Every new day for Pee-wee Herman is a day of bright possibilities. Even rainy ones. He bounces out of bed with a cheery yawn, plays with a few toys and then throws his Rube Goldberg-like breakfast machine into gear while greeting his teeny pup, Specks.
After that, it’s time to put on his favorite gray suit and red bow tie and head out for a joyous day.
How does this 30-something-looking dude make money? Who cares!? He’s just the kind of guy who does what he’s pretty sure everyone else in the world wishes they could do. But they can’t. ‘Cause they’re not him. Do you get it? No? Too bad.
The world may not understand a guy like Pee-wee, but he has no intention of making them understand. As he told Dottie at the bike shop when she tried to get him to go to the drive-in with her and probably get all kissy-faced and stuff, he’s a man of mystery. Or as he put it: You don’t wanna get mixed up with a guy like me. I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.
The fact is, Pee-wee Herman is a happy rebel. Give him a house full of toys, a pocketful of trick gum and gadgets and put him on a custom-built red Schwinn DX cruiser, and the world is good!
But then one day while picking up a new electric horn from the bike shop, some nefarious thug steals Pee-wee’s beloved Schwinn. With that, the world suddenly becomes very, very, very bad.
And Pee-wee Herman decides that he will forge any river, climb any mountain and go to any lengths to get that beloved bike back.
Why?
Because his name is Herman. Pee-wee Herman.
That’s my name. Don’t wear it out!
When Pee-wee’s bike goes missing, he’s ready to accuse everyone. But with time, as he searches, he realizes that his harsh treatment of friends was a bad thing. He calls Dottie, begs her forgiveness and asks that she convey his apology to other good friends.
Pee-wee also encourages other people along his travels. He motivates a small-town waitress named Simone, for instance, to follow her dream of traveling to Paris. By the movie’s end we see a gathering of Pee-wee’s many new friends, all enjoying a movie together.
The movie as a whole has something of a child-like mentality about it (much like Pee-wee himself). As such, most people that Pee-wee meets in his journey are kind and giving. Even people who seem to have harsh or nasty qualities, such as a biker gang called the Satan’s Helpers, end up being positively swayed by fun and friendship.
Pee-wee and a monkey risk life and limb to save scores of animals from a burning pet store.
Pee-wee goes to a fake spiritualist to find clues about his missing bike, and the woman peers into a “crystal ball” for answers.
Pee-wee also hitches a ride with a truck driver who tells him a scary story of a crash that happened years before. The tale ends with the driver’s face changing (claymation style) and her eyes bugging out. Pee-wee later learns that he accepted a ride from a ghost.
Members of a biker gang are called Satan’s Helpers. Pee-wee has a dream that involves red devils with horns and pitchforks around a cauldron.
The rock group Twisted Sister records a music video of a song called, “You’re Gonna Burn in Hell.”
When Pee-wee goes to a magic shop, the camera catches sight of a calendar sporting a picture of the buxom character Elvira. Later in the film, the actress that plays Elvira shows up to seductively grab Pee-wee (her shirt is open in front).
There are a number of veiled sexual winks in the story. For instance, Pee-wee gets a ride with an escaped convict (Mickey) and asks him what prison is like. Mickey responds with a list of activities that includes repeated instances of “lifting weights, take long showers” with other inmates. Later, during that same drive, Pee-wee disguises himself as a woman and snuggles seductively in Mickey’s lap in an effort to make their way past a police roadblock. And not only does an officer give the femininely dressed Pee-wee an approving leer, but Mickey does, too.
When Pee-wee meets Simone at a roadstop diner, she takes a shine to him and asks him to watch the sunrise with her. Their innocent conversation is then overheard by Simone’s jealous boyfriend, and he interprets it as the couple discussing sexual things they had done together.
Actors in a movie kiss passionately. Dottie tries to kiss Pee-wee, but he deflects her pass and hugs his bike. While in Hollywood, Pee-wee crosses paths with comedian Milton Berle, who is telling a veiled sex joke.
A lot of pratfalling thumps and tumbles take place throughout the film. For instance:
Pee-wee falls off his bike while trying to show off in front of a group of kids. He jumps out of a moving train. He leaps into a large bathtub to fight and wrestle with a bathing, swimsuit-wearing ne’er-do-well named Francis.
Pee-wee also drives a car off a cliff but is saved by the convertible roof acting as a parachute. He walks in a scary forest in the pitch black and then when he turns on a light, he realizes that he’s surrounded by bears, tigers and wolves.
Pee-wee rides a motorbike into a large road sign and is rushed to the emergency room. He is knocked out after falling off a fiercely bucking rodeo bull. He’s chased by a 7-foot-tall man with a club. He gets into a chase with police and studio authorities, smashing through sets and sending cars and other vehicles crashing into walls and scenery. Sets fall over, and in some cases explode.
Pee-wee hears a story about a “twisted, burning wreck.” And he has tormented dreams of he and his bike being threatened by evil clowns, gobbling dinosaurs and devils.
The language is mostly tame throughout with uses of “gosh,” “darn” and some light name calling. But one harsh abuse of Jesus’ name stands out as a negative inclusion.
Pee-wee goes into a bar to use the telephone and runs into a biker gang all drinking beer and holding beer bottles. He later smashes bottles and pitchers of beer while dancing to the song “Tequila.”
Mickey smokes a cigarette.
Pee-wee has a man-child aspect to his personality, and sometimes that reveals itself in rude or mean-spirited ways. He gives trick gum to Francis and his father, for instance, that tastes horrible and causes Francis’ mouth to turn ink black. Pee-wee is also fairly mean to friends at times, as mentioned above.
Paul Rueben’s Pee-wee Herman was an odd and quirky character that somehow clicked with the public back in the 1980’s. This bowtie-wearing man-child was originally created in a staged improv and then went on to public cheers through touring performances, TV shows and movies.
Director Tim Burton’s Pee-wee’s Big Adventure captures all of that flamboyant oddness with its own bizzarro, face-gurning bravado.
At first glance, this PG-rated pic and the silliness of its cross-country hijinks seem to be aimed directly at kids in the crowd. But adult guardians who haven’t seen this movie, or maybe haven’t seen it in a long time, ought to pause for a moment.
Rueben and Burton have packed in a lot here that will raise adult eyebrows even if the kids miss it. Goofy cross-dressing bits, subtle sexual winks, unsettling wicked clown images, and references to long prison showers and the like can be found throughout. And with today’s current gender-fluid focus, some of that humor is much bolder than it used to be. In fact, even the high-pitched oddball protagonist himself feels a little different these days.
That’s not to say that a family audience couldn’t enjoy this film. They certainly could. It’s broadly weird, oddly eclectic and frantically fun. But a quick pedal through the above listed content sections wouldn’t hurt.
I know, to fans of the film that may seem overly cautious. But to them, I can only say: I know you are, but what am I?
After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.
