Little Giants

Plot

In the town of Urbania, Ohio, Kevin O'Shea, a Heisman Trophy winner and local sports hero, coaches the "Pee-Wee Cowboys" football team. Despite being the best player, Kevin's niece Becky, nicknamed Icebox, is cut during try outs solely because she is a girl. Her less-talented friends, Rashid Hanon, Tad Simpson, and Rudy Zolteck are cut as well. After being ridiculed by the players who made the team, Becky convinces her dad Danny, Kevin's younger brother, to coach a new pee-wee team of their own.

Danny eventually accepts in an attempt to show Urbania that Kevin is not invincible, and that there is another O'Shea in town capable of winning. There is a "one town, one team" rule enforced by the Pee-Wee Football League, so, with the support of the locals, the brothers decide to have a playoff game to determine the lone team that will represent Urbania. Alongside Becky and her friends, Danny gathers other children that had not been given a chance, and dubs the team the "Little Giants." One such player, strong-armed quarterback Junior Floyd, is the son of Danny's childhood crush, Patty Floyd.

Two old-timers, Orville and Wilbur, encourage the rivalry between Danny and Kevin, reporting to them that a new star player, Spike Hammersmith, has just moved to Urbania. Danny recruits him by tricking his father Mike into believing that he is the famous "Coach O'Shea". However, Spike refuses to play on a team with a girl. The deception is later discovered and he switches over to Kevin's team. Kevin also encourages his daughter Debbie to become a cheerleader and tells Becky that a quarterback will want to date a cheerleader, not a teammate. She chooses to quit the Giants and pursue cheerleading, believing that it would be her best chance to win over Junior in addition to feeling exploited as Danny's best player. Just as Danny's team begins to lose hope, a bus arrives carrying NFL stars. They teach the kids about football and inspire them to believe they can win.

The day of the game, Kevin goads Danny into making a bet: If Danny wins, he gets Kevin's Chevrolet dealership; if Kevin wins, he gets Danny's gas station. Facing a 21-point halftime deficit, the Giants' spirits are lifted when Danny gives a speech, inspiring them to each remember a time when they had a unique accomplishment. He reassures them that they only need to beat the Cowboys one time to prove themselves. With this, they begin to play better and make a comeback. Realizing that Junior is the main threat to the Cowboys, Mike Hammersmith orders Spike to take him out of the game; Spike injures Junior by spearing him with his helmet after the whistle. Kevin reprimands Mike for what happened and threatens to cut Spike from the team if such behavior continues.

Witnessing the attack on Junior, an enraged Becky drops her pompoms and suits up for the game. Becky immediately makes an impact when she forces a fumble after a hit on Spike. In the game's closing seconds with the score tied at 21, the Giants make a goal line stand when Becky stops Spike. With time remaining for one final play, their offense steps back onto the field and uses a play Nubie (a boy who is the Little Giants' assistant coach) calls "The Annexation of Puerto Rico," inspired by Tom Osborne's "fumblerooski". The play includes three different ball carriers, using the hook and lateral from Zolteck, to Junior, and finally to Berman, who scores the Giants' 99 yard game-winning touchdown.

Afterwards, Danny suggests that rather than having the Giants solely represent Urbania, they should merge with the Cowboys, so that both he and Kevin can coach the team. Danny and Patty rekindle their childhood romance. He also decides not to hold Kevin to the prior bet, on the stipulation that the town water tower be changed from "Home of Kevin O'Shea" to "Home of The O'Shea Brothers," reflecting a much earlier promise that Kevin made to Danny from their childhood.

Production

The film was inspired by a 1992 McDonald's Super Bowl commercial developed by Jim Ferguson and Bob Shallcross. According to The Baltimore Sun, after seeing the commercial, Steven Spielberg contacted them and said, "I want that commercial made into a movie. I want my 'Home Alone.'" It was filmed from May 10 to Sep 3, 1994.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. Stephen Holden remarked, in The New York Times, that "anyone who was ever rejected or picked last for a team can relate to the concept behind "Little Giants," a slickly contrived family movie about an inept junior football team that succeeds in spite of spectacular liabilities [...]"Little Giants," which was directed by Duwayne Dunham, devotes much of its energy to such comic antics as balls getting stuck into face masks, and wispy little kids practicing looking intimidating." Hal Hinson of The Washington Post stated that "if "Little Giants" were in a beauty pageant it might win votes for Miss Congeniality, but it definitely wouldn't take the crown." Conversely, the Los Angeles Times suggested that the film was "smarter than many of its ilk. Clearly a great deal of care and thought has gone into making special a picture that could so easily have been routine family fare." On Rotten Tomatoes, the film currently holds a 50% approval rating with a 5.6/10 average rating, based on 14 reviews. Despite this and its abysmal box office performance, the film has since been regarded as a cult classic.

Box office

The film had a budget of $20 million and failed to recoup it, with a total of $19.3 million in box office returns, making it a disappointment at the box office.

Year-end lists

Top 10 worst disasters (Ranked #1 in Top 100 Harshest Defense-On-Defense Insults)

Cultural references

In a 2010 NCAA football game, Michigan State defeated Notre Dame on a fake field goal touchdown pass in overtime to end the game. Head coach Mark Dantonio said the play was called "Little Giants".

The uniforms worn by the Cowboys in the film were the same ones worn by the Dallas Cowboys during the 1994 season as part of the NFL's 75th anniversary. From 2004 to 2007, the New York Giants' alternate jerseys were red with white numerals, similar to the jerseys worn by the Little Giants in the movie.

Home media

On February 7, 1995, Warner Home Video released Little Giants on VHS and LaserDisc. The VHS tape includes a Merrie Melodies cartoon, One Froggy Evening, celebrating the 40th anniversary of Michigan J. Frog. On July 8, 2003, the film was released on DVD. On March 29, 2011, the film was re-released in a four pack: 4 Film Favorites: Kids Sports (along with Little Big League, Surf Ninjas, and Hometown Legend).