Transcript

Intro Clip

Morning, Pee Wee. Hello, Francis, today is my birthday and my father said I can have anything I want. Good for you and your father. So guess what I want? A new brain?

Intro Clip

No. Your bike.

Intro Clip

Oh, what's so funny, Pee Wee? It's not for sale, Francis. My father says everything's negotiable, Pee Wee, I wouldn't sell my bike for all. The money in the world. Not for a hundred billion, million, trillion dollars.

Intro Clip

Then you're crazy. I know you are, but what am I? You're a nerd. I know you are, but what am I? You're an idiot.

Intro Clip

I know you are, but what am I? I know you are, but what am I? I know you are, but what am I? I know you are, but what am I? I know you are, but what am I?

Intro Clip

I know you are, but what am I? Infinity. No, I'm not. You are. No way.

Intro Clip

Knock it off. Cut it out. Oh, shut up, Peewee. Why don't you make me? Why don't you make me?

Intro Clip

Because I don't make monkeys. I just trade them. Pee Wee, listen to reason. Come on. I'm listening to reason.

Intro Clip

Pee Wee. That's my name, don't wear it out. Remember the first time I saw your bike? You were riding past my house and. I came running out to tell you.

Intro Clip

How much I liked it. Even way back then. I love that story.

Intro Clip

You'll be sorry, Pee wee Herman.

Steve

It's 2 Dads 1 Movie. It's the podcast where two middle aged dads sit around and shoot the shit about the movies of the 80s and 90s. Here are your hosts, Steve, Paulo and Nic Briana. Hello, everybody. It's another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie.

Steve

I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

And today we are Talking about the 1980s, 85. Absurdist, bizarre, amazing classics. Yeah.

Nic

How do you describe it? Right.

Steve

Peewee's Big Adventure. This of course being the first movie about the Pee Wee Herman character and also Tim Burton's directorial debut. So, like very much, you know, a lot of talk, a lot to talk about.

Steve

Nic, this was your pick. Tell us a little bit about your history with Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Nic

Yeah, so this is one I think I probably got into after the movie came out, when the Saturday morning show was on, which I think happened in like the late 80s, right? This was 85 and that show was on maybe like late 80s. So that got me introduced to the Pee Wee character, which I loved, as did a lot of kids at that time.

Nic

And this was a movie that I remember seeing. I thought it Was really cool to see, like, one of my favorite characters who seemed like a kid's character, but he's on a real movie. He's not just on Saturday. Like, I didn't really know the origins of him doing the character for adults at theaters where everyone was smoking and stuff. But, yeah, so I always thought this was a fun one.

Nic

I haven't watched this in a long time. But another thing about it is a mutual friend of ours, Matt Gilbert, who you remember from high school, he's like, the closest to a filmmaker of the friends that I know. I mean, he is a filmmaker, but does, like, other video stuff. But he was always, like, into certain movies for reasons. And I always like to give his favorite movies another look because he would, like, have this perspective of, like, why certain things were cool.

Nic

And this was one that he would talk about a lot as being, like, you know, inspirational to a lot of stuff that he did because he ended up working like, puppets and stop motion and stuff like that. So. Shout out Matt Chilbert. Yeah, so I thought this was kind of cool as, like, a fun kids character, but also something that, like, film people could appreciate for a lot of reasons.

Steve

Yeah, the.

Steve

The. The show Pee Wee's Playhouse debuted just the next year in 86, ran until 91, which, yeah, it was like prime time for us to be into that, you know, at our age. I was a huge fan as well. I think I also saw the movie after having watched the. The show a bunch, you know, and, like, not in the theater anything.

Steve

So more about, like, you know, got into the show on Saturday mornings and then, you know, one day at Blockbuster, some Friday evening when my parents, like, oh, you go pick something out from, like, the kids or the comedy section, you know, I found it went, whoa, wait, wait, wait. There's a Pee Wee movie? Yeah, it's like, we didn't, like, find things out back then. Right. There's no Internet.

Steve

There was no, you know, how did you discover things if you were a kid? If it wasn't advertised on tv?

Nic

There was one stumbling upon exactly.

Steve

Just seeing it at a record store or video rental or whatever. So, yeah, that's my take, you know, or my history with it as well, is just, like, definitely saw it from a young age.

Steve

I think of the movies that we've done on the show here that I had seen before, which obviously not. Not all of them. You know, we've both had new experiences on this show, which is great. This is the movie that it's. It's like, been the longest since I'D seen it.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Of anything that we've done. I think I probably haven't seen this movie since I was, like, 12.

Nic

Okay. Nice.

Steve

Really, really long time ago, like, probably pre high school. And I think that that's probably a combination of, like, I got into. I got to be very big movie snob when I was a teenager. I got in, like, I saw my first, like, Kevin Smith movie and Quentin Tarantino movie, like, in the same year, and suddenly I thought I knew everything, you know, about what was a good movie or not, whatever. And, like, Tim Burton's the kind of person that I definitely did not respect enough at that age.

Steve

Like, I was not kind of, like, I was too much of a douche, basically. Like, I needed to, like, appreciate the massive inventiveness of his mind.

Nic

Yeah. You had too much Boondock Saints in your blood at that time.

Steve

That kind of.

Steve

I was way into that. Yeah. And thankfully have walked away from that. From that as, like, an identity.

Nic

So that's good.

Steve

But. Yeah. Cool. All right, well, let's jump into the facts.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Peewee's Big Adventure. It was released on July 26, 1985, with a PG rating. It runs for 91 minutes. Directed by Tim Burton, written by Phil Hartman of SNL fame, Paul Rubens and Michael Varhol. Starring Paul Rubens, though obviously credited at the very beginning of the movie as Pee Wee Herman.

Steve

So it's sort of like he's the character and the actor.

Nic

Yeah. Which is very interesting. Kind of a Mr. T style.

Steve

Yeah.

Steve

Or phenomenon. Larry the Cable Guy sort of thing. Right. You know, that thing. So that the Persona sort of precedes the actor scores.

Steve

Rotten tomatoes, 78%. In retrospect, I thought that was actually kind of low. Like I was. When I saw that. I was expecting something higher after having watched the movie again.

Steve

But. But there it is. IMDb 7.1, which is kind of where we live a lot of the times. I feel like our show, our movies often fall in that 7.1 category. Did not win anyone.

Nic

2Dads, all sevens podcast.

Steve

They did. The show, the movie did not win any awards. It was nominated for a couple minor awards. Did not win any on a $6 million budget.

Steve

However, it earned 41 million at the box office in the mid-80s, which is amazing. A 6.8 times its budget. That's obviously a huge hit. And this is, you know, definitely helped to push Tim Burton's career along. And, you know, obviously one of the reasons he ended up scoring the two Batman films he got to do was the success of movies like this.

Nic

Absolutely.

Steve

So congratulations, obviously, to Tim Burton, who, of course, we've seen before. This is. This is the Tim Burton movie we're doing. But we've seen him before.

Nic

We saw him as a. As an actor. Right. In a very early episode of our.

Steve

Podcast, the Movie Singles, he played a character who was a videographer for a dating website.

Steve

Or not website, obviously, for a video dating service.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But he got to do that. And so we've seen Tim Burton before, but this is the first time that we've got a Tim Burton behind the camera production, which is great.

Nic

Welcome back, Timmy.

Nic

We hardly. We missed you, buddy. Well, and then the other thing is, as we're seeing the credits, the opening credits to this, that the music is done by Danny Elfman, which just adds so much to the. The feeling of this film. And.

Nic

And Elfman and Burton went on to collaborate several times after this and.

Steve

And to fantastic results. Yeah, Like, Elfman and Burton together are just really great. It's almost like David Fincher and Trent Reznor doing amazing things together as a director and composer.

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

They just belong together. They seem to understand each other. Like, I know the audio version of.

Steve

What you're trying to show, the whimsy and the sparkle.

Nic

Really great.

Nic

And we start off with. With some of that. I think the. The opening credits of this film are actually kind of very restrained. Like, there's not a whole lot of wackiness or anything wild.

Nic

Yeah. It's good to see Phil Hartman's name, though. That's always. That's always great. So we open basically on a dream sequence, right.

Nic

Where Pee Wee is having a dream about, you know, the greatest sporting event in the world. The Tour de France.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And. And, you know, the Tour de France, and they're all wearing these cool, like, aerodynamic mullet helmets and stuff.

Nic

And Peewee whizzes by them on his, like, souped up Debo beach cruiser. And. And it's just kind of a fun thing because, you know, his posture does not change the way he rides the bike. He's not leaning forward or anything. You know, the same way that he.

Steve

Always does, even with the saddlebags, which can't possibly help the aerodynamics of the bike. It's still. He's winning because it's his dream. So he's winning the Tour de France. Yeah.

Nic

But we get. We get kind of a fun little, like, montage, or not really a montage, but just a little sequence of what Peewee's morning is like.

Steve

Right, Right.

Nic

So this is kind of funny. You know, he first wakes up out of bed, he picks up these 1 pound weights, he does a couple of very restrained reps with them, and then he has this fabulous Rube Goldberg machine that makes his breakfast for him, which is really fun.

Nic

And that's one thing as a kid I for sure remember from this movie. Like, we talk about not seeing it in a while. There's a couple things of this in this movie that really stuck with me. And this was definitely one which is like, where do you see this? This is not in movies.

Nic

You know, this is like.

Steve

Right.

Nic

It was really cool to see that.

Steve

Funny enough, 1985, of course, was the year of Rube Goldbergian breakfast making contraptions. Because the opening sequence of Back to the Future has Doc Brown's crazy kitchen contraption giving Einstein his food right when Marty comes over to Doc's house to play around with his.

Steve

With his amplifier. So, yeah, there's actually the same year two movies that do this kind of thing. Much more elaborate here Pee Wees is a much more elaborate crazy Doc Brown.

Nic

Big Adventure traveled back in time with that great idea.

Steve

He certainly could have.

Nic

Yeah, yeah. Well, shout out to Rube Goldberg contraptions. It's way better than just shoving a toaster button down.

Steve

A couple of things I noticed when he first wakes up, there's a rug on his floor, and it's like, got woodland creatures on it, but they're clearly actually the characters from Bambi, the Disney movie, like, in the exact art style and everything. So there's a little bit of a Disney reference there.

Steve

I don't know if they had to get, like, permission to use something like that or not, but yeah, he's got a Bambi rug, he has a fire pole. And as he slides down it, right, he's wearing his pajamas. And when he comes down, he's wearing the classic gray suit and tie. So he's ready to go for the day. I also noticed there was among the many elements that move around the kitchen to get his breakfast ready, there's like a pterodactyl model that is carrying two pieces of bread to drop in the toaster.

