SummaryWhen Pee Wee's beloved bike is stolen, he goes on a cross-country trip to the Alamo because a "physic" tells him it's there. On the way, he finds himself in one oddball encounter after another, from posing as an escaped convict's alibi girlfriend to dancing his way out of a biker brawl in a bar to riding in a big-rig with cackling Large Marge (o... Read More
Directed By:Tim Burton
Written By:Phil Hartman, Paul Reubens, Michael Varhol
Pee-wee's Big Adventure
Metascore
Mixed or Average
47
User score
Generally Favorable
7.4
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Metascore
Mixed or Average
64% Positive
9 Reviews
9 Reviews
7% Mixed
1 Review
1 Review
29% Negative
4 Reviews
4 Reviews
100
Everything about Pee-wee's Big Adventure, from its toy-box colors to its superb, hyperanimated Danny Elfman score to the butch-waxed hairdo and wooden-puppet walk of its star and mastermind, Pee-wee Herman, is pure pleasure.
80
Burton's first feature revels in the weird, the unpredictable, the infantile and the absurd. A dazzling debut.
User score
Generally Favorable
75% Positive
66 Ratings
66 Ratings
16% Mixed
14 Ratings
14 Ratings
9% Negative
8 Ratings
8 Ratings
Sep 9, 2024
10
This is the stuff cult classics are made of, the kind of film that's so offbeat, unexpected, kitschy and contentedly niched that one can't help but wonder how a major studio gave it the green light. Paul Reubens lives and breathes this role (literally - he's credited for the role of Pee-Wee as "himself"), and he couldn't have asked for a better dance partner than the similarly quirky, fringe-dwelling director Tim Burton (in his first major picture). Reubens is genuinely larger-than-life in this loose collection of vignettes and skits, and the whole mess is tied together with all the care and subtlety of a spaceship made of duct tape and cardboard. Even when he's not making a direct footprint on the screen, Pee-Wee's influence oozes from every frame, coating everything from the scenery to the wardrobe to the manic, impulsive style of shooting. It's a perfect interpretation of the character's then-famous stage show, an ideal introduction for the unfamiliar masses, and a natural launchpad to ****. I'll grant that it's not for everyone, but for those of us with an appreciation for drag queens, John Waters, The B-52's and sixties housewife chic, it's a direct hit. Pee-Wee represents that rare crossroads where unbridled mayhem, conscience-free good times and hysterical laughter collide in a loud, twisted, dirty ball of pandemonium. I think it's safe to say this one can never be replicated, and I'm both overjoyed and deflated to realize it.
Aug 19, 2020
10
A fantastic movie that wastes no time with the laughs and getting into the plot. Within 15 minutes you’re into the plot proper and ready to go on a spectacular journey with Pee Wee to find his beloved bicycle. With superb and stylish direction by Tim Burton and an excellent soundtrack by Danny Elfman to complement things further you’re in for a great time!
75
Pee-wee's Big Adventure goes up and down the hills of Pee-wee shtick, without much concern for things like cohesiveness and consistency. What makes it wear so well is the balance achieved between Pee-wee's nitwit nervousness and his pathetic optimism. [12 Aug 1985, p.35]
70
With all these safety features built in, this 1985 film is too well padded to qualify as genuinely radical wit, but in an even-toned, TV sort of way it's mildly amusing and inventive throughout.
60
Children should love the film and adults will be dismayed by the light brushstrokes with which Paul Reubens (one of three credited screenwriters, but star-billed under his stage name, Pee-wee Herman) suggests touches of Buster Keaton and Eddie Cantor.
10
The movie has the cartoonish realism of a Muppet movie. However, Mr. Herman is no Kermit the Frog, although he made me feel like Oscar the Grouch. [13 Aug 1985, p.1]
0
Nothing, absolutely nothing, at either location is the slightest bit funny. [13 Sep 1985, p.C]
Aug 11, 2011
10
I find it astonishing that this film, Tim Burton's directorial debut Pee-wee's Big Adventure, has such a low score here at Metacritic. Although I'm not the biggest fan of Burton's style and find his work to be mostly overrated, this movie is a masterpiece of camp that led to one of the greatest 'children's shows' of all-time, Pee-Wee's Playhouse. The deadpan humor never gets old..
May 12, 2012
8
I find it so funny. This movie has a different style compared to most comedies. Overall, the story here is thin ice, but the humor is great.
Jun 22, 2013
7
A fun filled adventure that just proves you don't come between a man and his bike. A solid start in the very mixed directorial career of Mr. Tim Burton.
Jan 21, 2026
6
The rhythmic machinery of a surreal man-child: A 3.0-star vivid but childish drift through high-tension whimsy.2012(3.0)I watched Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 2012, and it remains a vivid 3.0-star record in my archive—a raw revelation of how Tim Burton’s directorial debut could blend a stagnant road-trip formula with a sensational, cartoonish energy. This experience **** the fourth wall of the adventure-comedy by infusing Paul Reubens’ raw, eccentric spirit into a narrative rhythm that felt 100% chewy yet occasionally too pathetic in its silliness for a top-tier rating. The narrative rhythm offered a rhythmic journey through the pathetic tragedy of a stolen bicycle and the raw, colorful encounters with outlaws and ghosts like Large Marge, leaving me in a state of rhythmic amusement at the sheer audacity of its "bbo-jjak" aesthetics. While the production leveraged the vivid, sensational score by Danny Elfman, the narrative rhythm was somewhat stagnant during the episodic travel segments, though it never lost its rebellious soul. Seeing the vivid, Rube Goldberg machinery of Pee-wee’s kitchen and the raw, high-tension chase through the Warner Bros. lot provided an emotional payoff that felt both authentic and sensational, proving that a man-child’s quest could be a vivid act of storytelling rebellion against stagnant adult logic. The 95% preservation of my memory is dominated by the rhythmic, raw laughter of the "Tequila" dance and the vivid but pathetic entitlement of Francis, creating a journey that felt like a solid, 3.0-star artifact of rhythmic imagination. Unlike the stagnant 2.0-star drift of Dark Shadows, this encounter possessed enough raw soul to remain a vivid landmark in my 2012 psychological archive.
Jul 28, 2020
3
I am not a fan of Burton because he has these great characters and ideas but he uses them in such an uninspiring fashion that movie becomes painfully boring. I never laughed while watching this movie.
Production Company:
- Warner Bros.
- Aspen Film Society
Release Date:Aug 9, 1985
Duration:1 h 31 m
Rating:PG
Tagline:You will believe a man can ride a bike.
Awards
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Nomination
TV Land Awards
• 1 Nomination
