| Pee-wee's Big Adventure | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Tim Burton |
| Produced by | Richard Gilbert Abramson Robert Shapiro |
| Written by | Paul Reubens Phil Hartman Michael Varhol |
| Starring | Paul Reubens Elizabeth Daily Mark Holton Diane Salinger Judd Omen |
| Music by | Danny Elfman |
| Cinematography | Victor J. Kemper |
| Editing by | Billy Weber |
| Studio | Aspen Film Society |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
| Release date(s) | August 9, 1985 |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7 million |
| Box office | $40,940,662 |
Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a 1985 American adventure comedy film directed by Tim Burton in his full-length debut and starring Paul Reubens as Pee-wee Herman. Reubens also co-wrote the script with Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol. Supporting roles are played by Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger and Judd Omen. Pee-wee's Big Adventure tells the story of Pee-wee Herman embarking on nation-wide adventure in search of his stolen bicycle.
After the success of The Pee-wee Herman Show, Reubens began writing the script to Pee-wee's Big Adventure when he was hired by Warner Bros. Pictures. The producers and Reubens hired Burton to direct when they were impressed with his work on Vincent and Frankenweenie. Filming took place in both California and Texas.
When Pee-wee's Big Adventure was released on August 9, 1985, it grossed over $40 million worldwide, but received generally mixed reviews. However, it eventually developed into a cult film and has since accumulated positive feedback. The film was nominated for a Young Artist Award and spawned a sequel, Big Top Pee-wee. The financial success of the film, followed by the equally successful Beetlejuice in 1988, prompted Warner Bros. to hire Burton as the director for the 1989 film, Batman.
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Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens) loves his bike more than anything else in the world and refuses to sell it to spoiled neighbor Francis Buxton (Mark Holton). The bike is stolen while he was visiting Dottie (Elizabeth Daily) at a bicycle shop called "Chuck's Bikeorama", and then that night, Pee-wee visits a psychic named Madame Ruby (Erica Yohn) who tells him that the bike is hidden in the basement of the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas. On the way there, he meets Simone (Diane Salinger), a waitress at a restaurant with a dream of living in Paris. Her jealous boyfriend Andy (Jon Harris) thinks Pee-wee and Simone are romantically linked, which results Andy to get Pee-Wee into a fight, but Pee-wee flees into a boxcar on a moving train. Making it to San Antonio, he finds that the Alamo has no basement. Disappointed, Pee-wee visits a bar to use the telephone, but disturbs a biker gang after accidentally knocking over their motorcycles. Fearing they are going to kill him, Pee-wee asks for one last request and dances to "Tequila", winning the respect of the bikers. The bikers give him a motorcycle, but Pee-wee quickly crashes it through an advertisement sign, ending up in the hospital. There, he learns that his bike now belongs to Kevin Morton (Jason Hervey), a child star who is currently filming a movie with the bike as a prominent plot device.
Pee-wee enters Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California, disguises himself as a nun, and steals the bike back. In a wild chase scene, he flees from the Warner Bros. security staff through a variety of sets, causing havoc throughout the lot. 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 when driving through the set of Tarzan and a western set, Pee-wee manages to evade and fake out the guards and escape the studio. As he blissfully rides away however, Pee-wee discovers a burning pet shop. After heroically saving all the animals, Pee-wee faints on the sidewalk near the store's doorstep upon having to carry out the pet snakes just as the fire department and police arrive. Though the fireman considers Pee-wee a hero, the policeman states that Pee-wee is under arrest.
Pee-wee is brought before a Warner Bros. studio executive who offers to buy the rights to Pee-wee's story in exchange for dropping all charges. Dottie is summoned into the office, bringing along Pee-Wee's beloved bicycle. He attends the premiere at his local drive-in theater, and it turns out to be a James Bond-style action film involving James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild fighting ninjas. Pee-wee has a cameo appearance as a bellhop, with his voice dubbed over. After watching for a few minutes, Pee-wee decides to leave, having already lived the real story. Reunited with his bike, he rides away with Dottie, happily ever after.
Michael Varhol, who co-wrote the script with Reubens and Hartman, cameos as a photographer and director Tim Burton has an uncredited cameo as the street thug who confronts Pee-wee in the rainy back-alley. Other minor roles include Alice Nunn as Large Marge and Cassandra Peterson (aka Elvira, Mistress of the Dark) as Biker Mama. James Brolin portrays "P.W. 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 Twisted Sister and veteran comedy star Milton Berle cameo as themselves.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure contains numerous "conceptual continuity" links to other Tim Burton films and other productions:
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. Halfway through writing the script, Reubens noticed everyone at Warner Bros. had a bike to get around the backlot, and so he requested one of his own. This inspired Reubens to start on a new script.[1]
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 to hire Burton for their film.[2] Burton felt he connected with Reubens' personality and the humor of the Pee-wee Herman Show.[3] After hiring Burton to direct, Reubens, Phil Hartman and Michael Varhol reworked the script again.[4]
Filming locations included Glendale, Pomona, Santa Clarita, Santa Monica, Burbank, Cabazon, Port Hueneme, California, and San Antonio, Texas.[5] Burton and Reubens had tensions with Warner Bros. studio executives over the shooting schedule.[6] Burton hired CalArts classmate Rick Heinrichs for scenes involving stop-motion animation.[6]
| Pee-wee's Big Adventure | ||||
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| Film score by Danny Elfman | ||||
| Released | 1985 | |||
| Danny Elfman chronology | ||||
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To compose the film score, Burton brought in Danny Elfman, who had previously composed the music for Forbidden Zone.[7] Elfman already had the main title theme written before he signed on.[8] 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.[7][9]
The film also featured "Burn in Hell" by Twisted Sister and "Tequila" by The Champs.
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 its $7 million budget, making it a financial success.[10] Pee-wee's Big Adventure received generally mixed reviews at the time of the film's release,[11] before eventually developing into a cult film.[11] Based on 36 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, Pee-wee's Big Adventure has a 92% overall approval rating.[12] By comparison Metacritic calculated an average score of 47 from 13 reviews collected.[13] The film was nominated with a Young Artist Award for Best Family Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical).[14]
Christopher Null gave positive feedback, calling it "Burton's strangest film."[15] Variety compared Paul Reubens to Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton,[16] while Empire called the film "a one-comic masterpiece" and "a dazzling debut" for Burton.[17] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com 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."[18] Burton had no interest in directing Big Top Pee-wee,[19] and the financial success of the film prompted Warner Bros. to hire him to direct Batman.[20] Warner Home Video released Pee-wee's Big Adventure on DVD in May 2000. The release included audio commentary by Tim Burton, Paul Reubens and Danny Elfman as well as deleted scenes.[21]
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