Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Tim Burton

Starring: Paul Reubens (RIP), Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger, plenty of actors in small roles

From: Warner Bros.

RIP Paul Reubens

Due to my schedule being free this afternoon & tomorrow afternoon (my next review will actually be posted tomorrow afternoon, a few hours earlier than typical for a weekday), I was able to almost immediately view this film after the news broke. Like I loved the Looney Tunes & TMNT as a little kid, the same rang true for Pee-wee’s Playhouse. It’s never been revisited by me as an adult so who knows about my opinion now but at that age I thought it was great. In addition, this and Big Top Pee-wee were rented on VHS more than once. Flight of the Navigator was also a childhood favorite and even if he was billed as Paul Mall, at the time I’m sure I realized he voiced the spaceship. 

As for his 1991 arrest for jackin’ off at a XXX movie theater… it took a long time for me to fully realize what that meant, and that this is what a lot of people did at a XXX movie theater anyhow! As an adult it was interesting to see him act in roles other than his most famous character. Hearing that he had cancer for years yet kept it secret from the public—the news made me sad as it has for millions of others.

What I do remember about Pee-wee’s Playhouse: it was pretty weird! From what I remember, my parents did not share the same enthusiasm for the childlike character that I did. Reubens selecting Tim Burton (then just a Disney animator who got fired from there because they thought the Frankenweenie short was far too bizarre) as director was really a stroke of genius; talk about two styles that complimented each other. The same goes for Danny Elfman’s score capturing both the whimsy and the dark moments of this film. Big Adventure definitely had some dark moments, although the only one that was a YIKES to me was… of course, Large Marge. Otherwise, those dark moments (which were never forgotten) never prevented me from completing the film.

The movie is a cross-country odyssey where Pee-wee attempts to find his stolen bike… it IS a sweet ride. That simple premise allowed the lead to enter a variety of peculiar situations, including a biker bar-and probably the movie’s most famous scene, set to Tequila-dinosaur statues & even Hollywood itself. To be frank (or perhaps Francis) the film can be a mixed bag at times and Pee-wee is an exaggerated character that is constantly loud so he can be a bit much at times.
Those demerits does not mean that I didn’t have a pretty good time. 

The music, direction and production/set design are the standouts. The fact that I remembered a decent amount despite the last viewing probably being somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago is a credit to the film. This had plenty of familiar faces, whether already known at the time (James Brolin, Morgan Fairchild, Cassandra Peterson) or those that would be famous later-Jason Hervey, Jan Hooks, and Phil Hartman; the latter played an important role in creating the Pee-wee character. There were even cameos I did not recall and went uncredited so I won’t spoil those.

I wish it would haven’t been a shocking death that caused me to finally talk about Pee-wee Herman here, but regardless, it was a treat to see the film only a few hours after hearing of his shocking death. The only way I can properly send off Paul Reubens is to say… au revoir, Pee-wee.