The film also stars Elizabeth Perkins, David Moscow, John Heard, and Robert Loggia, and was written by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg.

Returning home, he desperately tries to explain his predicament to his mother, who panics and chases him from the house thinking he is a stranger who has kidnapped her son.

Josh meets the company's owner, Mr. MacMillan, at FAO Schwarz, and impresses him with his insight into current toys and his child-like enthusiasm.

They play duets ("Heart and Soul" and "Chopsticks") on the store's Walking Piano, and MacMillan invites Josh to a massive marketing campaign pitch meeting with senior executives.

He soon attracts the attention of Susan Lawrence, a fellow executive, and a romance begins to develop, much to the dismay of her former boyfriend Davenport.

Josh becomes increasingly entwined in his adult life by spending time with Susan, mingling with her friends, and entering into a steady relationship with her.

His ideas become valuable assets to MacMillan Toys; however, he begins to forget what it is like to be a child, and his tight schedule rarely allows him to spend time with Billy.

Josh learns from Billy that the Zoltar machine is now at Sea Point Park, and he leaves in the middle of his presentation to MacMillan and the other executives.

[3][4] Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg developed the story in one hour; days after the script was completed they sold it to James L. Brooks and 20th Century Fox.

[10] Kevin Costner, Steve Guttenberg, Warren Beatty, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Modine were all offered the role of Josh, all of whom turned it down.

[28] Janet Maslin of The New York Times praised Hanks's performance, writing "Wide-eyed, excited and wonderfully guileless, [he] is an absolute delight, and the film is shrewd in relieving him of the responsibility to behave furtively and hide his altered condition.

"[30] Roger Ebert, in his Chicago Sun-Times review, wrote: Big is a tender, soft-hearted, and cheerful movie, well-directed by Penny Marshall and with a script by Anne Spielberg and Gary Ross that has a lot of fun with simple verbal misunderstandings ...Hanks, who had a tendency to push too hard, I thought, in Nothing in Common, this time finds a vulnerability and sweetness for his character that's quite appealing.

[31]Jay Boyar of the Orlando Sentinel highlighted Hanks for his "invincible amiability" and further wrote "Elizabeth Perkins gives a smart, sexy performance as Susan, and Robert Loggia has a crusty whimsicality as Josh's boss."

"[33] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times felt the film "manages to be funny, warm, sophisticated and above all, imaginative, from start to finish ...

It is also a personal triumph for Tom Hanks; Nothing in Common and now Big confirm his position as the screen's premier young light comedian.

Hanks recalls the amiable charm of the young Jimmy Stewart and Jack Lemmon, yet his bemused personality is as contemporary as the yuppies he plays so well.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Refreshingly sweet and undeniably funny, Big is a showcase for Tom Hanks, who dives into his role and infuses it with charm and surprising poignancy.

Written and executive produced by Kevin Biegel and Mike Royce, it dealt with what it means to be an adult and kid in present times.

In 2007, the Nevada-based animatronic company Characters Unlimited was awarded a trademark for Zoltar Speaks[54] and began selling fortune-telling machines with that name.