Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)
Average Rating: 7.6/10
Reviews Counted: 38
Fresh: 35 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 5
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 3
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3/5
User Ratings: 103,997
My Rating
Movie Info
Co-written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Pee Wee's Big Adventure marks the debut of director Tim Burton, who stamps the entire film with his quirky trademark style. The premise: Pee Wee (Reubens), an overgrown pre-pubescent boy sporting a molded Princeton cut, blush, lipstick, and a shrunken gray flannel suit, lives an idyllic life in his bizarre home (some have compared the remarkable set design to the expressionistic The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) until someone nabs his most prized
Jul 26, 1985 Wide
May 2, 2000
Warner Home Video
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Cast
-
Paul Reubens
Pee-Wee Herman -
Elizabeth Daily
Dottie -
Mark Holton
Francis -
Diane Salinger
Simone -
Judd Omen
Mickey -
Jon Harris
Andy -
Carmen Filpi
Hobo Jack -
Tony Bill
Terry Hawthorne -
James Brolin
"P.W." -
Morgan Fairchild
"Dottie" -
Susan Barnes
Movie Lot Actress -
Simmy Bow
Man in Diner -
Luis Contreras
Biker -
Lou Cutell
Amazing Larry -
Bob Drew
Fireman -
Starletta DuPois
Sgt. Hunter -
Mark Everett
BMX Kid -
Ed Griffith
Trucker -
Irving Hellman
Neighbor -
Ed Herlihy
Mr. Buxton -
Jan Hooks
Tina -
Monte Landis
Mario -
Peter Looney
Policeman -
Damon Martin
Chip -
Bob McClurg
Studio Guard -
Alice Nunn
Large Marge -
Sunshine Parker
Hobo -
Lonnie Parkinson
Biker -
Daryl Roach
Chuck -
Ralph Seymour
Francis' Accomplice -
Lynne Marie Stewart
Mother Superior -
Prof. Toru Tanaka
Butler -
Twisted Sister
Themselves -
Erica Yohn
Madam Ruby -
Milton Berle
Himself [uncredited] -
Phil Hartman
Reporter -
Raymond Martino
Gang Member -
-
John Paragon
Movie Lot Actor -
Cassandra Peterson
Biker Mama -
Bill Richmond
Highway Patrolman -
Michael Varhol
Photographer -
Noreen Hennesey
Reporter -
Richard Brose
Tarzan -
Bill Cable
Policeman -
Patrick Cranshaw
Hobo -
Brett Fellman
Kid -
John Gilgreen
Policeman at Pet Shop -
Chester Grimes
Biker -
Jason Hervey
Kevin Morton -
Howard Hirdler
Biker -
Zachary Hoffman
Director -
John Moody
Bus Clerk -
John O'Neill
Cowboy -
David Rothenberg
Hobo -
George Sasaki
Japanese Director -
Gilles Savard
Pierre -
Drew Seward
Kid -
Alex Sharp
Cowboy -
David C. Glasser
BMX Kid -
Gregory Brown
BMX Kid
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All Critics (39) | Top Critics (5) | Fresh (37) | Rotten (3) | DVD (16)
Reubens always lets us feel superior to his creation, and when his character slips, as it does more than once in this first feature outing, his own condescension shows through.
Fair warning: this movie could induce terminal boredom in adults and rot the minds of the young.
Top CriticChildren should love the film and adults will be dismayed by the light brushstrokes with which Paul Reubens (one of three credited screenwriters, but star-billed under his stage name, Pee-wee Herman) suggests touches of Buster Keaton and Eddie Cantor.
Fed by comic tributaries perhaps, but Pee-Wee Herman comes over as a delightful original.
Top CriticYou have been warned.
The film's inventiveness is on display from the get-go.
Chiefly successful because of its commitment to an artistic ideal: make something that looks, talks, feels, and moves like a cartoon.
A purely creative movie that one must admit has no equal in cinema history (for better or worse). [Blu-ray]
Just as charming and curious as it was in 1985.
It's surreal, funny, clever and disarming in equal measures.
Two stars were born with the release of this film -- one in front of the camera and one behind it.
Burton's first feature revels in the weird, the unpredictable, the infantile and the absurd. A dazzling debut.
The filmmakers create a zany and surreal world for Pee-wee yet it all seems perfectly natural and credible. Plus, it's all infused with a subdued yet rampant silliness that's enchanting.
Tim Burton's visual imagination proves a perfect match for Pee-wee's fanciful exploits.
Goofy, silly, and just plain funny.
Arguably Tim Burton's strangest film.
Já exibindo seu senso de humor bizarro, Burton impressiona em sua estréia como diretor, criando uma aventura ingênua, mas inventiva (e Reubens é um comediante de mão cheia).
Audience Reviews for Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
-
- Pee-Wee Herman: I meant to do that.
-
- Pee-Wee Herman: It's like you're trying to unravel a giant cable-knit sweater and someone keeps knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting and knitting.
-
- Francis: C'mon Pee-Wee listen to reason...
- Pee-Wee Herman: [holds hand to ear] Shhhh... I'm listening to reason.
-
- Pee-Wee Herman: I want to see Francis!
- Butler: Francis is busy!
- Pee-Wee Herman: Busy doing what?
- Butler: He is having his bath.
- Pee-Wee Herman: Well then where are they hosing him down!?
-
- Chuck: When will that be? We've been sitting here for three hours, and we don't know what this is all suppose to mean!
- Pee-Wee Herman: Supposed to mean? Supposed to mean!?
-
- Fireman: This boy's a hero!
Discussion Forum
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Latest News on Pee-wee's Big Adventure
January 12, 2011:
Judd Apatow Could Direct Pee-Wee's New AdventureWe already knew Judd Apatow was producing the new Pee-Wee Herman movie -- but according to Pee-Wee...
November 19, 2010:
Danny Elfman Looks Back on 25 Years with Tim BurtonTo celebrate the release of a limited edition box collecting all of their work together -- and then...
July 2, 2010:
Paul Reubens Talks New Pee-Wee Herman MovieIt's still early in the screenwriting process, but Paul Reubens and Judd Apatow have had some...
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Foreign Titles
- Pee-wees irre Abenteuer (DE)
- Pee Wee Big Adventure (FR)

