Pee-wee’s Big Adventure

Dir. Tim Burton. 1985, 91 mins. 35mm. With Paul Reubens, Mark Holton, Elizabeth Daily, Diane Salinger, Judd Omen. The unexpected inventiveness and unbridled joy of Burton’s debut feature still astonishes. The first big-screen romp for Reubens’s lovably off-kilter stand-up alter ego Pee-wee Herman established Burton as a singular auteur, Danny Elfman as a game-changing movie score composer, and Herman as an archetype for a new kind of anti-masculinity. An homage to Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves, of all things, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure follows the solitary man-child as he goes on a cross-country trip to rescue his beloved stolen bike. Serving up one delirious delight after another—from the morning reverie of the breakfast machine to the night ride of “Large Marge” to Pee-wee’s biker bar dance—Burton’s film took everyone by pleasant surprise when it became a sleeper smash in summer ’85. (Released August 9, 1985)  

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). Order tickets. Please pick up tickets at the Museum’s admissions desk upon arrival. All seating is general admission. Review safety protocols before your visit.