Steve

I definitely had that exact pterodactyl model, like, hanging from a string.

Nic

Oh, nice.

Steve

You know, as in my childhood bedroom. And it was like an instant core memory. When I saw it, I was like, oh, my God.

Steve

I remember like, literally putting that together and it would fall apart and you try to put it together again, and it was never that good.

Nic

But yes, and in his breakfast is finally kind of in front of him. And he covers the plate with Mr. T cereal. Shout out to that didn't mean to be fair.

Steve

He's feeding his breakfast the cereal, right?

Nic

That's right. The pancake has a face. And then. And then, you know, he takes one bite with a fork, which is basically like three cereal morsels, and chews it a bunch of times. So he's being very macrobiotic about it, and then, like, dabs his mouth.

Nic

That always. That always really, really cracked me up.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

And we're kind of shown, like, through all these things that this is obviously a grown man who lives on his own and stuff, but all of his interests are right in line with, like, the age of boy I was when I saw this movie.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So being like 8, 9 years old, and you're like dinosaurs riding your bike, Mr. T. Like sugary cereal. Having a pole instead of stairs, man. I mean, he's really living the dream.

Steve

Absolutely. Yeah.

Steve

Yeah. And so he. He heads out to leave for the day, to start his day. And he's got, like, this wild front yard, right? There's, like, statues and, like, looks like kitty amusement ride vehicles, all kinds of stuff everywhere.

Steve

And he says hi to his neighbor who's looking out his window and says, oh, I'm gonna water my lawn now. And he's got one of those. I don't know what they were called, but the little, like, floppy hose, little water. It's the worst possible way to water your lawn, but. But that's what he uses.

Steve

And it obviously, you know, sprays the neighbor's window. So it was very nice of him to warn him and let him know. And then the next piece is sort of like one of the coolest things early on that shows us. I mean, obviously, everything we see to this point is already, like, peewee lives in sort of this enchanted semi reality. Right.

Steve

I mean, there's definitely, like, things about his existence that, you know, aren't real. Well, this is another one of them, but it's maybe the best, which is the secret garage that holds his. His prized bike, his prized possession. So he's got a little keypad on the side of his house, and he, like, is tapping a bunch of stuff. And he, like, you know, it opens up like a.

Steve

Like a hedge opens up. It's very cool. Like, I always loved that. And I want to talk about the bike for a minute, because this is when we first see the bike. He wheels it out.

Steve

He's talking to it. He's rubbing it with a little cloth. He's over. What was your Honest take about the bike when you were a kid.

Nic

Like, did.

Nic

I did. I think that that's a cool bike.

Steve

That looks like, you know, the way an 8 year old boy does. Can you lust after the bike?

Nic

No, because cool bikes were BMX bikes at our age.

Steve

Completely agree with you.

Nic

I thought a parent showing their kid this movie would be like, isn't that a cool bike, son? Like, it's exactly marketing to the people who are paying money for it.

Steve

Totally fair.

Nic

That's a great question because it is like, oh, no.

Nic

Not a cool guy though. He has a bunch of friends who ride those.

Steve

Yeah. Because the. Right.

Steve

Because the kids who have like the BMX like outfits, like the little armor, the little shoulder pads and stuff, they were cool, right? When, when we were kids, like, that was who I want to be. And the guys who like did the, you know, riding the BMX bikes near the beginning that are like twisting the wheels around. I'm like, that's awesome. You know, his is like, it's neat and it certainly has a lot of useful.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Has a lot of great features that appear at different points in the movie. And it practically flies at one point almost.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So that's all neat.

Steve

And I just always thought that the lion headed speaker with the walkie talkie piece or that was kind of a cool. I would have liked to have that. But yeah, in general I was like, this is like a pretty, like as a kid thinking this is a pretty lame bike like this. You can't really go fast on it.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Even if he is winning the Tour de France in his dreams, like, you know. But yeah, I just was wondering with that because I was watching this going, man, I think even as a kid I thought the bike's okay.

Nic

Yeah. Like, it's all right. Hey, seems like a nice guy.

Nic

I hope he gets his bike. I don't see why he cares so much.

Steve

Yeah, yeah. Cared way more about Pee Wee being happy than the actual bike being cool. You know, like.

Nic

Yeah. He basically comes, you know, he's about to go take his bike out for a ride and he encounters the nemesis.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

Of the neighborhood. Who's Francis.

Nic

And we kind of are shown, you know, Francis is like a snobby rich kid, very entitled. It's my birthday and my dad said I can have anything I want and I want your bike.

Steve

Right.

Nic

You know, so that's what he tells Peewee. And Peewee is just like, you're not gonna.

Nic

I'm not gonna do the voice anymore. That's can become insufferable. Quickly ask my family when we're on a car. Car ride.

Steve

Insufferable.

Steve

I know you are, but what am I? Yeah, that's my only child. It's not even a good one. So we're not going to do that anymore.

Nic

But you know, Francis is very kind of bulletin.

Nic

And in this world, like the world that Peewee exists in, like almost everybody is really nice and really cool to him.

Steve

Right.

Nic

As much as he's like a weirdo and like, you know, people are very nice to him and very helpful. So like someone like Francis, they. He stands out a lot.

Nic

Nobody's like that.

Steve

Peewee seems to instantly win over almost everyone that he encounters. You know, maybe not instantly, but like very quickly. Makes friends very easily, all this stuff. And I'll notice too, or I'll note rather as well.

Steve

Peewee is this, yeah, like adult person, but obviously with incredibly childlike interests and mannerisms and whatever. And Francis is as well, right? He's clearly also like, yeah, in his like late 20s, early 30s or whatever. He's around a 30 year old person, but all very, very childlike, childish, et cetera. Whereas everybody else in the movie really appears to be just like normal people for their age.

Steve

Like the kids act like kids, the adults act like adults, you know, with maybe the only exception being like Dottie's infatuation with Peewee is maybe a little odd. But like other than that, like everybody else is normal. Like Frances and Peewee stand out as like these man children.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And it's just interesting because I feel like it makes the most sense to either have everybody act that way or only one person act that way.

Steve

Having two is almost a little stranger, you know what I mean? Which maybe that was the idea, but like, yeah, they are perfectly, you know, antagonistic towards each other partly because they're both have the, you know, minds and interests of 6 year olds basically.

Nic

Right. And even going to Francis not having the imagination to be like, well, I'm super rich, I could get an equivalent bike made or whatever. Just that like I need.

Nic

He can't see beyond like what's right in front of him.

Steve

Exactly. Yeah.

Nic

So Peewee, you know, rides his bike away and then he's kind of encounters some of these dudes who are doing the bike tricks and he's like, oh. He says in a very normal voice, watch these tricks that I can do.

Nic

And it's funny, like sticking his feet up and like sitting sideways and all that. These ridiculous looking tricks.

Steve

The legs all the way up on the handlebars is the One that made me nervous watching this as an adult. I'm like, that is not safe, dude. Like, you should really be careful.

Steve

You are going to fall over, and you have no way to brace yourself. Like, the other thing. Helmet his bike.

Nic

Tricks don't look fun.

Steve

No.

Nic

Like, they're very technically difficult. They don't look that fun. So another point against the bike.

Steve

That's fair. That's fair.

Nic

I'm glad we're not rating the bike.

Steve

No, no. The bike is not up for debate. It just exists within the world. So, yeah, so he has some shopping to do, as you know, it seems like.

Steve

So he heads to the local mall. It's like this outdoor mall. And he's passing by all these bikes that are locked up on a normal bike rack. And he comes to this, like, clown that's like, you know, one of those advertising sort of things. Like, it's like a mechanical clown.

Steve

And he pulls. It's. I love gags like this. It's obvious. The way they do it is that there's a hole in the bottom of the saddlebag.

Steve

And. Yeah, but the amount. Ridiculous. And he. I mean, and they really.

Steve

This is another one of those marks of sort of like, really fun, absurdist comedies is when the joke is funny and then goes long enough that you kind of like, I'm getting kind of tired of this. And then keeps going longer, and you're like, okay, it's funny again. And I feel like the chain yanking on this one is like that, where by the end of it, you're like, oh, my God, have we really been sitting here for, like, you know, 60 seconds watching him pull chain out of the bike? And I didn't time it, but I think it was about there.

Nic

Yeah, it was.

Nic

It was good. But getting that timing down is very difficult to do. And I think it successfully. Successfully does it.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Yeah. So. So Peewee's got to go in, and he's picking up, I think, a new horn for his bike.

Steve

Well, first he goes to the magic shop.

Nic

He goes, mario's Magic Shop is good.

Steve

And. And it's funny. It's interesting, too, because he. He goes inside the magic shop, and the. The.

Steve

The writing on the door that tells you, this is Mario's Magic Shop is. Is. We can read it. So it's like backwards. If you were outside the shop, you would.

Steve

It would be backwards, which is an interesting choice. But Mario seems like a cool guy. He's got some interesting stuff, you know, with him. I think the main things that kind of come into play later Is he gives him some trick gum. Right.

Steve

And we don't know. He doesn't really say what's tricky about it, but trick gum. And then I think it was goggles with, like, headlights, like headlight glasses. I think those are the things that he's sort of like that. If I remember correctly, he takes buys from the magic shop that kind of matter later.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

The rest of it sort of. There's just stuff that he's, like, playing with or whatever. It's a lot of just gags, very Pee Wee Herman style, you know, just sight gags and different things. And his little chuckle, you know, every 15 seconds.

Nic

He loves that magic shot. Who's the. Is it Q or M, the character from James Bond that, like, gives him all his gadgets?

Steve

It's Q. M is the boss. Q is the tech guy.

Nic

Yeah. This magic shop owner is basically Q for Peewee's. Peewee's adventure here.

Steve

But so is Dottie, in a way.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Maybe she's Moneypenny NQ as well. For doing Suddenly Pee Wee is James Bond. Which makes sense later.

Nic

Bow tie.

Steve

That's right.

Steve

But so then after going the magic shop, he goes over. In fact, he kind of even notices his bike. He taps his bike and says, okay, you're still here. Goes into Chuck's bike shop, right, Chuck. Yeah, that's where Dottie works.

Steve

And Dottie is. First of all, Dottie is hotter than I remember.

Nic

I was. I was shocked by that, too. Because, like, when you're a kid, you have these, you'll be like, oh, yeah, he had a pretty girl.

Nic

And watching it again and be like, they really had to make her look silly so that it wasn't, like, visually too striking to see her in the Peewee character.

Steve

Strikingly attractive actress. I don't know if she's been in a lot of other stuff, but, like, it was very much like, man, Peewee is a moron if he's not like, this chick is into you, dude. Like, what are you doing? But, yeah, he's there to pick up this, like, the loudest bike horn that has ever existed.

