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.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.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.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
Paul Reubens
- Pee-wee Herman
- (as Pee-wee Herman)
Damon Martin
- Chip
- (as Damon Landis)
Daryl Keith Roach
- Chuck
- (as Daryl Roach)
Professor Toru Tanaka
- Butler
- (as prof. Toru Tanaka)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaPaul Reubens said that he, Phil Hartman, and Michael Varhol had never written a screenplay prior to this film. They purchased a book by Syd Field on how to write screenplays and did exactly what the book said. As a result, this movie is sometimes used in screenwriting classes because it fits the screenwriting paradigm perfectly - the film is 90 minutes long and the script is 90 pages long. The first act ends at Page 30 / 30-minute mark, the second act ends at Page 60 / 60-minute mark, etc.
- GoofsWhen Pee-wee and Simone watch the sunrise they enter a red T-Rex, but exit a green T-Rex, because it was being lit with a red spotlight.
- Quotes
Pee-wee: There's a lotta things about me you don't know anything about, Dottie. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.
Dottie: I don't understand.
Pee-wee: You don't wanna get mixed up with a guy like me. I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel. So long, Dott.
- Alternate versionsThere are at least 2 fullscreen versions of the film. An open matte version that shows off more vertical picture than the theatrical widescreen (the earliest VHS releases are this way), and a pan-and-scan cropped version, cropped from the theatrical widescreen.
- ConnectionsFeatured in At the Movies: The Worst Films of 1985 (1986)
- SoundtracksBurn in Hell
Written by Dee Snider
Performed by Twisted Sister
Courtesy of Atlantic Recording Corp.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Featured review
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.
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.
Helpful•473
- bob the moo
- Nov 29, 2003
- Permalink
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- La gran aventura de Pee-Wee
- Filming locations
- Wheel Inn Restaurant - 50900 Seminole Drive, Cabazon, California, USA(Truck stop and dinosaurs)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $6,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $41,047,344
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $4,545,847
- Aug 11, 1985
- Gross worldwide
- $41,047,344
- Runtime1 hour 31 minutes
- Sound mix
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Paul Reubens in Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYTQ2MmVlNzctZGE5Ni00MGMwLWJmMWYtODAzZmRlZTljMGEzXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTUyMzE4Mzg@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,2,90,133_.jpg)