Being a child of the 90's, the comic stylings of Pee-wee Herman were somewhat before my time. That said, the character has always piqued my interest, simply because something so utterly goofy has managed to stay recognizable and relevant within the realms of pop-culture for so long. It's easy to attribute the enduring popularity of many 80's icons to nostalgia more than anything else; the likes of Ninja Turtles and Transformers sold a lot of action figures (regardless of the quality of the show), so of course there would be some iteration of these brands for each new generation to come. Pee-wee Herman is the odd one out, however. Unlike so many popular children's properties of the time, Pee-wee was decidedly more comedy than action. When one looks at Pee-wee's Playhouse, one doesn't exactly see a show that was made to sell toys. Yet still, this absurd oddball of a character has remained popular to this day; it was with that in mind that I decided to check out the film that launched the directorial career of Tim Burton, Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
The plot focuses on the escapades of titular manchild, Pee-wee Herman (Paul Reubens). After his treasured bicycle is stolen, Pee-wee sets out on a cross-country crusade to reclaim his lost bike, encountering all manner of colorful characters along the way. This movie is a one-man road trip film; without Reubens, there is no movie here. Despite each scene basically being a vignette in which Pee-wee is placed in an absurd situation (he meets a ghost, he enters a rodeo, etc.), it all flows very nicely. Things take a bit to get going, but once the bike goes missing, there's hardly a dull moment.
The main focus here is Pee-wee himself; while he's basically a living cartoon character, there's something unmistakably relatable about him. He's an inner child made outer, sometimes selfish and simple but all around a good guy. His motivation is simple. He wants his bike back. The entire plot is driven by a basically goodhearted misfit's desire to reclaim that which is rightfully his. Even if you aren't charmed by Pee-wee's slapstick antics, it isn't hard to relate to his struggle. Throughout the entire movie, he has to deal with obstacles in the way of him being reunited with his precious bike. There are times when he's laughed at or talked down to or outright bullied, but at no point does he ever try to be anything other than himself.
Looking at a character like Pee-wee, you'd expect this movie to contain some big speech at the end about how, even though he's different, he's still a good person and that's what really matters. Some scene where Pee-wee essentially defends himself against all his detractors. Instead, we get nothing of the sort. Not to say that Pee-wee doesn't have an arc, but there's no attempts to justify or "sell" his behavior to the audience. He just acts like himself; sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't. If it doesn't, then too bad. The people who matter end up seeing him for the good person he is and the people who still try to put him down for being different get their comeuppance in some form or another. As goofy and absurd a protagonist as Pee-wee is, there's something undeniably positive about his character, which is something I feel should be commended.
Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a wonderfully absurd romp that can endear itself to just about anyone. Paul Reubens is loads of fun to watch as Pee-wee and everything about this film, from the set design to the score (orchestrated by Danny Elfman, naturally), just reeks of Tim Burton in his prime. It's a story about the little guy with a heart of gold venturing out into the cruel, scary world. He doesn't need to slay any demons or become a "hero"; he simply just has to keep being the good person he is in the face of all the bad stuff the world throws at him. It's a story about positivity triumphing over negativity that just feels good to watch, aside from being loads of goofy fun.
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