Steve

Dottie has special made. That's the thing, is that she's like a bike person. She does special things on the bike. Like, they couldn't be better together in so many ways.

Nic

Again, kind of like in Rounders, where Famka Jantz's character is into all of his stuff and she's beautiful and she obviously loves him.

Nic

It's like, what are you doing, Peewee? What are you doing, Mike? Mike McDwee.

Steve

Mike McDwee.

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

So pee Wee has the world's largest or loudest bike horn. And at some point during this recording, I'm sure he will drive by blaring it.

Steve

I guarantee I'll edit that out, but that happens just about every week. Yeah. So, yeah, definitely.

Steve

You know, he gets that. They chat for a while, and Dottie's kind of like, hey, like, why don't you, like, take me out to the drive in? Like, I'd love to, like, go out with you, whatever. And it's like, he says one of the, like, lines that has definitely survived the decades since this movie came out, which is like, you don't want to get mixed up with me. I'm a loner, Dottie, a rebel.

Steve

You know, and it's like, there's T shirts and stuff. Like, literally, my wife found a T shirt with, like, Pee Wee Herman in, like, an X wing Rebel alliance fighter flight jacket, like, flight suit. And it says, like, I'm a loner, Dottie, a rebel. In, like, the Star wars script. I'm like, okay, that's a fun, fun mashup there.

Steve

But, yeah. So then he goes, you know, he basically says, like, hey, thanks. Talk to you later. You know, whatever. And Dottie kind of resigns herself to.

Steve

To pee's going to go now. But he goes outside, goes back to his bike, funny enough, right. Walks all the way over to where his bike.

Nic

Yeah, he could see it from the store.

Steve

From.

Steve

From the front door of the store. He could see that it's just a pile of chain now.

Nic

A few loose links on the ground. I like him picking up the broken pieces.

Steve

Yes, exactly.

Steve

But now he is. He is distraught, runs back into the bike shop and screams about his bike being stolen and kind of passes out. And the cops show up and, like, you know, it's a wild sort of situation, but they basically tell him, like, look, we can't really do anything.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

About, like, we're sorry your bike's missing.

Steve

We'll keep an eye out for it. But, like, this isn't a police emergency. Like, so sorry. Because he's like, you know, lock down the mall. And he's like, this is so crazy.

Nic

It cut to. When it cut to him telling. I think maybe he was talking to police officer basically about his bike being stolen. And her line was, what exactly leads you to believe the Soviets were involved?

Steve

Just.

Nic

Just great, because, like, Peewee immediately became super schizophrenic the second the. The bike disappears. Yeah. So obviously, like, it was Francis. Like, Francis is the Guy who's been after him, he's been after the bike.

Nic

He stated his intentions basically earlier. So we get to go confront Francis at his house and he is like, taking a bath and basically like Don Corleone's like, indoor swimming pool size bathtub playing with these really cool ships. It looks like a hell of a time, honestly. But changing that water sure is a waste.

Steve

Well, and it's, it's.

Steve

Even the faucets are enormous. Like, if you look at like the actual, like, like the knobs and the actual faucet, they're huge. Like, everything is just, you know, made to. The actor who plays Francis is a bigger guy and relatively tall, but, you know, this tub is so big he looks like an infant.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

In it. Right. You know, which I'm sure is kind.

Nic

Of the point right there. He's.

Nic

He's the big baby the entire time.

Steve

Basically, Peewee Lav runs in, jumps in, tackles him and they're like fighting in the water and, you know, all this stuff. And then finally Francis's dad, you know, is able to bust in through the door and, and confront them and just be like, oh, you know, you two are supposed to be friends. Like, you know, did you take his bike, Francis? No, daddy, I didn't.

Steve

You know, that whole thing. Oh, well, he said he didn't take it, Peewee. You two shake and make up. And so Peewee, like, shakes his hand again, the situation, but then offers them both pieces of the trick gum that he got at the magic shop. Yeah, it looks like there were fruit and spearmint.

Steve

The fruit one that the father took, apparently spicy because he starts screaming pain, basically. And then Francis is. Oh, God, it's like devolving into this black ink in his mouth, pouring out really horrific. And also clearly Tim Burton's inspiration several years later for the Penguin in Batman Returns. And that whole, like, grossness going on very big.

Nic

Also, shout out to Ernest Goes to jail. He's chewing on his pen while he's at jury duty. So that's the ink. That's the ink trifecta.

Steve

There you go.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

But yeah. And again, the. The way that Francis's dad reacts to this whole situation.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Is like, it kind of shows you how the movie's gonna go. He's not like, this maniac's in my house trying to attack my son. He's like, yeah, you boys are friends. You figure like, it's this world where you're not treated like authority figures, don't treat you like police or the law. Would treat you.

Nic

They treat you like a nice parent would treat you.

Steve

Or like maybe a teacher.

Nic

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Steve

It's interaction with the real adults in this world for Peewee is very much there. They give him all the benefits of the doubt and all the sort of like assumptions of innocence.

Steve

You would give like a small child.

Nic

Right.

Steve

Yeah. Whereas, yeah, really it was a, you know, 30 something year old man just broke into your house, jumped into your son's tub and is trying to drown him. So maybe you might want to do something about that, Mr. Buxton.

Nic

Be a little harsher there. So Pee Wee basically gathers the whole town and has this like meeting in the basement where he's laying out all his clues. And this is a funny scene as he's going through like exhibit A, you know, and going through these different things. You know, here's a picture of me with my bike and here's another picture of just me. You notice what's different?

Nic

My bike's not in it. But he's going on. And they make a comment, comment, basically that the meeting has lasted like three hours, which is craziness. Yeah. And Peewee says something like, it's like you're unraveling a cable knit sweater, but someone just keeps knitting and knitting and knitting.

Nic

And that's another joke that went on too long but then became funny again. Also inspired Weezer years later.

Steve

Not. Yeah, not. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So, yeah, so he's been funny. And then this is good. When Peewee leaves the meeting in the basement and he is just esteemed. He's determined, he's getting his bike and nobody's gonna get in his way of it.

Nic

And he's encountered by this group of like street tough.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

Who are all like leather jacket in an alleyway. And he's just like hisses at them and they all back away, which I thought was really funny.

Steve

Fun fact, fun little bit of trivia.

Steve

The, the, the head thug that walks up to him and is like, you're new here. We don't take Kylie to new people in this neighborhood. That guy.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Tim Burton.

Nic

Oh, nice. All right. Decided to insert him putting himself in the film.

Steve

So, yeah, so he's out, it's raining, he's walking the streets. He's running to these street tufts and sort of hissed at them and they've run away.

Steve

But he sees in the window, you know, sign for Madame Ruby, a psychic. And he decides to go in and, you know, maybe she can tell him where his bike is.

Nic

Yeah. And so, and I like that her office is tarot, slash, palm reader, slash income tax. As an income tax person, I do it say, sometimes people documents.

Nic

People's documents are in worse shape than their lifelines on their palms.

Steve

Little harder to read. Faxes of faxes of copies of faxes. Yeah. So he.

Steve

So she tells. First of all, she takes his wallet from him in a way that he doesn't seem to notice. Or maybe he put it on the table because he goes to pay her. And she says, like, you know, 20 bucks, I'll tell your future. 30 bucks, I'll tell you a little more.

Steve

50 bucks, I'll tell you everything. So he gives her $50. And at some point, she, like, either takes the wallet from him or he sets it down and she takes it. But she's able to look through the photos and she sees several pictures of him with his bike. And so she's, you know, said, oh, I see a bike.

Steve

And he's like, oh, my God, where is it? Where's it was? You know. And then I. Kind of.

Steve

Apropos of. Oh, no, that's right. She looks outside the window across the street and there's something.

Nic

There's a sign that says, Alan Mo. Right?

Nic

So she says, it's in the Alamo.

Steve

In the basement. In the basement of the Alamo. And yeah, so. So he, you know, super excited.

Steve

He's like, cool, it's time for me to go. I'm going to. I'm going to go to the Alamo right now. We don't actually know where Pee Wee Herman is initially.

Nic

Doesn't say, do we assume it's la?

Nic

Because he's back at the film studios later.

Steve

I feel like it's SoCal. Most likely you got the classic. And again, partly because they probably just filmed it somewhere in the area, but it's like they got the classic brown suede hills of California and all that. But he has to head to Texas, to San Antonio.

Steve

Right, to go find the Alamo.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So he decides to hitchhike.

Nic

And he's got the, like, he's a very cute sign. It looks like he went to Hobby Lobby for his hitchhike into Texas sign.

Nic

It's like a cutout of the shape of Texas. And then, yeah, the perfect hobo bindle. So he's ready for the road and.

Steve

He'S not getting any. And nobody's stopping for him, at least not initially.

Steve

So he puts on a really enormous fake thumb. I don't remember if that came from the magic shop at the beginning or if he just Happened to have.

Nic

I think he might have just busted.

Steve

It out, but yeah. So he busted to try to hitchhike.

Nic

And he's so amused by the thumb.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

He loves the thumb. Like, he's having such a better time hitchhiking.

Steve

I wish I could be.

Steve

And again, this is a fictional character, so that's why. But I wish I could be as happy about almost anything in life as he is about everything happens to him.

Nic

I mean, yeah, he's. He's really, like, taken everything in stride.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

So he ends up getting picked up.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

By guy in a convertible.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Who clearly has, like, a broken handcuff on his right hand.

Steve

Two of them. Yeah. On each.

Nic

Oh, he's got him. He's got him.

Steve

He was able to break the chain in the middle, which is why they don't make those that way anymore. But. But yeah. So he picks him up. His name is Mickey, I think he introduced himself.

Steve

And. And they chat for a while. And at one point, there's a point where they take, like, a left on the highway or whatever. And then going past them, when Peewee's not looking is this big pickup truck with his bike's right back of it. Because we did see exit.

Steve

I think we missed it. Right. Earlier, Francis told you there was, like, a thug talking to Francis in his room. And he basically said, like, I don't want the bike anymore. So the guy did steal the bike for Francis, but he's now saying, like, it's too much trouble.

Steve

I'm going to get in trouble. I don't want it anymore, so just get rid of it. It.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Which is, like, insane.

Steve

Can't you just be like, can you just, like, drop it off at his house in the middle of the night and run away? Yeah, like, that would be not that hard. You know, something like something. But get rid of it.

Nic

Peewee asked so Mickey.

Nic

Because it now it's like, okay, this is an escaped convict. This is a scary guy. But again, the world that we live in. Peewee asked Mickey what he did to get arrested. And he's like, oh, you know those tags on a mattress that say, do not remove whatever.

