Little Giants Information

Little Giants is a 1994 family sports comedy film, starring Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill as brothers in a small Ohio town, coaching rival Pee-Wee Football teams.

Synopsis

Danny O'Shea (Rick Moranis) has always lived in the shadow of his older brother, Kevin (Ed O'Neill), an Irish American Heisman Trophy winner and a local football hero. The brothers live in their hometown of Urbania, Ohio and Kevin coaches the local "Pee-Wee Cowboys" football team. Despite being the best player, Danny's tomboy daughter Becky (Shawna Waldron), nicknamed Icebox, is cut during try outs because she is a girl. Also cut are Becky's less-talented friends, Rashid Hanon (who can't catch anything), Tad Simpson (who can't run) and Rudy Zolteck (who's overweight and quite flatuent). After being ridiculed by the other players who made the team, she convinces her dad to coach a new pee-wee team of their own.

At first, Danny is reluctant to do so, but later accepts in an attempt to show Urbania that Kevin is not invincible, and that there is another O'Shea in town capable of winning. Kevin mockingly reminds him of the "one town, one team" rule and with the help of the locals, they decide to have a playoff game to determine the lone team that will represent Urbania. Among Becky, Hanon, Tad, Rudy and Nubie (an intelligent boy who becomes assistant coach), Danny also gathers other children that have never been given a chance and dubs the team the "Little Giants." One such player is Junior Floyd (Devon Sawa), a strong-armed quarterback who turns out to be the son to Danny's childhood sweetheart, Patty Floyd (Susanna Thompson). Becky slowly develops a crush on him and struggles with her newfound feelings as a girl.

Two old-timers, Orville (Harry Fleer) and Wilbur (Dabbs Greer), fan the flames of the rivalry between the brothers by reporting to both Danny and Kevin that a new star player, Spike Hammersmith (Sam Horrigan), has just moved to Urbania. Danny succeeds at recruiting him by tricking his overzealous father, Mike (Brian Haley), that he is the famous "Coach O'Shea", but this is a problem as Spike proves to be rude, arrogant, and refuses to play on a team with a girl. The deception is later discovered and he switches over to Kevin's more well-structured Cowboys. Kevin also encourages his own daughter, Debbie (Courtney Peldon), to be a cheerleader and later convinces Becky that a quarterback will want to date a girl, not a teammate. Realizing it is her best chance to win over Junior, she decides to quit the team and pursue cheerleading.

Just as Danny's "Little Giants" start to lose hope, a bus arrives carrying John Madden, Emmitt Smith, Bruce Smith, Tim Brown, and Steve Emtman. The NFL stars teach and inspire the young players into believing they can win.

On the day of the game, Kevin chastises Danny into making an impulsive 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 are lifted when Danny asks them to individually recall a time when they had a proud accomplishment and reassures them that all it takes is "one time" to beat the Cowboys. With this, the Giants begin to make a big comeback with a series of outstanding and unexpected plays. Realizing that Junior is the main threat to them, Spike, under orders from Mike, injures him by spearing him with his helmet after the whistle, which even Kevin considers disgraceful, unsportsmanlike conduct. Witnessing from the sidelines, an enraged Becky drops her pompoms and suits up for the game. She immediately makes an impact when she forces a fumble after a jarring hit on Spike. Other Giants make touchdowns in tandem with overcoming personal problems, such as Hanon's fear of dropping passes and making a completion, or another one running towards the goal line when his little-seen dad has come to watch him play. In the game's closing seconds with the score tied at 21 all, the Giants make a goal line stand on 4th down and stop Spike. With time remaining for one final play, their offense step back onto the field and use a trick play Nubie calls "The Annexation of Puerto Rico," inspired by one of Madden's plays at Super Bowl XI. Kevin shouts out the actual name of the play as it occurs, shouting "Fumblerooski, Fumblerooski!" The play takes up all 99 yards using three different ball carriers going from Zolteck to Junior to Berman, who makes the Giants' game-winning touchdown.

Afterwards, Danny says that rather than have the Giants solely represent Urbana, with his intent to merge the Cowboys into them and that both he and Kevin can coach the team. He and Patty rekindle their childhood romance and he agrees not to hold Kevin to the bet on the condition that the Urbania water tower be changed from "Home of Kevin O'Shea" to "Home of The O'Shea Brothers", reflecting a much earlier promise of Kevin to Danny from their childhood that one day both their names would be on it.

Cast

• Rick Moranis - Danny O'Shea
• Ed O'Neill - Kevin O'Shea
• Shawna Waldron - Becky "Icebox" O'Shea
• Susanna Thompson - Patty Floyd
• Devon Sawa - Junior Floyd
• Brian Haley - Mike Hammersmith
• Sam Horrigan - Spike Hammersmith
• Frank Carl Fisher Jr. - Patterson
• Mary Ellen Trainor - Karen O'Shea
• Courtney Peldon - Debbie O'Shea
• Alexa Vega - Priscilla O'Shea
• Todd Bosley - Jake Berman
• Matthew McCurley - Nubie
• Joey Simmirin - Sean Murphy
• Jon Paul Steuer - Johnny "Viper" Vennaro
• Troy Simmons - Rashid "Hot Hands" Hanon
• Marcus Toji - Marcus "The Toe"
• Pat Crawford Brown - Louise

Reception

The movie received mixed reviews. Little Giants currently holds a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Box office

The film had a budget of $20 million, but barely abled to recoup with a total of $19.3 million in box office sales.

Cultural references

In 2010, Michigan St. defeated Notre Dame on a trick play they called Little Giants.

The uniforms worn by the Cowboys team in the film were the same ones worn by the Dallas Cowboys during the 1994 season as part of the NFL's 75th anniversary.

The Annexation of Puerto Rico play was actually used during the December 18, 2011 game between the Carolina Panthers and the Houston Texans.