Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Infobox Film
name = Pee-wee's Big Adventure


caption =
director = Tim Burton
producer = Richard Gilbert Abramson
Robert Shapiro
writer = Paul Reubens
Phil Hartman
Michael Varhol
Tim Burton (uncredited)
starring = Paul Reubens
Elizabeth Daily
Mark Holton
Diane Salinger
music = Danny Elfman
cinematography = Victor J. Kemper
editing = Billy Weber
distributor = Warner Bros.
released = August 9, 1985
runtime = 90 min.
country = USA
language = English
budget = $7 million
gross = $40.94 million
followed_by = "Big Top Pee-wee"
website =
amg_id = 1:37591
imdb_id = 0089791

"Pee-wee's Big Adventure" is a 1985 adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his full-length film debut. Paul Reubens, Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol wrote the script, starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton and Diane Salinger. The film tells the story of Pee-wee Herman embarking on nation-wide adventure in search of his stolen bicycle.

The success of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" prompted Warner Bros. to hire Reubens to write a script for a full-length Pee-Wee Herman film. Reubens' original idea was to do a remake of "Pollyanna" with Pee-wee Herman in the Hayley Mills role. Burton was hired as director once Reubens and the producers saw his work on "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie". "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" was a financial and critical success and became a cult film.

Plot

Pee-wee Herman, a strange man who acts like a child, loves his bike more than anything else in the world and refuses to sell it to nemesis Francis Buxton, a fellow man-child and neighborhood "rich kid". The bike is stolen after Pee-wee visits a magic shop, ensuing into a high-profile campaign to find it. To grip with his insanity of the missing bike, Pee-wee visits a false psychic who lies and tells him that the bike is hidden in the basement of the Alamo. Pee-wee hitches a ride with a man named Mickey, a fugitive on the run from the law because he cut off a "do not remove under the penalty of law" mattress tag. Mickey abandons Pee-wee after Pee-wee accidentally nearly kills the two of them.

Pee-wee is picked up by Large Marge, learning at a truck stop diner that Large Marge was actually a ghost. Pee-wee meets Simone, a friendly waitress with a yearning to see Paris. Her huge boyfriend Andy thinks Pee-wee and Simone were romantically linked, chasing Pee-wee and causing him to flee in a boxcar of a moving train. Making it to San Antonio he finds that the Alamo has no basement, realizing his whole trip was a sham and goes to the bus station to return home. On his journey he breaks the world record for bull-riding and runs afoul of a biker gang (after accidentally knocking over their motorcycles). Fearing they are trying to kill him, Pee-wee dances to "Tequila" and wins the respect of the bikers. The bikers give him a motorcycle, but Pee-wee quickly crashes it, being sent to the hospital. Pee-wee learns from the television that his bike now belongs to Kevin Morton, a spoiled child star who is currently filming a movie with the bike as a prominent prop.

Pee-wee sneaks into Warner Brothers Studios in Burbank, California and locates the set on which Kevin is acting. Pee-wee disguises himself as a nun in order to infiltrate the set and steal his bike back. In a wild chase scene, he flees from the Warner Bros. security staff through a variety of sets. Various actors and props, including a boat-shaped car, a Santa Claus sleigh, and a man in a Godzilla costume, get swept into the chase. He also interrupts the shooting of a Twisted Sister music video for "Burn in Hell" from "Stay Hungry". Using the gadgets on his bike, Pee-wee manages to evade the guards and escape the studio. As he blissfully rides away, however, Pee-wee discovers a pet shop in flames. After heroically saving all the animals (even the snakes which creep him out), Pee-wee faints on the store's doorstep, just as the fire department and police arrive. When emergency medical technicians come to revive Pee-wee, a fireman gets in an argument with a policeman, because the firefighter considers Pee-wee a hero, but the police officer places Pee-wee under arrest.Pee-wee is brought before a Warner Bros. studio executive who offers to buy Pee-wee's life rights in exchange for dropping all charges. Pee-wee agrees and attends the premiere at his local drive-in. All of the friends Pee-wee made during his trip come to see the film, and Pee-wee greets each of them. He ends with Dottie, having finally fulfilled her demands for a date at the drive-in. As a final act of vengeance, Pee-wee allows Francis to sit on his bike, who triggers the ejector seat and sends him flying. Pee-wee's movie turns out to be a cheesy James Bond-style action film involving James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild fighting ninjas. Pee-wee has a cameo appearance as a bellhop, but his voice is comically dubbed over. After watching for a few minutes, Pee-wee decides to leave, having already lived the real story. Rejoined with his bike, he rides away with best-friend Dottie, happily ever after.

