Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

★★★½
I don't remember when exactly I watched Pee-wee's Big Adventure for the first time. It was on H.B.O. a year or two after the 1985 theatrical release, which came and went unnoticed for me. I did watch his H.B.O. special The Pee-wee Herman Show beforehand, so I was familiar with the character. The adult humor went over my head (Jambi upon receiving hands: "I've had something I've wanted to do for a long time"), but I was struck by the imaginative set design, quirky humor and colorful characters. Growing up, I envisioned Pee-wee Herman as children's entertainment, but his appeal never wavered upon adulthood. Pee-wee's longevity speaks to the child in all of us or a part of us that is tethered to more innocent times. Children love the bright colors and goofy antics, but adults can appreciate the surreal humor and artistic merit of Pee-wee's world. The actor who created the character, Paul Reubens, worked tirelessly for years to maintain the aura of this innocent man-child with an undefinable age. He gave interviews in character. The mystery was part of the presentation.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure begins triumphantly with Danny Elfman's recognizable score introducing us to Reubens' celebrated Pee-wee Herman. He has arrived. It's a dream sequence taking place during the Tour de France, but the sequence tells us everything we need to know about him. The iconic gray suit and red bow tie, the laugh, the childlike amazement at whatever he does—it's a magnificent intro, and Elfman's soundtrack immediately sets the stage for a whimsical tale of an outsider and his bicycle. He pulls away from the pack and laughs with glee. He isn't just excited to win the race; he's excited because he made it to the big time. I love this opening. I wouldn’t suggest that this character introduction is the equivalent of Harry Lime's reveal in The Third Man, but it's high on the list. His home is an architectural delight, but it exists in the real world, and outside his doors is the suburban U.S.A. of the 1980s complete with mini malls and B.M.X. bikers who say "radical" upon seeing something impressive. His most cherished possession is his red bicycle, which is the envy of the neighborhood rich boy Francis (Mark Holton), who offers to buy it, but Herman declines.

After a morning of running errands and meeting with friend Dottie (Elizabeth Daily), Pee-wee discovers his bicycle was stolen, setting off a chain of events that will take him across the country and bring others into his orbit, affecting them in positive ways just by exposure to his own positive vibes. Pee-wee is a vibrant force of nature, a man of unlimited goodwill ready to spread it around to those receptive to it. His bike means everything to him, and he's willing to venture into the unknown to find it. A fortune teller tells him his bike is in the basement of the Alamo. With that bit of news, his journey begins. His first encounter is with escaped convict Mickey (Judd Omen), a man with such a mean streak that he cut a tag off a mattress and went to jail for it. That wasn't really his crime, but the fact that he chose that story as cover for whatever he really did shows how people react to Pee-wee. What if Mickey had picked up someone else? Would he have given the reason or come up with a more believable response ("I was framed"). Pee-wee's later encounter with a mysterious truck driver named Large Marge (Alice Nunn) seems to drive this point home.

We learn the truth about the truck driver when Pee-wee enters a truck stop diner and announces that Large Marge sent him. Everything comes to a stop. Large Marge does not make regular appearances on that road. Pee-wee is the first person to see her ever since "a night just like tonight" ten years prior. What is more, everyone believes him. If you or I walked into that diner and said "Large Marge sent me," nobody would believe it, but Pee-wee said it, so it must have happened. There is no one else like him in this world. Strange things happen when he is around. He meets Simone (Diane Salinger), the truck stop waitress who yearns to move to Paris, but her hulking boyfriend Andy (John Harris) won't allow it. Simone's chance meeting with Pee-wee allows her to follow her dream. He also manages to tame an entire biker bar with his trademark dance set to "Tequila." He is that kind of person. Strangers become friends. His endearing personality and ability to find amusement in the smallest of details can potentially bring out the best in people. Sometimes it is to his chagrin. Dottie has a crush on him, but he rejects her advances. Pee-wee Herman is still a child in a grown-up's body. Boys watching this movie will get it. Girls have cooties, so he doesn't want to kiss her. (Pee-wee does have a girlfriend in Big Top Pee-wee, though.)

Pee-wee eventually finds his bike at the Warner Bros. backlot, which results in a chase scene in which we wonder if Paul Reubens found inspiration for the bike's hidden features from James Bond's car in Goldfinger or the video game Spyhunter. The movie was the first feature for director Tim Burton, who impressed Reubens with his short film Frankenweenie. In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, we get an early look at Burton's ability to create new universes and fill them with offbeat characters. Without this movie, we don't get his vision of Beetlejuice or Edward Scissorhands. Reubens wrote the script along with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol, but Tim Burton's fingerprints are all over the place. The imaginative creature effects employed here would make recurring appearances in his early work, especially The Nightmare Before Christmas and Mars Attacks!. Burton and Reubens would collaborate again in their careers, but this first project between the two was huge for both of them. Burton's career is still going strong. Pee-wee Herman would go on a lengthy hiatus following Reubens' lapse in judgement in an adult theater, though it resulted in one of the funniest In Living Color sketches of all time. Even by accident, Pee-wee inspired greatness in others.

Paul Reubens (1952-2023) had an enormous impact on 1980s lingo ("I know you are, but what am I?"). His popularity was such that my friends and I mistakenly thought Back to the Beach (1987) was a Pee-wee Herman movie. He actually had a cameo role. Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello were the leads. He was 70 years old upon his death, but he didn't look it. He dyed his hair, but even then, he still maintained that familiar youthful appearance, as if he was hanging on to this youth for those of us who could not. I think that was the key to his success. His message was that no matter how old we get, there is still a child within us who remembers simpler times and can solve problems with a little bit of positivity and perseverance. When I rewatched Pee-wee's Big Adventure for the first time in years and after hearing of Reubens' passing, I felt sadness and joy. Sadness, because this versatile actor from my childhood was gone, but joy too because Pee-wee still entertained me. His absurdist humor knew no bounds.

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