The last month or so of frigid weather has made me want to take in some movies. When the temperatures are in the negatives, I just want to cover up with a bunch of blankets and bust out the DVDs! I had a certain movie on my mind lately. Some recent conversations have been reminding me of Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.
The first time I saw this movie would have been around when it came out. Then about 15 years later I saw it on the big screen at one of those midnight movie nights in an old theater. It was a lot of fun. I remember people yelling out the famous lines along with Pee-Wee. Some parts, like the Large Marge scene, are experienced best on the big screen.
Good old Large Marge. That claymation moment where her face morphs scared me so much when I was a kid. That part is pure Tim Burton. Pee-Wee's Great Adventure was one of Tim Burton's earliest movies. It was also the first movie Danny Elfman wrote a score for. According to the DVD commentary, it took a lot of coaxing to get Elfman to take part in the project. Good for him that he did, because it started him on a really successful path in composing movie scores.
This third time around watching the movie turned into more of a fifth time around. I ended up watching the movie again to hear Tim Burton and Paul Reubens do their commentary. Then I played it again for the Danny Elfman commentary. I learned some fun trivia and was surprised that I was still interested in watching the same movie that many times in a row.
I have to share one piece of trivia I learned. I'm sure nearly everyone reading this is an Elvira fan. Did you know that Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) has a role in this movie? I didn't even recognize her.
She's in more of a biker babe role here. I think she looks just as cool like this! I might actually prefer her biker look. You'll see her at the end of this clip:
Back to Large Marge. There are a series of events that lead up to her scene. It starts with Pee-Wee hitchhiking to Texas. Pee-Wee has the fortune or misfortune to be picked up by Mickey who is an escaped convict. I don't think I'm doing a whole lot of plot spoiling here, considering what this movie is like and how you've very likely seen it already.
So Mickey strands Pee-Wee on the side of the road in the middle of the night and along comes...
Isn't that a classic ghost story moment?
I was surprised to find that I am far from the only person Large Marge made an impression on. In fact, I ran into several tributes to her scene on YouTube! The videos ranged from cute to confusing. (The Cutest one)
I watched Big Top Pee-Wee next, but I wouldn't bother with that one! The only funny thing about that is the series of negative reviews online... It was really missing Tim Burton's vision! OK, to be fair, Kris Kristofferson was hilarious as Mace Montana, the circus manager. I'm not sure if he was supposed to be funny, but he was to me. I think I was just amused by watching someone basically be his normal self while surrounded by a bunch of craziness.
So my advice is to skip Big Top Pee-Wee and check out Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. If you're a fan of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is definitely worth revisiting. It's interesting to watch the beginning of a film partnership and two amazing careers. And when you're done watching it, be sure to read this:
14 Things You Probably Never Knew About "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"
I bet you'll learn something!
The first time I saw this movie would have been around when it came out. Then about 15 years later I saw it on the big screen at one of those midnight movie nights in an old theater. It was a lot of fun. I remember people yelling out the famous lines along with Pee-Wee. Some parts, like the Large Marge scene, are experienced best on the big screen.
Good old Large Marge. That claymation moment where her face morphs scared me so much when I was a kid. That part is pure Tim Burton. Pee-Wee's Great Adventure was one of Tim Burton's earliest movies. It was also the first movie Danny Elfman wrote a score for. According to the DVD commentary, it took a lot of coaxing to get Elfman to take part in the project. Good for him that he did, because it started him on a really successful path in composing movie scores.
This third time around watching the movie turned into more of a fifth time around. I ended up watching the movie again to hear Tim Burton and Paul Reubens do their commentary. Then I played it again for the Danny Elfman commentary. I learned some fun trivia and was surprised that I was still interested in watching the same movie that many times in a row.
I have to share one piece of trivia I learned. I'm sure nearly everyone reading this is an Elvira fan. Did you know that Cassandra Peterson (Elvira) has a role in this movie? I didn't even recognize her.
She's in more of a biker babe role here. I think she looks just as cool like this! I might actually prefer her biker look. You'll see her at the end of this clip:
Back to Large Marge. There are a series of events that lead up to her scene. It starts with Pee-Wee hitchhiking to Texas. Pee-Wee has the fortune or misfortune to be picked up by Mickey who is an escaped convict. I don't think I'm doing a whole lot of plot spoiling here, considering what this movie is like and how you've very likely seen it already.
So Mickey strands Pee-Wee on the side of the road in the middle of the night and along comes...
Isn't that a classic ghost story moment?
I was surprised to find that I am far from the only person Large Marge made an impression on. In fact, I ran into several tributes to her scene on YouTube! The videos ranged from cute to confusing. (The Cutest one)
I watched Big Top Pee-Wee next, but I wouldn't bother with that one! The only funny thing about that is the series of negative reviews online... It was really missing Tim Burton's vision! OK, to be fair, Kris Kristofferson was hilarious as Mace Montana, the circus manager. I'm not sure if he was supposed to be funny, but he was to me. I think I was just amused by watching someone basically be his normal self while surrounded by a bunch of craziness.
So my advice is to skip Big Top Pee-Wee and check out Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. If you're a fan of Tim Burton and Danny Elfman, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is definitely worth revisiting. It's interesting to watch the beginning of a film partnership and two amazing careers. And when you're done watching it, be sure to read this:
14 Things You Probably Never Knew About "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure"
I bet you'll learn something!
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