Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Phil Hartman (written by) &
Paul Reubens (written by) ...

Release Date:

9 August 1985 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Family | Comedy

Tagline:

You will believe a man can ride a bike.

Plot:

Eccentric man-child Pee-Wee Herman embarks on the big adventure of his life across the US mainland, as he sets out to find his beloved bike, when it is stolen in broad daylight.

Plot Keywords:

Pee Wee | Bike | Bicycle | Fortune Teller | Man Child

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Paul Reubens	...	Pee-wee Herman (as Pee-wee Herman)
Elizabeth Daily	...	Dottie
Mark Holton	...	Francis Buxton
Diane Salinger	...	Simone
Judd Omen	...	Mickey
Irving Hellman	...	Mr. Crowtray
Monte Landis	...	Mario
Damon Martin	...	Chip
David Glasser	...	BMX Kid
Gregory Brown	...	BMX Kid
Mark Everett	...	BMX Kid
Daryl Keith Roach	...	Chuck (as Daryl Roach)
Bill Cable	...	Policeman #1
Peter Looney	...	Policeman #2
Starletta DuPois	...	Sgt. Hunter

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:PG | Italy:T | Netherlands:AL | Canada:F (Ontario) | Canada:G (Nova Scotia/Quebec) | USA:PG (certificate #27844) | Canada:PG (Manitoba) | West Germany:12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Iceland:L | Portugal:M/6 | Spain:T | UK:U

Filming Locations:

1846 Oxley St., South Pasadena, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

Loosely based on Ladri di biciclette (1948).

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Mickey goes through listing activities in the "big house", he says "lift weights" twice.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Pee-wee: Look out, Mister Potato Head!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Final Sacrifice (#10.10)" (1998)

Soundtrack:

TEQUILA

Good fun if you're in the mood for it

Man-child Pee-wee Herman lives a magical life but has one possession that he treasures over all the others – his bicycle. The envy of the neighbourhood, his bike is his life and he is horrified when he finds it stolen. With the police unwilling to start a statewide search, Pee-wee sets out on an adventure to try and find his bike.

Pee-Wee Herman is a fairly acquired taste and won't please all audiences. I quite liked him here but couldn't have watched his show on a weekly basis. In this film though his `man-child' style and outlandish sense of humour really work out well. The plot is fairly pointless and just sparks off a road trip, which has a series of bizarre characters and adventures along the way.

Tim Burton's darkly comic imagination certainly helps and he gives the whole film an other-worldly feel to the whole thing, whether it be in the delivery of Herman's dreams or just the look of the film as a whole. Not all of it works of course, some of it misfires and isn't as funny as it would like to think that it is, however much of it is weirdly amusing and will be entertaining if you like Herman's style.

Herman can be annoying but here he stays on the right side of irritating and he is amusing in his delivery. He certainly suits the material and his OTT/hyper style helps the audience get into the very silly plot! Support is good and has lots of small roles that are weird and funny.

Overall this film is very much a matter of taste. If you like Herman then you should enjoy this film as it is very well done and is blessed with a real other-worldly touch by a great director in the making.