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Pee-Wee's Big Adventure [1985] (1 disc)

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Director:Tim Burton
Writer:Michael Varhol
Paul Reubens
Phil Hartman
Composer:Danny Elfman
Length:90 minutes
(1 hour 30 minutes)
MPAA Rating:PG
Sorting Category:Comedy
IMDB Rating:7.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes Rating:92%
Amazon Rating:4.5/5 stars
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are subject to change
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Classifications:
  • Comedy
  • Kids
  • Fantasy
  • Family
  • Stop Motion
Available Formats:
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Synopsis: When eccentric man-child Pee-Wee Herman gets his beloved bike stolen in broad daylight, he sets out across the U.S. on the adventure of his life.


Reaction: Excessively silly, but that's Pee-Wee for you.


Personal Rating: 7/10

Select Cast and Crew
Tim Burton => Director / Thug in alley  (uncredited)
Michael Varhol => Writer
Paul Reubens => Writer / Pee-wee Herman (as Pee-wee Herman)
Phil Hartman => Writer / Reporter
Danny Elfman => Composer
Alice Nunn => Large Marge
Carmen Filpi => Hobo Jack
Cassandra Peterson => Biker Mama
Damon Martin => Chip (as Damon Landis)
Daryl Keith Roach => Chuck (as Daryl Roach)
Diane Salinger => Simone
Ed Herlihy => Mr. Buxton
Elizabeth Daily => Dottie
Erica Yohn => Madam Ruby
Irving Hellman => Mr. Crowtray
James Brolin => Himself - as PeeWee
Jan Hooks => Tina
Jason Hervey => Kevin Morton
John Paragon => Movie Lot Actor
Jon Harris => Andy
Judd Omen => Mickey
Lou Cutell => Amazing Larry
Lynne Marie Stewart => Mother Superior (as Lynne Stewart)
Mark Holton => Francis Buxton
Milton Berle => Himself (uncredited)
Monte Landis => Mario
Morgan Fairchild => Herself - as 'Dottie'
Professor Toru Tanaka => Butler (as prof. Toru Tanaka)
Starletta DuPois => Sgt. Hunter
Susan Barnes => Movie Lot Actress
Tony Bill => Terry Hawthorne
Twisted Sister => Themselves

Random Trivia For This Title:

  • Director Cameo: Tim Burton: the thug who accosts Pee-wee just before he enters the fortune teller's studio.
  • During the entire time Large Marge tells her story, she never blinks.
  • Cameo: Lynne Marie Stewart: impatient mother superior at a movie set.
  • Tim Burton and Paul Reubens brought on Danny Elfman as composer after Burton had attended concerts by Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman was lead singer and songwriter. Elfman was originally apprehensive, having no formal music training, but he was assisted by Boingo guitarist [?] Steve Bartek as orchestrator. Elfman later said that hearing his music performed by an orchestra for the first time was one of the most thrilling experiences of his life.
  • Tim Burton's directorial debut.
  • Paul Reubens mentions on the commentary that during the scene in the movie where he is wheeled out of the bike shop on a gurney, Elizabeth Daily's face went completely white. After filming the scene, he asked her what was wrong... apparently she was having flashbacks of her boyfriend [?] Jon-Erik Hexum being wheeled off of a movie set on a gurney. (He accidentally shot himself whilst filming the pilot episode of [Cover Up]).
  • Many of the actors in this film also appeared with Paul Reubens in [Pee-Wee's Playhouse], albeit in very different roles from the ones they play here.
  • When Pee-wee weighs in at the beginning of the movie, we see that he is in fact a 98 pound weakling.
  • Cameo: Cassandra Peterson (a.k.a. Elvira): Biker Mama at the Biker Bar.
  • Jan Hooks improvised the dialogue for her scenes as the Alamo tour guide.
  • In real life Paul Reubens was very sick from the flu during the scene where he returns to the bike shop after his bike is stolen and Pee-Wee falls on the bikes. This is mentioned in the commentary.
  • This is the first (and only time) Pee-Wee swears when he says "I don't want some other crappy bike".
  • Cameo: John Paragon: man dressed in red armour with a high voice that Pee-Wee talks to at the movie lot.
  • Cameo: Tom Berenger: Patron that turns around in the diner after the Large Marge sequence.
  • Cameo: Phil Hartman: reporter interviewing Francis at the drive-in.