Nic

Like, I cut one off.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Which is such an 80s joke, by the way. And this is like, every hack comedian was like, oh, you know what it is? Yeah.

Nic

So when they're driving by, the bike goes by, and then they're coming up on a checkpoint because there's kind of like a manhunt, obviously, for Mickey. And they pull up to it, and Peewee's like, oh, I got an idea. And basically he gives Mickey like a very shoddy looking beard and goatee.

Steve

Terrible goatee.

Nic

Goatee and mustache.

Nic

Right. And glasses. And then Pee Wee is dressed like a lady from head to toe. We find out, right? I mean, the quick change artistry by him.

Steve

And like, I mean, he really has got everything. So they get stopp by these, you know, they come to the checkpoint, this like really big fat old shitty cop talks to him about like, whatever. And it's basically openly hitting on Peewee who like, even in, you know, the best of circumstances is not. Does not make an attractive woman, per se. Right.

Steve

But he is like really hitting on her when this is clearly like a couple. And he's like, why don't you step out of the vehicle just so I could get a look at you. I mean, it's just the grossest, like, abuse of power shithead cop, like, ever. Like, I didn't think I'd be so upset by a police officer in this movie, but here it is.

Nic

Yeah, so.

Nic

But it works, you know, and they're able to. They're able to drive off. So immediately they drive off. Mickey's like ripping his fake beard and mustache off and everything. And Pee Wee is happy as a clam still in his outfit, which is so funny.

Nic

He's just enjoying every bit of the drive, like wearing his pretty lady outfit. Even as they drive and everything.

Steve

Yeah, even as they drive, like kind of away from us. We can see him bouncing back and forth, like sitting in the passenger seat, just not a care in the world. So night falls, they continue to drive.

Steve

Now we've switched and Peewee is now in the driver's seat and back in his normal clothes. And Mickey is actually asleep, you know, because they're obviously taking turns driving. And I just want to say, like, from this point through to, you know, to what we'll get to, a kind of famously remembered character comes up very soon. But there's this big sequence right here that starts right about here that to me is like such peak Tim Burton. It's just like darkness around Peewee all the time.

Steve

Really all we're ever seeing is like the car, the two actors, and maybe one or two other important sort of pieces of information. But like, generally speaking, this is, you know, something that. That is just all in our minds.

Nic

Like the low budget magic.

Steve

Yeah, it really is.

Steve

And it's just you know, really kind of special. And it's a thing that Tim Burton got really good at doing obviously over the years. But I just love it, like, when I was watching this, I was like, man, this is really, like. This is like, peak Tim Burton. And reminds me a lot of, in a lot of ways, of Terry Gilliam.

Steve

Like, his style as well, feels very like this. Like, the way the whimsy and absurdism plays out. I really feel like this sequence just kind of nails that, like, Burton really hit it.

Nic

Yeah. And there's a few good ones in a row, right?

Steve

Yes.

Nic

So Pee Wee's driving now. Mickey's asleep in the car. And we're kind of showing these series of road signs, yellow road signs showing curvy road. And they get increasingly.

Nic

So, again, the cartoon element of this. I mean, this movie is kind of. It's a cartoon, basically. And so that's a great way of just raising the stakes of that joke until it gets to a point where one of the signs is just crazy amount of squiggles. And he ends up driving off this cliff.

Nic

And Mickey's still asleep. So he wakes him up just in time for him to start screaming. And then the ragtop of the car goes up and it acts as a perfect parachute that just gently sets them.

Steve

Down onto the peewee, hit the button and started pulling up the rag top. And, yeah, it acted like a parachute.

Steve

Was fantastic. Good call. So Mickey basically is. Is, you know, I got it. I'm done.

Steve

Like. Like, whatever. At first it seems he's, like, mad at him, but then he even says, like, no, Pee Wee. Like, you can't join me where I'm going. It's too dangerous.

Steve

You know, it's that kind of thing.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So he leaves Pee Wee on the side of the road, which is still. Again, we're just in pitch black. Like, there's really nothing to see or anything.

Steve

And we get this great sequence where it's just, like, cartoon eyes. Right? And it's just Pee Wee's eyes, but they're clearly just. Just animated. Like, it's not.

Steve

You know, which is a fun. A fun little moment.

Nic

So well done. Yeah. And I wrote down even, like, you know, young director and underlined it a bunch of times.

Nic

Like, this is why you get somebody like a Tim Burton to do a movie like this. Because he has these ideas and will take it in these directions that you're not thinking of if you've already done, like, 25 movies or whatever. And then. Yeah. So the animated eyes in the dark.

Nic

And then when the lights come on, he's surrounded by, like, a million animals, but they're all clearly, like, taxidermy animals. Like the foreground.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

In the back, there's clearly a couple live ones.

Steve

Like, there's definitely, like, a mountain lion that's, like, real. That's, like, kind of behind him and to the left. And so it's like everything in front of him. So I wonder if there was maybe even, like, glass or something we can't see that was, like, separating him from the live animals. I don't know.

Steve

But, like, right in front of him. Yeah, it's, like, hilarious because it's like, you know, he didn't realize what was going on around him. And surrounded by wildlife that could be dangerous.

Nic

And it was. It was a funny way to do that because.

Nic

Yeah. I mean, if you kept it animated, it wouldn't have had the same effect. So it was good to just use that tiny bit of animation.

Steve

Yeah, it was smart. When the lights come back on and we actually see him, it's like, if it had been animated at that point, then that becomes harder to explain.

Steve

Within the world of the. You know, even this kids, even in this crazy world, that would have been hard to explain. But just the eyes works great. And so then he. He keeps on heading down the road, and headlights come at him.

Steve

And it's a huge, big rig, Right. It's a big truck. And this was one of the moments that, again, I hadn't seen this movie in so long. This is one of the moments where I didn't, like, remember the thing happening until it started. And I immediately thought to myself, oh, my God, this chick has a scary face in, like, a minute.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And sure enough, it's Large Marge. And she tells him the story of, like, you know, on the night, just like this, a horrible wreck, the worst you ever seen. Like, whatever. And then, you know, says something like.

Steve

And when they looked, the victim looked like this. And she looks at him, and it's like a claymation, like, monster face, whatever. And Pee Wee kind of yells like he's scared, but he's not really, like. But he's just playing it off or whatever. He's very, very brave for somebody that acts so childlike.

Nic

And we were talking before we recorded about just what we remembered about this. And I just commented that in my memory, Large Marge was in, like, a.

Steve

Third of this movie.

Nic

Like, she had an incredible amount of speaking parts. And most of the movie was pg Pee Wee and Large Marsh.

Nic

And it's like, I don't know, 30.

Steve

Seconds, give or take. Yeah.

Nic

Yeah. One thing.

Nic

When Large Marge is describing this accident, you know, that's the worst accident I've ever seen. It's like a garbage truck dropped off the Empire State Building. And I wanted to ask you because I remember as a kid, we always used to talk about the Empire State Building as a reference for, like, you know, jump off the Empire State Building and landing on a bike with no seats. Like one of those, like, grosser than gross things or whatever. We don't do that anymore.

Nic

I mean, Sears Tower comes along, takes its. Or the CN Tower, whatever, was the next one. And now we get the Burj Khalifa, which a lot of people are probably not even aware of or pronouncing right. It doesn't like, I don't know, Empire State Building has a musicality of it that makes it sound fun. Like, dropped off the bump, bump up.

Nic

Bump, bump, bump it. Like, it sounds good. Burj Khalifa sounds like someone might be like, what is that?

Steve

Right? Yeah.

Steve

I don't know. I feel like there's an element of tall buildings in New York City, synthesis a particular date 24 years ago.

Nic

I don't know what it is. We always used to talk about how tall they were and how they'd never. Anyway.

Nic

Anyway, I just. To go along with, like, Doberman's and our 80s things. I feel like Empire State Building was like, something that we always talked about.

Steve

As a frame of reference. Yeah.

Nic

That would be like. You know how you refer to something being ridiculously tall.

Steve

Exactly. Yeah.

Nic

So Marge's face change.

Nic

And I remember being scared of that when I was a kid and kind of, like, worried to show my daughter this movie, thinking that it was too scary. And it's like, it's not that bad. I mean, it's like. It's startling to see that.

Steve

Right.

Nic

Because it's claymation out of a movie that's had zero claymation. Yeah, but. But, yeah, that's a good, good memorable scene. And tell him Large Marge sent you.

Steve

That's right.

Steve

So he goes. She drops him off. He goes into this diner and is like, you know, looking for a bite to eat, whatever. So he says, large Marge sent me, which causes everybody in the place to start, stop what they're doing. Stop talking.

Steve

Look over at him. And he's like, you know, what did you say? Large Marge. You know, and they tell him, large Marge died 10 years ago. And then they described the exact same accident that she described and how horrific it was, everything.

Steve

And there's even a plaque, like, with her picture on the wall, like, you know, in Memoriam. Large margin. It's definitely the same woman. It's like, wow, so Peewee got a Ride from a ghost. Like, it's pretty wild.

Nic

And the place he got dropped at, it's a in slash diner. And then there's these dinosaur. These big dinosaur sculptures.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

It's kind of funny.

Nic

A couple movies ago, Tommy Bo boy, didn't they end up like at the prehistoric something? They were on the side of the road and it was like, yeah, prehistoric.

Steve

For your prehistoric forest. Yep, exactly.

Nic

So we're.

Nic

We're stopping at random prehistoric stuff.

Steve

Roadside attractions everywhere. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nic

And honestly, as somebody who really is like rooting for Peewee and invested in his happiness, he's got to be psyched about this dinosaur situation.

Steve

That's true.

Steve

They're pretty awesome. They do look pretty cool.

Nic

That's somewhere in Southern California. Have you ever been there? It's one of those things where like, I would love to accidentally drive by it, but it would be hard to plan a trip just to go see it.

Steve

I think if you are in LA and you're driving to either like Phoenix or Vegas, you're almost guaranteed to pass it. But like from up here, it's a little different. I also believe I've heard that that was bought. That attraction was purchased by a bunch of like young earth creationists who treat it now as proof that dinosaurs never existed. Because they were obviously fantasy, like dragons and stuff.

Steve

Oh, dinosaurs aren't fake.

Nic

Please explain all these fake dinosaurs thing.

Steve

Look how fake these are. This is what everybody. He thinks it's dinosaurs.

Steve

They're so fake and so dumb.

Nic

All right, well, shout out to the Noah's Ark museum or whatever they put up there.

Steve

Exactly.

