds bad. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/46 "2008-07-18T14:29:35Z")
About the _Young Frankenstein_ scene that **Cal** describes - I believe I’d seen it. Most recently about 10 years ago when the film was being shown at the Dryden Theatre at the Eastman Museum. I don’t recall the “Never with a TUX!” line, but I have a pretty clear memory of Gene Wilder goggling at the clean lines of Igor’s suit, and asking where his hump was. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/47 "2008-07-18T15:08:36Z")
That was a running gag. When Igor and Wilder’s character meet, we get this exchange: Wilder: “You know, I’m a gifted surgeon, and I could do something about that hump.” Igor: \ “What hump?” There’s a part later where Wilder sees Igor and notices that his hump has switched sides. Wilder: \ “Didn’t your…?” Igor: “Yes?” Wilder: \ “Never mind” ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/48 "2008-07-18T15:13:17Z")
> [@](#): > > That was a running gag. When Igor and Wilder’s character meet, we get this exchange: > > Wilder: “You know, I’m a gifted surgeon, and I could do something about that hump.” > > Igor: \ “What hump?” > > There’s a part later where Wilder sees Igor and notices that his hump has switched sides. > > Wilder: \ “Didn’t your…?” > > Igor: “Yes?” > > Wilder: \ “Never mind” That’s not what **OtakuLoki** or I are talking about – he’s corroborating my statements about something missing from the existing Young Frankenstein movie – a scene where Igor has NO hump, not merely a moving one. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/49 "2008-07-18T15:16:06Z")
I recall “Never with tails” very clearly. That does not mean it happened on film, or in the novelization adaptation I read, but I can envision Feldman doing take to the camera immediately afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/50 "2008-07-18T15:17:51Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] That’s not what **OtakuLoki** or I are talking about – he’s corroborating my statements about something missing from the existing Young Frankenstein movie – a scene where Igor has NO hump, not merely a moving one. [/QUOTE] I was concurring that such a scene would fit in with the other “hump” gags. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/51 "2008-07-18T15:18:24Z")
**squeegee** , it’s precisely because it was part of the running gag that I remember it. First the hump moved, then it disappeared, and ISTR that at the end of the film it was back. (What can I say? I really enjoy running gags.) ETA: Oops, sorry - I thought you were suggesting it was a manufactured memory because of the other hump gags. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/52 "2008-07-18T20:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] The alternate ending to Big makes no sense. . . . . . Who would willing repeat grade school and high school? [/QUOTE] I would. Do it right this time. ---
**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:** [July 18, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/53 "2008-07-18T21:33:14Z")
If I were to do high school again, I’d like totally take all the drugs I was too scared to take last time around. ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/54 "2008-07-18T21:57:08Z")
Right, that’s pretty much what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2008, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/55 "2008-07-18T22:40:41Z")
Heck, go back to being 11 with all my adult memories intact? If I had a month or so to make financial arrangements first, damn right I’d go for it. In fact, that just highlights the problem with the alternate ending - previously he’d been a child in a man’s body, trying to improvise his way through life and his somewhat jaded adult girlfriend found him charming. Now he’s back to being a kid, and _she’s_ now a kid, but if her adult memories are still intact, she’s presumably still jaded and intellectually 15 years beyond him. The original ending suggested that for him to finish his childhood, he had to sacrifice the adult trappings he’d accumulated. If she goes with him, what’s the point? ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/56 "2008-07-19T18:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Zebra] The alternate ending to Big makes no sense. [/QUOTE] There was no alternate ending to Big. We established this already. The ending of the Disney made-for-TV rip-off of Big made no sense, but the beginning and middle was pretty sucky too. The character didn’t become an adult overnight by some behind the scenes mysterious magic, he jumped into a device that made vegetables bigger. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/57 "2008-07-19T21:12:17Z")
I’m sure I remember the “Never with a tux” scene. The line could have been “Never with tails” or some other similar sentence, but I’m sure it happened. I last saw _Young Frankenstein_ on cable, watching with my dad, probably about 10 years ago. I don’t remember which channel it was on, but it would most likely have been either A&E or Turner Classic Movies. ---
**Author:** ![Rothel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Rothel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rothel)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/58 "2016-05-22T19:29:59Z")
I don’t care what they say, my husband and I saw it and not once but several times. Then a few years later we were watching tv and there is a completely different ending. They said that in Australia and Canada they had the alternate ending but we live in the US. Wonder why they are lying about this? We went back to the theater and saw it over and over again and it wasn’t the ending that they have now. Its just weird that they deny this. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/59 "2016-05-22T20:01:02Z")
Here;s what[IMDB says on the subject:](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/alternateversions) > [@](#): > > The ending to the film “14 Going On 30 (1988)” is commonly mistaken for an alternate ending to “Big (1988)”. There are no alternate endings to “Big (1988)”. Although the plots to the two films are broadly similar, but the films are not the same. > > \< snip \> > > 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 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. However, an extensive search of the internet, viewing of videotapes from New Zealand, and even letters to Tom Hanks and Penny Marshall have provided no evidence of any ending other than The US DVD release of this film which simply shows Josh and Billy walking up their street, and then the credits rolling." [And here is the ending scene from 14 going on 30.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6783tkwbZw0) Start at about 2:40 to see the girlfriend walk in to the classroom. The “missing” big scene is clearly from the Disney rip-off. All of the descriptions by people match 14 Going On 30, not Big. Besides, if an alternate ending to Big really existed, it’d be on YouTube by now! 😃 ---
**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:** [May 23, 2016, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801/60 "2016-05-23T06:38:02Z")
> [@Locrian](#): > > Here;s what[IMDB says on the subject:](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094737/alternateversions) > > [And here is the ending scene from 14 going on 30.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6783tkwbZw0) Start at about 2:40 to see the girlfriend walk in to the classroom. > > The “missing” big scene is clearly from the Disney rip-off. All of the descriptions by people match 14 Going On 30, not Big. Besides, if an alternate ending to Big really existed, it’d be on YouTube by now! 😃 Forget it, Loc’. It’s BigTown. If the alternate ending exists, and it ever shows up, boy, won’t we look stupid. “It doesn’t DO anything. That’s the beauty of it!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-happened-to-the-alternate-ending-to-big/456801.md?page=4)