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.
-Pee-wee, describing himself
The 1985 big-screen adaptation of Paul Reubens' nightclub comedy act (which later inspired Pee-wee's Playhouse), starring Pee-wee Herman As Himself.One day, Pee-wee's treasured bike is stolen by a rival man-child. Desperate to get it back, he embarks on a cross country journey, meeting many bizarre characters along the way (and considering the sort of guy Pee-wee Herman is, that's one hell of a mouthful).Notable for launching the careers of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman (his film composer career, anyway), though Reubens was the real person in-charge. A lesser-known factoid is that much of the film's atmosphere is based on the 1982 no-budget cult film Forbidden Zone: Burton and Reubens were both huge fans of the film, and their decision to hire Danny Elfman was based on his work with the Forbidden Zone group. The movie was written by Reubens and the late great PhilHartman.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure contains examples of the following tropes:
Adult Child: Pee-wee of course, as well as Francis.
Apathetic Citizens: The movie clearly establishes the strip mall Pee Wee visits is busy - with hordes of people walking around, riding bikes and skateboards. However evidently no one seems to have said anything about a person cutting a hundred pounds of chain off of a bike and leaving with it.
Bad Bad Acting: In the Show Within a Show that ends the film, Pee-Wee mouths the actor's lines along with him and keeps glancing at the camera. At one point he can be seen glancing at the director off camera and then sliding partially out of frame.
Lead biker: I say, we kill him. Rest of the gang: Yeah! Biker #2: I say we hang him then we kill him. Rest of the gang: Yeah! Biker #3: I say we scalp him! Gang: Yeah! Biker #3: Then we tattoo him! Gang: Yeah! Biker #3: Then we hang him! Gang: Yeah! Biker #3: And then we kill him! Gang: Yeah! Pee-Wee(in a tiny voice): I say we let him go. Biker gang: NO!
Cool Bike: The driving force of the whole movie is Pee-Wee's quest to find his. The bike itself has rocket boosters, an Ejection Seat, can unleash an Oil Slick, and has spare handlebars pop out if one gets pulled off. Pee-Wee's about to add a truck horn when the bike gets stolen.
The lone Biker Babe in the Hell Satan's club is Elvira.
Several co-stars of Pee-wee's nightclub act and tv show also make appearances: Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne) plays Mother Superior, John Paragon (Jambi) is the high-voiced extra in red armor who Pee-Wee asks directions from, and Phil Hartman (Captain Carl) is the reporter interviewing Francis at the drive-in at the end.
Hiss Before Fleeing: Inverted. At night in a storm, a deranged Pee-wee is walking through an alley, when he's accosted by a group of hoods (one of whom is Burton):
Hooligan: Hey, you're new around here! We don't take kindly to strangers on our turf!
[Pee-wee hisses as a flash of lightning lights up the night; the gangbangers flee in terror]
Informed Loner: A running gag has people who try to ditch someone claim to be "a loner, a rebel..." Pee-wee says it to worm out of a date with Dottie, which is mirrored in the Film Within A Film. Mickey also ditches Pee-wee with the same words in an Ironic Echo.
Innocent Innuendo: Simone, the Greasy Spoon waitress, is overheard by her boyfriend talking to Pee-wee, and he assumes something else "Everyone I know has a big 'but' [read: excuse for not following their dream] Come on, Simone, let's talk about your big 'but.'"
Jail Bake: Not in a cake, but in a footlong hot dog.
Lemming Cops: The security guards at Warner Bros., who take chase (and crash rather impressively), rather than just cutting off all the studio exits.
Line-of-Sight Name: How Pee-wee gets duped by a fortune teller into going on a wild goose hunt to the Alamo.
Man Child: Pee-wee and his archnemesis Francis Buxton.
Matchlight Danger Revelation: Taken to the extreme, when Pee-wee discovers that he's surrounded by every animal in the desert.
Mattress Tag Gag: The reason Mickey is a wanted criminal, or so he tells Pee-Wee.
Missed Him by That Much: Pee-wee's bike is being towed on a trailer, as he's riding alongside it.
Monster Clown: Pee-wee's nightmares are full of them.
Rent-A-Zilla: Arguably subverted here, as during Pee-wee's backlot chase scene the monster movie set he rides through features the actual Godzilla fighting the actual King Ghidorah, for which Warner Brothers was sued.
Rules Of The Road: Pee-wee passes increasingly absurd signs while driving at night.
Santa Claus: Santa Claus and Godzilla. Together at last!
Shout Out: Large Marge is an homage to the classic ghost story of Big Joe. Unlike Marge, Joe is a friendly fella who doesn't try to scare his passengers and even gives them money to eat at the diner where he drops them off.
Spell My Name with an S: In the DVD commentary, Reubens points out that Pee-wee's flyer incorrectly capitalizes the "W" in "Pee-wee."
Survivors Guilt: During the scene when Pee-wee is wheeled out of the bike shop on a gurney, actress Elizabeth Daily's face went completely white. After filming the scene, Reubens asked her what was wrong and she replied to him that the scene had brought back painful memories of seeing her then-boyfriend, Jon-Erik Hexum, being wheeled off of a set on a gurney after accidentally and fatally shooting himself.
Vocal Dissonance: Pee-Wee's voice is dubbed when he makes his cameo in the movie based on his life. Needless to say, it sounds ridiculous.
What Could Have Been: This was originally pitched as a remake to Pollyanna (which is Paul Reubens' favorite film). The indirect sequel Big Top Pee Wee has a bit more Pollyanna influence.
Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: One of the animals sold in the burning pet shop are snakes, which Pee-Wee is rather squeamish about touching. When there's no other animals left to be saved (except for the fishes), he grabs as many as he can and runs out of the building screaming.
Work Off The Debt: Pee-wee washes dishes for his meal at a diner after discovering that he left his wallet at Madam Ruby's.
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