When I was younger, like a lot of kids my age, I was obsessed with Big, Penny Marshall’s fantasy comedy-drama about a 12-year-old who wakes up one morning to discover he is a fully-grown adult, after making a wish the night before. I’ve long considered it one of the best Tom Hanks movies, and one of my all-time favorites, and so I recently did what any parent does when they want to pass their nostalgic obsessions to their kids: I sat down and made them watch the 1988 classic.
This was the first time in years that I have sat down and watched Josh Baskin go from a pre-teen living in New Jersey to the Vice President of Product Development of a New York-based toy company, and in addition to enjoying the movie like I was a kid again, I noticed a few things. Like, why didn’t I remember that Josh had a dad?
Josh Has A Dad, But He Just Straight Up Disappears
Before my recent rewatch of Big, you could have told me that Josh Baskin’s (David Moscow) mom (played by Mercedes Ruehl) was raising him and his young sister as a single mom because I had no recollection that he had a dad. I mean, I can’t be the only one who felt this way, and there’s a good reason for that.
Josh’s dad (played by Josh Clark) is barely in the movie, his only major lines coming in the carnival scene at the beginning of the movie when he encourages his son to get in line for the Super Loops ride. After that, Mr. Baskin is little more than a source of clothing for bigger Josh (now played by Tom Hanks) after he busts out his pajamas. Every time Mrs. Baskin is talking with Police or reaching out for help finding her son, Mr. Baskin is nowhere to be seen and is never mentioned again.
Susan's Transformation After Falling For Josh Is Incredible
Another thing I probably noticed at one point but forgot about over the years was the brilliant transformation experienced by Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) after spending the night at Josh’s apartment. Before this crucial scene, which doesn’t end the way she expected, Susan is always dressed like a typical ‘80s yuppie who only cares about working her way up the social and corporate ladder. But that image-obsessed and jaded toy executive becomes a completely different person because of Josh and his non-cynical nature.
After that night, Susan seems to care more about helping MacMillan Toys grow as a company than worrying about her image. Sure, she’s still just as ambitious as she was before, but after Josh gives her a glow-in-the-dark compass ring so she “won’t get lost,” Susan finds her way in life and comes out of the whole situation a better person.
Everyone Thinks Josh Is Some Operative From A Competitor But He Just Has The Heart Of A Kid
I love how pretty much everyone at MacMillan Toys thinks that Josh Baskin is some kind of operative sent in by a competitor after he starts coming up with good ideas. Paul Davenport (the late John Heard) is especially suspicious, as he and Susan start contacting other companies to see if anyone knows anything about this guy who seems to be more in-tune with children’s toy preferences better than anyone else.
This is just one of the many examples throughout the movie that stress the importance of not losing touch with your inner child. It’s brilliant, adds a nice message to Penny Marshall’s movie, and also makes you stop and take a look at yourself to see if there are ways you could look at life through the eyes of a kid masquerading as an adult.
The Mother-Son Dynamic In Big Is One Of The Best Of All Time
I am a sucker for movies with a strong focus on the relationship shared by mother and child, and Big has one of the best mother-son dynamics I have ever seen. From the very beginning of the movie, you can feel the love shared by Josh and his mom, and that feeling doesn’t really let up through the rest of the film. In fact, it only gets stronger the longer everything goes on.
There’s just something about their relationship that I’ve always latched onto, maybe because it makes me think about the bond I share with my mom. There’s this connection there with Josh and Mrs. Baskin that just hits the nail on the head and really drives home the importance of a strong connection between mother and son, even when the son is transformed into a grown man and scares the life out of the mom and makes her believe her first-born child has been kidnapped by the guy from Bachelor Party.
Much Like His Score In The Lord Of The Rings, Howard Shore's Music Takes Big Up A Few Notches
I didn’t know this until recently, but Howard Shore, the composer who won three Academy Awards for his work on The Lord of the Rings movies, also composed the music for Big. As a sucker for film scores and rabbit holes involving composers and their body of work, I am both amazed and ashamed of myself for not putting two-and-two together.
There are numerous examples of Shore’s great work throughout Big, but the one that stuck with me the most on my recent rewatch was the song that plays whenever Josh is with the Zoltar machine. It’s creepy and sinister like a dark circus or something, and creates a tense atmosphere. If you didn’t know about the movie and just checked out that one scene, you would probably think you were watching a horror movie where a sentient machine takes control of a young boy.
Josh And Billy's Bond Is The Perfect Encapsulation Of A Childhood Friendship
Big is a movie about relationships as much as it is about anything else, and since I’ve already talking about the Josh-Susan relationship and the Josh-Mrs. Baskin dynamic, it only makes sense to end things with Josh’s friendship with Billy Francis Kopecki (Jared Rushton). Anyone who has had a best friend who lived next door to them knows just how well this friendship is pulled off throughout the movie.
The Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop rap, the scene where Josh spends his first paycheck buying a bunch of junk food and silly string with his best friend, talking on walkie-talkies at night, and even the brief falling out near the end of the movie, are just three examples of the movie perfectly encapsulating a childhood friendship. It’s one of those on-screen friendships that make you want to call up your old neighbor and catch up after all these years.
Overall, watching Big for the first time in years was an incredible experience that made me remember why I fell in love with the movie long ago. You, too, can take a trip down memory lane and watch Tom Hanks freak out by streaming Big if you have a Disney+ subscription.
