Pee-Wee's Big Adventure

Call in the FBI. Alert the President. Advise all ships at sea and break out the Batphone because this is no ordinary adventure: this is Pee-wee's Big Adventure! Pee-wee's bicycle, the keenest bike in the world, is missing. It's his most prized possession...and he's just got to get it back. Searching high, low and in between, Pee-wee hits the open road and encounters riotous adventures with bikers, bums, cowboys, cons, a phantom trucker and a waitress with wanderlust and even Warner Bros. Studios.

Former animator Tim Burton (Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Batman, Mars Attacks!) made his feature directorial debut with this delightful comedy, coscripted by the late Phil Hartman (who also appears briefly as a reporter). Wisely, they keep the story simple so as to concentrate on the characters: Pee-wee's most prized possession, his shiny new bicycle, is stolen, and he sets off on an obsessive cross-country journey, determined to recover it. Pee-wee's awkward and childish attempts to be cool and mature ("I meant to do that!!") are hysterical, as when he tells his girlfriend (Elizabeth Daly): "There's things about me you don't know, Dottie. Things you wouldn't understand. Things you couldn't understand. Things you shouldn't understand.... I'm a loner, Dottie. A rebel." Look for Saturday Night Live vet Jan Hooks in a hilarious bit as a tour guide at the Alamo. And beware of Large Marge! --Jim Emerson