Pee-wee's Big Adventure - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[addison]

When Pee Wee slides down the pole in his house, he goes from his pajamas to his signature grey outfit and red bow-tie. That was written as an obvious nod to the Batman (1966) TV series, in which James Brolin and Monte Landis played guest roles. When Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson slide down the poles into the Batcave beneath Wayne Manor, they arrive as Batman and Robin. Tim Burton would go on to direct two Batman films, and James Brolin appears in the movie-within-a-movie at the Drive In as "PW".

[russell]

Pee Wee-s house is only 0.6 miles (1Km) from the restaurant where Sarah Connor worked in The Terminator (1984)

[duane]

Many of the movie's props came from the personal belongings of Paul Reubens.

[chris]

Lynne Marie Stewart: impatient "mother superior" in Kevin Morton's movie is "Miss Yvonne" from Pee Wee's TV shows.

[bernice]

Unusually for a Tim Burton film, nothing bad happens to the dog (Speck) in this movie.

[ronnie]

One of two films released in August 1985 in which a childish character from a TV series goes on a road trip and discovers how tough the real world can be. The other was Follow That Bird (1985).

[kristen]

During the entire time Large Marge tells her story, she never blinks.

[willard]

Paul Reubens was very sick from the flu when he filmed the return to the bike shop after his bike is stolen, where Pee-Wee falls on the bikes. This is mentioned in the commentary.

[ava]

The Drive-in sequence was filmed at the Studio Drive In, formerly located in Culver City CA. The Studio was built in the 1930s, and was the first Drive-in Theatre constructed in California. It served as a set for several films, including Grease (1978). It was closed in 1993 and demolished in 1998. No trace of this Drive-in remains.

[jesse]

The car that Pee-wee gets picked up in by Mickey is a 1959 Edsel Corsair convertible.

[jessica]

When Pee-wee is at the pet shop, he frees a chimpanzee first then enlists his help (he even tells the chimp, "you can help me!"). Pee-wee is also afraid of the snakes and is very reluctant to save them, which he does but he screams then passes out after doing so. In reality, Tim Burton has a phobia of chimpanzees.

[frederick]

Tim Burton: [distorted female face] Large Marge's shocked expression.

[bernice]

Paul Reubens mentions on the commentary that during the scene in the movie where he is wheeled out of the bike shop on a gurney, Elizabeth Daily's face went completely white. After filming the scene, he asked her what was wrong. Apparently, she was having flashbacks of her boyfriend Jon-Erik Hexum being wheeled off of a set on a gurney. He accidentally shot himself whilst filming Cover Up (1984)).