Nic

So Peewee went in and he had some food and everything and was talking to a waitress, Simone, who was very nice to him.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

And seemed like borderline into him. But she was also just saw him as like. Because later we meet her boyfriend. So clearly just any man who didn't seem like an asshole was like a sweetheart to her. And he has to wash dishes because he doesn't have his wallet.

Nic

He has to wash dishes to pay for his food.

Steve

Madame Ruby took his wallet to like look at his photos, whatever, never gave it back to him.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So that's. So he doesn't have his wallet with me, so he with him.

Steve

So he ends up doing dishes to pay for his meal. And you know, Simone comes in to the kitchen is like, you know, you've. You've done plenty of dishes. Like all you had was like, I don't know if you should like a peanut butter jelly sandwich or something.

Nic

Oh, this was his order because it was funny.

Nic

It was that. I think the tuna plate.

Steve

Okay.

Nic

And a milkshake. What are you doing?

Nic

Dude, you're. You better hope everyone who picks you up has a convertible if you're hitchhiking. You're a ticking time bomb dog.

Steve

That is.

Nic

You gotta be in an open top vehicle if you're gonna do stuff like.

Steve

That to yourself or an rv and you're stressed.

Nic

Come on.

Steve

See, this is also where he's childlike because kids can pull off eating crap.

Nic

Right?

Steve

You right, do it.

Steve

It's all over. It's nightmare time. Yeah. So. And a couple little things I just want to mention.

Steve

There's yet another, because I made a reference to Batman Returns earlier, which of course was also a Tim Burton movie. I will be making two more. One of them is here, which is that Simone, the actress who plays Simone, was brought back by Tim Burton into Batman Returns. She plays a very brief appearance as Oswald Copplepot's mother who throws him into the river there in Gotham where he gets sent down into the sewer. Yeah, so she very briefly appears in that movie, but it's clear that, you know, Burton liked her look, wanted her.

Nic

Back, brought her back.

Steve

So.

Nic

Yeah, she does. I mean, she has a good Burton character look. She has like a very like angular jaw, like a really cool look of a long neck.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, she's very, very. I mean, she's like. I don't know that I would call her like hot or attractive necessarily, but she's very striking looking. Like she's very, very interesting looking person. And.

Steve

And yeah, so. But yeah, so Simone asks Peewee if she will. If he will watch the sunrise with her. And to do that, they go up into like the mouth of one of the dinosaurs and kind of they sit looking out of the mouth of like the T. Rex or whatever and she tells him about her dream of going to Paris someday, but she can't because her boyfriend and doesn't want her to or something. And you know, she talks about this boyfriend, Andy, and you know, again, even.

Nic

The boyfriend's reasoning for not wanting to go to Paris, what she says is that he flunked French in high school and he thinks that everything there is set up to make him look dumb.

Steve

Right?

Nic

Like that's such a he. It could be like he hates French people and he can't say it's not anything like, it's just such like an individualized reason that he doesn't like them or not that he's an asshole or anything like that.

Steve

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

But, yeah, she Says she wants to go to Paris. And she's like, I really want to move to Paris. But. And then Peewee's like, everyone I know has a big butt.

Steve

Right, Right.

Nic

It's just good. Good thing. That didn't like elicit a laugh. But it was just like, ah, Peewee.

Steve

Well, and then, and then so Andy, the boyfriend has seen.

Steve

Watch them walk into the dinosaurs. Now listening at the door. And there's the comment about like, you know. Yeah, everybody I know has a big butt. And he says something like, you know, you gotta, you gotta, you know, follow your big.

Steve

Or like something about your big butt. Right.

Nic

And then also says something about something that is suggestive. Could be a double entitled.

Steve

Yeah.

Steve

About. Oh man, I didn't write it down. So. But yeah, there's definitely like things that could make the boyfriend think. Yeah, they're like making out.

Nic

Oh, she says something like. Nobody's ever put it to me that way.

Steve

There it is. Put it to me like. Yeah, like that or something.

Steve

Which is, you know, obviously it's subtle enough innuendo that it went completely over my head as a kid. But this time I picked up on him when like. Oh, they went a little, little risque there. Okay.

Nic

And they walk out of the dinosaur.

Nic

It's like, you know, after watching the sunrise, it looks like it's 10am when they leave the dinosaur. It doesn't look like like sunrise anymore. But you know, that's just me being nitpicky and jerky. So. So Andy, who is Simone's boyfriend, who's this like seven foot tall guy?

Nic

I looked him up. I was thinking he was the wrestler Big John Stud. He's not, but he was another wrestler. But he had like a kind of a jobber type guy. Like a guy that we would see on free tv.

Nic

Not a, not a pay per view guy.

Steve

No. Constantly loses to the ultimate warrior.

Nic

Exactly. He's savage.

Nic

Yeah, exactly. So he like pulls a dinosaur bone off the sign for the dinosaur park and goes chasing after Pee Wee with it, you know, as a weapon. Pee Wee is able to get, you know, jump onto a train car, right? And then this guy breaks the bone over his knee like he's Bo Jackson. Which is pretty cool.

Steve

Yeah. So now Pee Wee's gonna ride the rails the rest of the way to San Antonio. He meets a bum, you know, a hobo or whatever, and they're, you know, kind of hanging out together and singing songs. And they're singing like all these like.

Nic

Kind of all the royalty free songs you can think of.

Steve

Jimmy Crackhorn and I don't Care and like, oh, Susanna and like, all this different stuff. And finally, Peewee just kind of is having enough of it. Even he's getting irritated. Which, I mean, this is a character that is hard to irritate. Right.

Steve

Like, clearly he's more likely to be irritating irritated. But he is very irritated by the hobo. So he ends up just jumping off. Like, he leaves his bindle. He doesn't have any of his stuff with him.

Steve

He just jumps off the train.

Nic

He just bails.

Steve

Luckily, he jumps off the train right at the Alamo.

Nic

Yeah. And.

Nic

Right. One thing about the hobo I thought was funny. So right before this, Paul Reubens character falls asleep in the train and he has a dream sequence and it's another claymation sequence, which is a T. Rex just eating his bike.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Really cool.

Nic

Really well done claymation. So another good chunk of it that was interesting. And like, you know, all his dreams have this, you know, surreal element to it. And he wakes up and that hobo guys, like, right in his face and he's like, you want a sardine? He's, like, eating sardines.

Steve

Right? Imported. Yeah. Actually, so funny enough about that claymation thing. I was noticing while watching it, it was like.

Steve

It was. It was. It was fine. It was 1985. So I'm not, like, trying to be a dick about it, but it's like, it was, like, much herky jerkier than, for instance, like, what we saw in, like, army of Darkness, which came out, what, six years later or whatever.

Steve

But, yeah, like the sort of claymation model type animation in that dream sequence was like. It was fine, but it was pretty dated. Like, I definitely, like, felt like the.

Nic

More Rankin Bass.

Steve

Yeah, the movement was not very smooth.

Steve

Yeah, it felt very Rankin Bat. Rankin and Bass, that kind of thing. Versus, like. Like, again, what Sam Raimi was able to accomplish a few years later. But that's nitpicking.

Steve

I mean, I'm not like.

Nic

But even that. I mean, I wonder if there's an intentionality to like it looking a certain way.

Steve

I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case.

Nic

Yeah, it's true. But the characters look very cool. And it was a. It was a good way to just show, like, Peewee's anxieties continuing to haunt him.

Nic

And. Yeah, jumping off the train and landing right in San Antonio is really good.

Steve

So he walks up to the Alamo. He's going to get on the tour. Hoping, of course, that the tour will go to the basement.

Steve

And who's the tour guy.

Nic

Jan Hook.

Steve

SNL alum Jan Hooks, who I'm great. Is involved in the movie, partly because Phil Hartman was involved in the movie, and I feel like they'd been colleagues, you know, for quite a while. And so, yeah, so she is the tour guide.

Steve

Super thick Texas accent. Very funny Texas accent from her.

Nic

I have a quote from her here. Yeah, so. So Jan Hooks.

Nic

And she's telling. As Peewee starts to ask her about, you know, he's trying to find his bike. Where's the bitch? We got to hold our questions till the end. And she has her Texas accent, and she's like, here's Juan Inez.

Nic

And this is what she says about this, like, diorama. Inez is holding a clay pot that she seems very proud of. She's carefully detailed it with lots of paint and glaze. It's like. It's like a zero information statement.

Nic

Like, you're learning nothing about, like. It's like she stole the costume of the tour guide and is right. But, yeah, she's a really funny character. She does a great job.

Steve

And at that point, I think, too, she says, like.

Steve

And Juan is holding an adobe. Who can say adobe? And, like, the whole crowd said, like, adobe. It's just very, very funny.

Nic

There's a few scenes of showing that this tour is incredibly boring.

Nic

It's finally over. So are there any questions? And then his hand shoots up. He's very patient.

Steve

Oh, yeah.

Nic

Pee Wee is extremely patient. And he's told. He asks, where's the basement? When are we going to see the basement? There's no basement at the Alamo.

Nic

And this is the one part where everyone's kind of, like, mean to. Everyone's, like, laughing at him. Yeah.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So he's got to storm off.

Nic

He's no.

Steve

Very cruel.

Nic

He's upset.

Steve

Yeah. So he.

Steve

I believe this one ends up back at the.

Steve

Is this the bus station?

Nic

He's at the bus station.

Steve

Yeah, right. That's right, the bus station. He sees Simone, and Simone tells him, pee Wee, I'm finally doing it.

Steve

I'm going to. I'm going to Paris or whatever. I'm not quite sure where she's going in a bus from San Antonio to get to Paris.

Nic

I was paying a lot of attention because, like, in the world of this movie, I was fully expecting, you know, like, the. The.

Nic

The head.

Steve

Oh, yeah.

Nic

The heading of a bus that says where it's going. I was expecting it to say Paris just because of the world. But it didn't.

Nic

It didn't really show it.

Steve

In which case, it probably wouldn't go into Paris, Texas if it. If it was saying. Yeah, true. But yeah, so he.

Steve

So he sees Simone and I think Andy sees Pee Wee. Right. And then chases him around.

Nic

Yeah. So before that, Pee Wee is on the PH with Doy.

Steve

Oh, right.

Nic

He's got a.

Steve

He's such an idiot.

Nic

With Dottie telling her, you know, where he is and what's going on. And he tells her he's in Texas.

Nic

And she's like, we'll prove it. And then he like, yeah, he gets off the phone, he goes. The skies at night are big and bright. And then everyone's simultaneously deep in the heart of Texas. Everyone.

Nic

That was a good. That was really fun.

Steve

See, it must be in Texas.

Nic

So Andy spots him.

Steve

That's right.

