Pee Wee’s Big Adventure

This screening took place on Sunday, January 11, 2015 at 3:00 pmYukon Arts Centre

Co-written by Paul Reubens and Phil Hartman, Pee Wee's Big Adventure marks the debut of director Tim Burton, who stamped the entire film with his quirky trademark style. 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. Pee Wee (Paul 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 possession: a fire engine-red customized bicycle. He then embarks on an epic cross-country search to find his lost love, not to mention more than a little adventure. Along the way, he makes friends with various oddball characters, visits the Alamo, endures various hallucinatory nightmares, and has a supernatural run-in with a spectral trucker. In this reprisal of his popular standup routine, Reubens is wonderful as the nerdy man child; he plays it silly, yet he manages to imbue the role with some sensitivity without ever seeming maudlin. Pee Wee's Big Adventure, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is a delightful film, enjoyable for children as well as adults. "This is the movie that, rightfully, catapulted both Tim Burton and Paul Reubens (aka Pee-wee Herman) into the superstar arena." Austin Chronicle Not recommended for young children under 7 as this film contains some frightening and mature scenes.