Cast

*Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman: A strange man who acts like a child. He sports a tuxedo with a red bow tie and clean-cut hair. He's very obsessive over his bicycle, traveling across America in search of it.
*Elizabeth Daily as Dottie: She has a major crush on Pee-wee, though Pee-wee declines to be her boyfriend. Pee-wee thinks of himself as "a loner, a rebel". Dottie helps run a bike shop.
*Mark Holton as Francis Buxton: A fellow man-child like Pee-wee. He's obese and very spoiled. He offers to buy Pee-wee's bike for a large amount of money, but Pee-wee refuses. Francis hires someone to steal the bike before it's purchased by Warner Brothers.
*Diane Salinger as Simone: A waitress that Pee-wee meets in Texas. She develops an attraction towards Pee-wee and yearns to live in France. Her violent boyfriend Andy flunked French in High School, and therefore dislikes France. At the end of the film, Simone is dating a French man instead of Andy.
*Judd Omen as Mickey Morelli: A convict Pee-wee meets on his way to Texas. Mickey is a fugitive on the run from the law because he cut off a "do not remove under the penalty of law" mattress tag. He also has a bad temper and abandons Pee-wee in the desert. However, Pee-wee ends up inviting Mickey to his movie.

Writers Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol cameo as a reporter and photographer. Cassandra Peterson appears as "Biker Mama". James Brolin portrays Pee-wee Herman and Morgan Fairchild is Dottie for the scene when Warner Bros. turns Pee-wee's life in a full-length film. Dee Snider and Milton Berle cameo as themselves.

Production

The success of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" prompted Warner Bros. to hire Paul Reubens to write a script for a full-length Pee-Wee Herman film. Reubens' original idea was to do a remake of "Pollyanna" with Pee-wee Herman in the Hayley Mills role. Reubens claims that "Pollyanna" is his favorite film. Half-way through writing the script, Reubens noticed everyone at Warner Bros. had a bike with them, which inspired Reubens to start on a new script.Paul Reubens, Tim Burton, audio commentary, 2000, Warner Bros.]

Having left The Walt Disney Company and with "Frankenweenie" receiving positive reviews within film studios, Tim Burton was looking for a full-length film to direct. When Reubens and the producers of "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" saw Burton's work on "Vincent" and "Frankenweenie", they decided Burton would be an excellent director for their film. [cite book | author = Mark Salisbury; Tim Burton | title = Burton on Burton |pages = 42 |publisher = Faber and Faber | year =2006| isbn= 0-571-22926-3 ] Burton felt he connected with Reubens's personality and the humor of "Pee-wee's Playhouse". [Salisbury, Burton, p.43—4] After hiring Burton to direct, Reubens, Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol reworked the script again. [Salisbury, Burton, p.47]

Filming locations included Glendale, California, Pomona, Santa Monica, Burbank, Cabazon and the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas. [cite web | url = http://www.platial.com/hundredflowers/map/3027#Pee_Wee's_Big_Adventure | title = Filming Locations of Pee-wee's Big Adventure | work = Platial | accessdate = 2008-04-06] Burton and Reubens had tensions with Warner Bros. studio executives over the shooting schedule. [Salisbury, Burton, p.49] Burton hired CalArts classmate Rick Heinrichs for scenes involving stop-motion animation. [Salisbury, Burton, p.49]

oundtrack

To compose the film score, Burton brought in Danny Elfman, who hadn't composed a film before. Elfman already had the main title theme written before he signed on. [Danny Elfman, audio commentary, 2000, Warner Bros.] At the time, Elfman was the lead singer of Oingo Boingo, but the working relationship between Burton and Elfman would continue for most of Burton's films. [excluding "Ed Wood" and ""] Salisbury, Burton, p.48]

1. Overture / The Big Race (03:07)
2. Breakfast Machine (02:36)
3. Park Ride (01:14)
4. Stolen Bike (01:44)
5. Hitchhike (00:56)
6. Dinosaur Dream (00:48)
7. Simone's Theme (01:35)
8. Clown Dream (01:58)
9. Studio Chase (01:24)
10. The Drive-In (02:02)
11. Finale (03:12)

Also in the film appeared "Burn in Hell" by Twisted Sister and "Tequila" by The Champs.