Nic

Yeah. So Andy now is coming after Peeway. And Andy is like legitimately 7ft tall. He looks so much. I don't know, in the dinosaur scene maybe because there weren't a lot of other people around in this scene.

Nic

It's like apparent that this guy's a monster.

Steve

When he was chasing Peewee around at the dinosaurs. It was also like shot kind of from further back because we wanted to keep the dinosaurs kind of in the frame. So we saw them running around them and around their legs and all this kind of stuff. And so it just was a little further away, which I think does skew that scale with a more standard sort of shot where the human beings were expecting to take up most of the.

Steve

Of the screen. Yeah, Andy just towers over everybody. He's just enormous. So Peewee dives into like a, like a trailer or something and comes out in this ridiculous get up a huge cowboy 10 gallon hat and like the vest and the chaps and the spurs. And he's got a big mustache on, so he's kind of hiding.

Steve

Andy's still looking for him, but, you know, Peewee figures, okay, I can get away. Until he gets sort of grabbed by a couple other guys and brought towards a bull riding ring.

Nic

Yeah, they pop him right on the back of that thing.

Steve

They throw him up on the bull and he starts riding the bull. And they can hear the announcers talking about like, oh, he's going for a new state record.

Steve

Oh, he's going for a new world record, you know, because I think bull riding is like, if you're on for like what, six to eight seconds, that's like amazing, right? Like that's like the goal or whatever. So he's just doing, doing all that. Andy spots him and Jumps into the ring to go get him. And the bull kick.

Steve

The bull kicks Pee Wee off and then Andy realizes he's wearing a red shirt. And the bull notices his red shirt, which isn't actually the way bull fighting in the red cape thing works. That's more of a motion thing. I think bulls are colorblind.

Nic

But anyway, it's more like this is the guy that put a sword in before this thing started.

Nic

That's why I hate him.

Steve

But he. The bull chases Andy and the funniest jumping bull thing ever. Andy gets over the, you know, fence of the ring and goes away. And the bull just clears it like a hurdler.

Steve

Just like jump, like one leap, jumps over this incredibly high fence and continues chasing him, which is hilarious.

Nic

Yeah. And. And Pee Wee, he gets dragged off and it. He wakes up and there's all these kind of cowboys surrounding him.

Nic

And he comes to and they're like, what's, what's going on? He's like, I can't remember. And they're like, what's the last thing you remember? And he goes, goes. I remember the Alamo.

Nic

And they all start going, woohoo.

Steve

Yeah. All right.

Nic

There's some nice, like light hearted barbs at Texans. Like this is before a lot of them determined to like destroy the entire country when it was just all those, those goofy little guys.

Steve

The whole like, everything's bigger in Texas was sort of like goofy and fun. And now you're like, yeah, including the authoritarianism. Okay. He shows up to this bar and he goes in and it's just like, like he wants to make a phone call, I think is the only thing he's there to do.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

But they all notice him and they're like, hey, this is, this is.

Nic

He's on the phone and they're all talking and he turns around and he's just sh. He shushes this whole bar. So they're all like inching towards him.

Steve

So they come towards him and then the kind of head guy is like, don't you know this is a private clubhouse for the Satan's Helpers?

Steve

And I just like, I just love thinking of like Santa's Little Helpers and Satan's Helpers. That's funny.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

You know, but of course he didn't. So he tries to just excuse me.

Steve

And he like decides he'll leave, but they're like, you know, kind of don't look like they're let him go. They do. He leaves. But then he like bumps into, you know, the first bike in a row.

Nic

And motorcycle dominoes.

Nic

I love it. I love to see it. Yeah.

Steve

They drag him back in and he's got to, like. He's got to, like, save himself, win them back, do something.

Steve

Right. Because he's in deep trouble.

Nic

Yeah. So they basically, they pull him in there, like, okay, I'm going to. Let's kill him.

Nic

Let's hang him and then kill him. Let's hang him and then stab him and then kill him. And then this woman steps in and grabs, and she's like, he's mine. And that woman's actually Cassandra Peterson. Alvira.

Nic

Oh, no. Yeah, I was. She looked kind of familiar. I saw her in the credits. But basically, Peewee says, can I have one last request?

Nic

And his last request is, for whatever reason, and he walks over the jukebox, puts some money in, borrows these, like, high heel kind of platform shoes from one of the bus boys, who then becomes like two feet shorter.

Steve

Well, because he was like, he was Pee Wee's height. And then he takes off. Yeah, These are like 8 inch platform heels. And so, yeah, the guy is suddenly very, very short.

Steve

But, yeah, he does the great. The classic sort of Pee Wee Herman tequila dance that everybody remembers. And.

Nic

And this is something as a kid I remember. And I can't tell you we had a stretch because my parents are both, like, on the older side of their siblings.

Nic

So when my brother and I were like, you know, 8, 9, 10, some of their younger siblings were getting married, so there were like, a lot of family weddings and stuff.

Steve

Stuff.

Nic

And I remember just tearing up doing the peewee dance. Being specifically asked before a wedding to not do the Peewee Herman dance. My brother and I were, like, sat down and that was demanded of us.

Nic

So this was really, like, sunk into our DNA.

Steve

That is. Yeah, that is. That is core.

Nic

I mean, I guess you are just kind of like thrusting and pointing at your wiener in your butthole.

Steve

Yeah, there's that. I did. I don't remember feeling like the dance was sexual when I saw it as a kid. I had no idea watching it this time. And of course, knowing, you know, the.

Steve

The kind of trouble Paul Rubens would get into later in his life after this movie and everything, it felt a tiny bit more sinister than I remember. Not like sinister. That's probably too mean. But like, you know, it just definitely was like, oh, okay, he's continually pointing at his penis and his butthole in a kid's movie. Okay.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Cool. All right.

Nic

Well, that's the song Tequila. That was around a lot for a while.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

I remember it featuring prominently in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as well. The first Ninja Turtles.

Steve

Yeah. Yeah.

Nic

Movies. Yeah. So. So they love him, of course. So it goes immediately from Peewee finishing his dance to, hey, good luck, buddy.

Nic

And they have him on one of their motorcycles. Could not love him or support him more. I hope you find your bike. You know, and they send him off, and he takes off on the hog and is immediately out of control and, like, crashes into this sign right through.

Steve

Like, a big billboard.

Steve

And so then an ambulance has to come help him. And I remember being more scared of the next few moments as a child than the large Marge thing. The. The clown EMTs are terrifying.

Nic

Yeah, we don't.

Steve

Absolutely terrifying. I don't want to see that anymore. But I did think that this whole sequence was super, super, obviously, like, reminiscent, but. But in reverse order of what some of the things Tim Burton would do for Beetlejuice. There was like, a very kind of Beetlejuice vibe in this sort of sequence with the clown EMTs and stuff like that.

Steve

That.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So. Yeah.

Nic

And then. So is he. He's at the hospital, and I. He's in his hospital bed. Peewee's recovering in the hospital and still has the bow tie done, despite how much they would have had to, like, open up his breathing pathways and everything.

Nic

And then does he see something on tv? Right.

Steve

So it's this, like, child actor has been gifted his bike. And the child actor, of course, I don't know the actor's name. I didn't write it down, but he's the older brother from the Wonder Years.

Nic

Wayne from the Wonder Years.

Steve

Right, Exactly. Exactly.

Nic

And so Jason Hervey. Okay, I just pulled that out of my.

Steve

Congratulations, sir. He's been gifted the bike. We don't really know why or how or how it got to him, but it's like, you know, he's just like, oh, this is the bike every boy would ever dream of, you know, kind of thing. And it's like. But now that means that Pee Wee knows it's in Hollywood, right?

Steve

This is. This is where this kid is. And so he, you know, heads to Hollywood and kind of instantly is at the movie studio, like the Warner Brothers movie studio or whatever. Milton Berle walks by with a cadre of people heading into the studio, and so Pee Wee can kind of like, like, walk with them and laugh at Milton Berle's joke and then, you know, just go.

Nic

Blends in as one of, like, the yes Men, one of executive fans or whatever.

Steve

But that was a fun little cameo for Milton Berle. And then so he ends up on a movie set and it's. And it's the same actor. Yeah, child actor. And the bike is now going to be in the movie, I guess.

Steve

Very strange thing that is happening.

Nic

But that's where we're taking some shortcuts. They're like, look, studio said it's going to be an hour 35 minutes on hour 42. Yeah. So they're in this scene where it's.

Nic

And. And this. The character played by Wayne from the Wonder Years is named Kevin Morton. And he is just like your prototypical entitled child actor. Right.

Nic

So on screen, he's the sweetest, most adorable, kindest guy. And then the second they cut, he's like, I wanted this.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

You know, there's a point where he's yelling at the director, being like, I've been ready. I've been ready since first call.

Nic

He's like screaming at the hole. He's doing like the Tomorrow Cruz Covid rant.

Steve

Okay.

Nic

To like, to accept that he's a little kid yelling at everybody.

Steve

It made me think of when.

Steve

When Christian Bale screamed at that, like, for being in his eye line or whatever, his sightline. And just like, that all got came out because somebody was recording. And so, yeah, like, that's. It's exactly like that. And it's.

Steve

It's hilarious and, like, horrifying. But, yeah, the kid is super, super, like, mean to this other actress that's there. And, like. And so Peewee has dressed him so it's a bunch of nuns basically, like, around, you know, the kid, and they're, like, sending him off to his adoptive parents along with the bike, you know, in this movie that's being filmed. And so Peewee gets on a nun's habit, and it's like the.

Steve

It's like the old school Sally Field flying nun. Like a really wild, big, like, hood piece or whatever of the habit. And he's just standing there, but, like, something about like, oh, you should donate the bike to the needy children. I just want to give, or whatever. And people goes, okay.

Steve

And he, like, takes it. Yeah, I'll just take this with me. And, like, goes. And he starts riding off with it. And they realize, wait a minute, that guy's stealing the bike.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And so now we have a, you know, a scene that, to me, is very reminiscent of Blazing Saddles. The end of Blazing Saddles is like a chase through a movie studio. And then also, because this, I think, movie was directly referencing this Jay and Silent Bob strike back in 2001 has a significant movie studio chase scene.

Nic

Oh, nice.

Steve

Go through several different sets and things. But I think that was meant to be referencing this because Kevin Smith is a professed Tim Burton fan. So. But yeah, like this also.

Nic

Yeah, this is a great scene.

Nic

And I checked the time on it, and this is like, a little more than five minutes from, like, when he first gets on the bike.

Steve

Yes.

Nic

Until the end of the scene. And it's very satisfying. And this is Danny Elfman at his best that, I mean, it's just.