Release

"Pee-wee's Big Adventure" opened on August 9, 1985 in the United States in 829 theaters, accumulating $4,545,847 over its opening weekend. The film went on to gross $40,940,662 domestically, recouping five times of its $7 million budget, making it a financial success. [cite web|url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=peeweesbigadventure.htm|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)|publisher=Box Office Mojo|accessdate=2008-04-06] At the time of release in 1985, the film received mixed reviews, Gene Siskel called it one of the worst films of 1985. [Gene Siskel, Roger Ebert, " [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LecopamWKnU The Worst of 1985] ," "At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert". Tribune Entertainment] but "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" developed into a cult film.Salisbury, Burton, p.50] Based on 23 reviews collected by "Rotten Tomatoes", "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" received a highly rare 100% overall approval rating. [cite web|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/peewees_big_adventure/|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|accessdate=2008-04-06] By comparison Metacritic calculated an average score of 47 from 13 reviews collected. [cite web|url=http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/peeweesbigadventure|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985): Reviews|publisher=Metacritic|accessdate=2008-04-06] The film was nominated with a Young Artist Award for Best Family Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical). [cite web| url= http://imdb.com/title/tt0089791/awards|title=PAwards for Pee-wee's Big Adventure |publisher=Internet Movie Database|accessdate=2008-04-06]

Christopher Null gave positive feedback, calling it "Burton's strangest film." [cite news | author = Christopher Null | url = http://www.filmcritic.com/misc/emporium.nsf/reviews/Pee-wees-Big-Adventure | title = Pee-wee's Big Adventure | publisher = FilmCritic.com | date = 2005-06-13 | accessdate = 2008-04-06] "Variety" compared Paul Reubens to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, [cite news | url = http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117793920.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 | title = Pee-wee's Big Adventure | publisher = Variety | date = 1985-01-01 | accessdate = 2008-04-06] while "Empire" called the film "a one-comic masterpiece" and "a dazzling debut" for Burton. [cite web | url = http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=132257 | title = Pee-wee's Big Adventure | publisher = Empire | accessdate = 2008-04-06] Stephanie Zacharek of "Salon" explained "Everything about "Pee-wee's Big Adventure", from its toy-box colors to its superb, hyper-animated Danny Elfman score to the butch-waxed hairdo and wooden-puppet walk of its star and mastermind is pure pleasure." [cite web | author = Stephanie Zacharek |url = http://www.salon.com/ent/movies/dvd/review/2000/10/10/peewees_big_adventure/index.html | title = Pee-wee's Big Adventure | publisher = Salon | accessdate = 2008-04-06] Burton had no interest in directing "Big Top Pee-wee", [Harvnb|Salisbury|Burton|2006|p=52] and the financial success of the film prompted Warner Bros. to hire him to direct "Batman". [Tim Burton, "Batman" audio commentary, 2005, Warner Bros.] The "Breakfast Machine" was parodied in a "Family Guy" episode. ["8 Simple Rules for Buying My Teenage Daughter". Greg Colton (director), Patrick Meighan (writer). "Family Guy". 2005-07-10. No. 58, season 4.] Warner Home Video releasd "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" on DVD in May 2000. The release included audio commentarys by Tim Burton, Paul Ruebens and Danny Elfman as well as deleted scenes. [cite web | title = Pee-wee's Big Adventure (Widescreen) (1985) | url = http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0790749408/imdb-button/ | work = Amazon | accessdate = 2008-09-22]

References

External links

*imdb title|id=0089791|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure
*amg title|id=1:37591|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure
*rotten-tomatoes|id=peewees_big_adventure|title=Pee-wee's Big Adventure
*" [http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=peeweesbigadventure.htm Pee-wee's Big Adventure] " at Box Office Mojo
*http://www.timburtoncollective.com/articles/pw3.html
*http://www.batmanmovieonline.com/articles.php?showarticle=23