Nic

Oh, it's so good. And he keeps, you know, going through all these funny things. They give him so much that he can do because he can ride through different movie sets that are happening. He's getting chased by all the studio security guards who are on these electric golf carts. And it's funny, right before the scene starts, it shows him each, like, running outside in a line unplugging their golf cart from the wall, which.

Nic

Which is good. So he's got golf carts after him, and then he'll go through a set and then someone from that set is coming after him. So he's being chased by, like, a prop speedboat with people that are on, like, skateboards that are supposed to be water skis. He's being chased by dirt bikes and then these golf carts. It's really good.

Nic

But this scene is just so much fun. And, like, I realized I was smiling during the entire time. Like, this is so good. Like, this is exactly. It's one of those kind of movies about how much we love movies kind of thing.

Nic

But it's like, all right, this. This is that very.

Steve

Yeah, I'll be honest with you. Like, yes, 100% agreed. This was so much fun as a scene.

Steve

Just everything from the moment he shows up in the. In the studio, Milton Burl and all that, all the way through to. To. To where we're going to get in a few minutes when he's done, you know, when he's kind of done with this chase. But I've always loved, like, movies about movies.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

So, like, any movie that, like, references the making of movies like it, I am a sucker for it. I know that. It's like, you know, I'm an easy mark for that kind of stuff. And so this was a great sort of moment.

Steve

And as he's going through, he's like. I mean, he goes to a set of, like, a Godzilla movie.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Is it Gamera? The Three Headed Dragons, one of the, you know, Godzilla villains.

Steve

It's like, flying around and. And there's Just, it's so much fun. And then he ends up in a Twisted Sister music video. And it's actually Twisted Sister, I love. It's Dee Snider, and the whole band is there, they're on a car and, you know, recording this music video.

Steve

And he ends up, like, flying right through the whole chase flies through the music video thing. And, like, I just love that, like, somebody like Dee Snider who, you know, Twisted Sister was never the biggest band in the world or anything like that, but, like, they were very popular at this era. This mid-80s was their heyday.

Nic

Right.

Steve

So to be in this movie for only a moment, it's, like, kind of cool.

Nic

But then years later, Dee Snider has proven himself to be, like, the most I'm available celebrity that I've ever seen in my life. Anytime they do one of those piece of shit, like, oh, we're gonna do Celebrity Survivor, or we're gonna be Celebrity the Mole or whatever, he was on all of those. For some reason, him and Coolio came as a package, I think.

Steve

And television was better off.

Nic

Yeah.

Nic

But, yeah, I did like that. It was a real, real video and a real song going on. He ends up when. So when he gets through here, the. The music video is kind of the last major thing he goes through.

Nic

And he ends up pulling up and there's a pet shop that's on fire.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So it's like, dude, I'm free.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

I have the thing I care about, Right.

Nic

I'm ready to roll. Mission accomplished.

Steve

He does, like an ET Style jump over, like, a hedge or whatever to get out of the studio, essentially. Or at least a little further away. And then, yeah, there's a pet shop that's on fire.

Steve

So he's running in. Super brave, right? Running into the fire. Letting out. Obviously starts with, like, in order of cuteness.

Nic

Absolutely.

Steve

Order of cuteness. Because he keeps passing the snake tank and kind of. And, like, keeping it. I'm like, honestly, I don't blame you, buddy.

Steve

And so, yeah, he lets out the cats and the dogs, and then he's letting out, like, mice and, like, turtles and he's letting out, like, birds and whatever and all the stuff. Oh, there's a chimpanzee helping.

Nic

Yeah, too.

Steve

That he freed first, you know, and then, you know, he's, like, picking up fish.

Nic

Fish.

Steve

And putting them in a little bowl and taking them out. Little goldfish. Finally he gets back in, and it's like the snakes are kind of the last thing left.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And so he runs out screaming, holding These little baby garter snakes or whatever.

Steve

Yeah, they're totally harmless little snakes, but, like, he's got probably 30 or 40 of them in each hand, just running, screaming. Ends up falling down, kind of passing out, I think almost or something. But he falls in, and these. The emt, the firefighters show up. You know, they're responding to the fire, and.

Steve

And they helped. And I swear to God, at least one of those guys stepped on one of those snakes. And those look like real snakes.

Nic

Yeah, I was watching that too. There for sure was.

Nic

Or it was like, a very close call. Also, the animals that he rescued are sitting so nicely outside of the pet store. They're all just like, oh, well, hopefully this gets fixed so I can be sold as a pet again.

Steve

My favorite ball is in there. I really hope that it survives.

Steve

The vet is my favorite ball.

Nic

So he ends up, you know, now he's got the EMTs around him, and they're basically like, okay, we have to. To help this guy. And then they're like, well, you know, we're not helping you. You're in big trouble. So when they're showing the surveillance footage, which is all film that was taken from these actual sets, it's kind of funny that they're watching this reel of film of him, like, going through the sets on his bike and everything.

Steve

It's all the dailies. Yeah. From those. From those movies being made.

Nic

It's really funny.

Nic

And then I think this is a great technique they used to wrap this movie up in a neat little bow where it's like. Like, all right, you're in trouble. You've destroyed this studio or whatever. But I love your story, and we'd love to make a movie about it.

Steve

Oh, by the way, real quick, before.

Steve

Before we move past it, do you know who the pink poodle was that he saved from the pet shop?

Nic

No.

Steve

The pink poodle is Darla. Darla Precious in Darla from Silence of the Lambs and Queenie in the burbs. And.

Steve

Yeah, like, one of the most famous poodle poodle actresses of all time. Time.

Nic

We'll see Darla in a few weeks. Wow. Okay.

Steve

First screen credit for Darla.

Nic

So, yeah, good on Darla.

Steve

But, yeah, so they basically, the studio head tells him, like, you know, hey, the studio loves your story. You know, let us. Basically, let us make the movie of your story, and we will let you go.

Steve

You know, we won't. We won't press charges, like, whatever. And so that pretty much cuts us right away to the drive in back home, wherever home Is. And it's this wonderful wrap up right where. Yeah.

Steve

It's like the movie's playing. It stars James Brolin as P.W. hernan Herman.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

And Morgan Fairchild is Dottie.

Steve

And you know, two very like attractive sort of soap stars of the day. And they're doing like more of a James Bond style.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

You know, play on this where the bike is a motorcycle called the X1 and it's an experimental and the Russians can't get it and da, da, da, da. But he's walking around the drive in with a bunch of snacks, meeting everybody who we saw throughout the movie, which is really fantastic.

Nic

It's so great. And it's like, oh, okay, these are all my friends I've met on my journey. Exactly. And they're all here to support me at the end.

Steve

Even Mickey.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Who's in the prison bus.

Nic

I love that scene. So I'm going to go buy what in. In 2025 is equivalent to seventy five hundred dollars worth of movie snacks.

Steve

Take a mortgage out.

Nic

But good on him. And good on him not getting the snow cones out first. I mean, he's going in order. Like, he's a very fair man.

Nic

But yeah, he's going through. And he's meeting all of his friends. And again, this is just like the spirit of the movie that makes me very happy to watch is just. Just everyone is so sweet and everyone is so nice to this guy. So if you're like a kid watching this and you feel like a weirdo or an outcast, whatever, it's like it's a movie about a weirdo who everyone likes because he has a good.

Nic

He has good intentions and he's just like a dude. But he goes. And his friend Mickey, the prisoner, the guy, the mattress tag cutter is there at the drive through in the prison bus, which. Excellent gag. Really good gag.

Nic

And Peewee goes and hands him. Okay, here's your soda and here's your footlong.

Steve

Wink, wink.

Nic

And the guards, like, hold on a second. And it's just a file, like in a hot dog bun with mustard on it.

Steve

And they. It's so classic. Like, trying to sneak the Beagle Boys out of, you know, jail. And duck Bill. And DuckTales.

Nic

Exactly. Again, just such a cartoon trope. The file to the prisoner in the food.

Steve

Like, my God.

Nic

So they.

Nic

They packed this end scene because this could have been kind of a boring. Okay, wrap it up. Everything's fine. Everyone's calm. But they're showing all these characters.

Nic

They're revisiting everyone. And then the movie's showing, right? Ridiculous, obviously. But Peewee himself is in this movie as a hotel bellhop.

Steve

Yeah, yeah, yeah, basically.

Steve

But his voice was overdubbed. His voice, clearly not his voice. Voice sounds psychotic. But, you know, basically, yeah, he gets to interact with James Brolin. You're like, oh, any.

Steve

Any messages for P.W. herman? You know, and it's like, it's a fun thing, I would say, too. I think that. I think you're right, that the ending working this way was kind of the only way to do it in a lot of sense, because the stakes in this movie realistically.

Steve

Right. Are so low. He's looking for a bicycle.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Like, this is not life or death.

Steve

This is not the end of the world. Like, how do you wrap up? Like, okay, he got his bike. Crickets. Like, what are you supposed to do?

Steve

Right?

Nic

So.

Steve

So having this become this thing where he. His story gets turned into a movie and we get to see pieces of it and he interacts with all the people that he's met through the movie is great. He ends up at the very end, of course, with just a.

Steve

Some. A box of candy or whatever he gives to Dottie, you know, and the two of them are sitting on their bikes, you know, like to watch the movie until Francis comes over with a cadre of reporters for some reason, talking about how he's Pee Wee's best friend and they've known each other forever. And he's like, how about we get a picture of me on the bike? What do you say, Peewee? And Peewee's like, okay, Francis.

Steve

And then reveals one of the tricks of the bike we hadn't seen yet, which is the ejector seat.

Nic

Yes.

Steve

Which really looks painful as all hell. I mean, that thing is a six foot tall pole.

Nic

That is.

Nic

I don't know where that pole resides when it's down without dragon on the. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, yeah, blast Francis up into. Up into space. Which is good.

Nic

The voice that they give Pee Wee. So he's like, Mr. Harmon. Paging Mr. Harmon. It's the most ridiculous voice. It's really funny.

Steve

Did you have a computer in the house, like, as a young kid?

Nic

Doctor? Holy shit.

Steve

Yes. Yes.

Steve

If you had a Sound Blaster audio card, it came with a program called Doctors Bates. So. And you would. It was text to speech in 1989, way back when, but it sounded like RFK Jr. Yeah.

Nic

And you would type in like your.

Nic

Was it supposed to answer, like medical stuff or did it.

Steve

No, no.

Nic

Dr. First of all, Dr.

Steve

Speech. So for like, no good reason.

Nic

Bates. Oh, SBA, TSO or something.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

Give yourself an unpronounceable name when it's like an early stage, like voice technology.

Steve

I think it was an acronym.

Steve

I think it was Sound Master. Artificial Intelligence. Text to speech something or other operation or something like that. Like. Yeah.

Steve

So. But yeah, Dr. Spates. It's so crazy, but yeah, I remember you used to have to, like, you'd try it and it would mispronounce things horrifically and you'd have to try to spell them phonetically to get it to say the right thing. It was a lot of fun. But that's what he sounds like to me, is the old doctor Spa.

Steve

So thing. And yeah, very funny voice. Much funnier than his own voice, frankly.

Nic

Yeah, yeah, yeah. The fake voice.

Nic

Because it was very, like, shocking to see. Yeah. So then it kind of ends. It's like we get the perfect movie ending while perfect movie is happening on screen and everything. And.

Nic

And that's it. It seems like he's got his bike back, he's got a lot of new friends. And yeah, everything's coming up Peewee.

Steve

And hopefully he explores his, you know, budding feelings for Doy, I would hope, because.

Nic

Hope he doesn't.

Nic

Because, look, it's a town full of people that, you know, are probably going to be less of a challenge to date than Peewee if I'm being. For being nice about it.

Steve

So if she's willing to put up with him.

Nic

Yeah, she's got a lot of suitors out there. Oh, man.

Steve

Very cool.

Nic

All right, so that is Peewee's big adventure.

Steve

Yeah. Yeah.

Nic

Let's see.

Nic

Well, why don't I. Should I give my rating first? Yeah, you go pick up this one.

Steve

Yeah.

Nic

So this was fun to watch again.

Nic

And I think I definitely had an appreciation for a lot of it just from not really remembering how, like, original, like all this cool stuff that went into this movie and how different it was, especially being the first Tim Burton like that we got. Got Beetlejuice and all these great things afterwards of Batman and Edward Scissorhands or whatever and Paul Rubens. Did you watch the documentary recently? There was a Paul Reubens documentary on HBO or Netflix.

Steve

Peewee himself or Peewee has himself or something.

Steve

I have not seen it.

Nic

It's very good. I recommend it. But I think that gives an additional appreciation for what he was doing with this character and maybe some understanding as to why he's billed as Pee Wee Herman in this film and not as Paul Rubens.

Steve

Interesting.

Nic

And I know he did have this. This controversy that came up in the 90s where he was arrested in this adult theater, which I remember as a kid, that mug shot picture was in the paper, and my cousin and my brother, because my mom and my aunt were like, so disgusted by him. It was like he was jacking off in the jack off place. What are we doing here? So.

Nic

But they were, like, so disgusted by it. And we cut the picture out of the paper and we would, like, bring it out at holidays and stuff, and they'd just be like, jesus Christ, put that away.

Steve

Oh, I can't look at him. Oh, he's disgusting.

Nic

So I feel like he was certainly unfairly maligned for that, and a lot of that had to do with the.

Nic

The character that he was playing. So I do want to say, if you watch this film, it gets into that and it. I think it's worth watching because he really was, like, screwed over by this incident, that if you're looking at it as an adult, you're just kind of like, well, who cares? Like, are we busting everyone for that or are we busting selectively for that or whatever.

Steve

If he had been celebrity, famous, et cetera, but not as a quote, unquote, like, child's entertainer, but just like a regular actor, it would have blown over pretty quickly, Right.

Steve

You know, if it really was a story at all at the time. And it would have been a story. Any celebrity in that kind of situation would have been a story. But it would have blown over if he was like, you know, James Brolin, for instance, like, would have blown over.

Nic

Yeah, yeah.

Nic

So very, very unfair, you know, what ultimately happened to Paul Rubens. But we're talking about this film. I think that this movie was super enjoyable. Again, like I said, I had a smile on my face. The Danny Elfman, so good, added so much.

Nic

I mean, just a perfect synergy with Burton and Elfman. And we'll see this again and again. I thought I'd go lower on this. I'm going to give this one of four and a half because I feel like there was a lot in here that we hadn't seen before. And even if it's not, you know, the best movie of all time, I think it's one that someone who enjoys films should definitely watch.

Nic

So I'm going to go four and a half to Rubens and Burton and company.

Steve

Yeah, that's great. I do love to real quick on the whole, like, you know, Izzy Peewee Herman, who's he? Paul Rubens thing. You know, he kind of did what Prince did when Prince had to change his name to the Artist Formerly Known as Prince or the Logo.

Steve

Yeah, right. And then. But all of his albums are still produced by Princess. So Reuben's is still credited as the screenwriter. Right.

Steve

It's not co written by Pee Wee Herman, it's co written by.

Nic

Okay, so the actor is Pee Wee Herman. Exactly, yeah.

Steve

Pee Wee Herman playing the character Pee Wee Herman. But Paul Reubens is the screenwriter.

Steve

So it's an interesting thing. I always find that fascinating. I don't know if, you know if it's universally means that the artist is particularly creative or if he could just be off his rocker or what you know, kind of thing.

Nic

Right.

Steve

But it does seem to be particularly creative people who sort of like embody that duality.

Steve

Yeah. So I just, to be totally honest with you, when you. You picked this movie for us and I was not. Not dreading it. That's the wrong word.

Steve

But I was not looking forward to seeing it. It had been forever since I'd seen it. In my mind it was like silly, but not the kind of silly that I love. Not the like, you know, Tim Robinson sort of Monty Python, whatever. Mel Brooks silly.

Steve

Like it felt like I thought it was in my memory more just kids, more childish. Yeah, exactly. I loved it. I. This was.

Steve

I can't believe it's been so long since I've seen it. Like, I absolutely am going to show this to my kids. They're 7 and 11, so the part's perfect for them to watch this. This was a really fantastic movie and it really is. It is like really great absurdism.

Steve

I think. Honestly I didn't. Now that I think about it, I always thought. I've always attributed my love of absurdity and comedy to like Mel Brooks and Monty Python and some of the stuff that I watched early. But I think being into Pee Wee's Playhouse and Peewee's Big Adventure was a big part of that too.

Steve

Really priming me for this. Tim Burton is so maddeningly inventive and Danny Elfman is so ridiculously creative of the two of them together are just absolutely like peaches and cream. I love it. So I'm giving this one a four out of five. I think it's a fantastic movie.

Steve

You know, if you haven't seen this ever, you should absolutely see it. If you haven't seen it in a while. But it's like stuck in your memory of things like Large Marge, you know, and Mickey the Convict are like in your brain somewhere. Do yourself the favor of watching it. Again, if you've got young kids, you can watch it with them.

Steve

It's PG and it's a nice, solid, family friend friendly pg. This is definitely. This isn't Spaceballs or Gremlins or something that's pushing a boundary. Yeah, exactly. This is a really clean cut.

Steve

Pg. Great for kids. And. Yeah, so the two dads are eight and a half out of ten on Peewee's Big Adventure. Well deserved.

Steve

Like I said, I was a little surprised when the Rotten Tomatoes score came back at like 71%. I thought this would have been more appreciated by critics at the time.

Nic

Yeah.

Steve

Given Burton's creativity and inventiveness. But.

Steve

But that's where it is.

Nic

All right, so, well, that's Pee Wee's Big Adventure. Now we got something coming from you. Next step. But we're coming into October.

Steve

That's right. So the next episode that you all hear from us listeners is going to be the first Wednesday in October. And we've decided to do something a little different now. You know, we're. We're what, 20.

Steve

This is like our 28th episode. We're 28 episodes in. Obviously, we know what the hell we're doing. We're big time now. We're not big time at all.

Steve

Please continue to tell people about the podcast. We really want to have more audience, but we thought, hey, we're getting the hang of this. We're getting the feel for it. And we wanted to put some parameters around maybe the next few selections. So we're going to do a series actually of theme months.

Steve

And the first one we're doing is October. We're calling it Shocktoberfest, which I'll try to put some kind of reverb on that. We're calling it Shocktoberfest. It's not necessarily horror movies, although that will absolutely be part of it. But it's like scary, creepy, dark thrillers and horrors and just kind of like everything dark and silent.

Steve

Scary. Yeah, that's kind of what we're aiming at. We've got five pictures lined up. We've already picked them, but we're gonna meet them out to you guys, you know, bit by bit. You'll have to wait every week to see what we'll do next.

Steve

But for the first movie that we're doing for Shocktoberfest, I decided I might picks. I decided I really wanted to go with like the Clap, one of the classics of 80s horror. And when I say classics, what I'm talking about is like, in my opinion, in the 80s and 90s, there is a very clear, clear, clear cut it. Mount Rushmore of horror movie Monsters. There are four absolutely perfectly classic movie monsters from this era.

Steve

Chucky, the doll from the Child's Play movies, which was like a little more 90s than 80s, but like massively popular throughout the entire decade. Jason Voorhees, right from the Friday the 13th pictures. Michael Myers from Halloween. The first one was in 19, like 78. But you know, there were like seven or eight Halloween movies in the 80s and 90s.

Steve

Ton of them. Not, not quite. I think like seven. There were, there were nine. Friday the 13th, like it was ridiculous, right?

Steve

And then there was this guy, he's got the hat, he's got the burned face, the red and green sweater and the bladed glove. We're going to watch the original A Nightmare on Elm street, the movie that brought us Freddy Krueger.

Nic

Oh boy.

Steve

It's going to be a lot of fun.

Nic

Oh boy.

Nic

It's been a while since this one. I'm very excited to see this, to see this and I've seen a few of the sequels and everything and yeah, it'll be great to see how the original like sets the table for us and introduces us to the old Fredster.

Steve

Absolutely. And much like this picture, it is really inventive. I mean, you know, we all think of Freddy Krueger.

Steve

The monster that attacks you in your dreams is the thing that exists now. But in 1984 when this movie came out, that was a very fresh concept, that was a very new idea. Wes Craven, this was not like his film and directing writing debut but it was early on for him in his career and obviously Krueger, you know, Freddy, the Freddy Krueger pictures and Scream are probably the things Wes Crib is most known for. And so yeah, this was that. And it was the very first ever acting credits silver screen or television for one Mr. Johnny Depp.

Steve

So that would be a fun little thing to go into. So yeah, next week we are going to kick off Shocktoberfest with A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984. All right, that about wraps it up. So if you like what you hear, and we hope you do, please consider heading over to Apple or Spotify and leaving us a five star review. It really helps new folks find the show.

Steve

If you want to drop us a line, share your thoughts on an episode, tell us what we got wrong or suggest a movie we should do next, you can do so at the show@2dads1movie.com. That's the number two and the number one. You can also follow us on Instagram @2dads1movie. Once again, this has been Pee Wee's big adventure, another episode of 2 Dads 1 Movie. I'm Steve.

Nic

And I'm Nic.

Steve

Thank you so much for listening, and we will catch you next week.

Nic

Thanks, everyone.