History Film / PeeWeesBigAdventure

'''Biker #3:''' I say we scalp him!\\

* MythologyGag: The [[https://i.ibb.co/dj5MWGT/Giant-Head.jpg giant bald head]] that Amazing Larry pulls out is a recreation of the head of Pee-wee's Doctor Mondo puppet from his stand-up and stage show. Both are [[https://i.ibb.co/7nYYgPs/Aleister-Crowley.jpg modeled]] after Creator/AleisterCrowley.

* AmbiguousCriminalHistory: Mickey tells Pee-wee he got in trouble with the police because he got angry and used a knife to... [[MattressTagGag cut off one of those mattress tags]] that say "Do Not Remove Under the Penalty of Law". Mickey has clearly amended his crime to avoid scaring Pee-wee, and it's never revealed what exactly he did.

* DemonHead: Large Marge.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Mickey at least claims to be on the run from the law for cutting a tag off of a mattress. Either way, Pee-wee sympathetically remarks "I always thought that was the dumbest law." after hearing it.[[note]]Really, the law isn't for the consumer. It's to prevent fraudulent re-selling.[[/note]]

* ManChild: Pee-wee and his archnemesis Francis Buxton have a VagueAge. It's never clear whether they're supposed to be childish men or actual juveniles played by adult actors. Pee-wee is referred to as a "boy" several times.

* AscendedMeme: That "The stars at ''night!'' Are big and ''bright''!" call-and-response that Pee-Wee does [[https://youtu.be/So23SFwBVvI to prove he's in Texas]] has become a popular thing to do at [[UsefulNotes/NationalHockeyLeague Dallas Stars]] games.

-->'''Pee-wee:''' I want to see Francis!
-->'''Butler:''' Francis is busy.
-->'''Pee-wee:''' Busy doing what?!
-->'''Butler:''' He's having his bath.
-->'''Pee-wee:''' Oh really, WHERE ARE THEY HOSIN' HIM DOWN?!

* ForeignCultureFetish: Simone the truck stop diner waitress and her adoration of the beauty and romance of France! She even [[spoiler: gets a handsome, beret-wearing French boyfriend in the end]].

* GetOut: Right after, the car makes a soft landing:

--> "Everyone I know has a big 'but'[[note]]an excuse for not following their dream[[/note]]. Come on, Simone, let's talk about your big 'but.'"

* KarmaHoudini: [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-Zagged]] with Francis, but played straight with the thief he hired to steal Pee-wee's bike. The thief was never seen again after being told to get rid of it, but even though Francis was never found out as the orchestrator of the heist, he does get flung away by the bike's spring at the end during the drive-in movie premiere.

--> "The Alamo! In... the basement."

-->'''Pee-wee''': I barely touched them!

--> "Reservation under Herman... P.W. Herman."

* AccidentalInnuendo: InUniverse; "Everyone I know has a big 'but'. Come on, Simone, let's talk about your big 'but'."

* AmbiguousCriminalHistory: Mickey tells Pee-wee he got in trouble with the police because he got angry and used a knife...to [[MattressTagGag cut off one of those mattress tags]] that say "Do Not Remove Under the Penalty of Law". It's unclear whether he's covering up his actual crime, or if he really ''is'' on the lam for doing just that (either one would make sense within the universe of the movie).

** Pee-wee enters a diner, but when he says, "Large Marge sent me", everyone drops what they're doing, and turn towards him, all with shock and disbelief on their faces.
** It happens again when Pee-wee visits the biker bar. It doesn't happen though until Pee-wee draws attention to himself by [[TooDumbToLive shouting at the bikers to be quiet]] since he wants to use the phone.
* BadBadActing: In the ShowWithinAShow that ends the film, Pee-wee mouths the actors' lines along with them and keeps [[AsideGlance glancing at the camera]]. At one point he can be seen glancing off camera (presumably at the director waving at him to get out of the shot) and then sliding partially out of frame.

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Francis having Pee-wee's bike stolen falls into this. He clearly believed that just getting the bike meant he could enjoy it all he wants and the thought that Pee-wee would go searching for his lost bike didn't occur to him.

* DisproportionateRetribution: Mickey claims to be on the run from the law for cutting a tag off of a mattress, though it isn't entirely clear whether this is the truth or if he's simply lying so as not to frighten Pee-wee. Either way, Pee-wee sympathetically remarks "I always thought that was the dumbest law." after hearing it.[[note]]Really, the law isn't for the consumer. It's to prevent fraudulent re-selling.[[/note]]

** Andy as well. Francis is [[Music/TheMonkees Davy Jones]] compared to him!

* TheRival: Francis Buxton, the other resident ManChild on the block who regularly antagonizes Pee-wee.

* SheCleansUpNicely: After spending most of the movie in WrenchWench coveralls, Dottie wears a ravishing pink dress and then a similarly stunning red one during her final few scenes. Naturally, [[CelibateHero Pee-wee couldn't care less]].

* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: One of the animals sold in the burning pet shop are snakes, which Pee-wee is rather squeamish about touching. When there's no other animals left to be saved, he grabs as many as he can and runs out of the building screaming. According to the DVDCommentary, Paul Reubens really is afraid of snakes. [[EnforcedMethodActing Those screams weren't fake]].

* SignsOfDisrepair: Pee-wee crashes through a sign reading "Apache Bar". He takes out the second and third letters of "Apache", leaving it to say "Ache Bar".

** Large Marge, ''twice''. One right before she shows him [[JumpScare what she looked like]] [[NightmareFace when the first responders showed up to her crash]], and another when she tells Pee-wee to make sure he tells the diners that Large Marge sent him.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Overlaps with CreepyGood. Large Marge may be a creepy truck driving ghost and all, but she's still rather nice, offering rides to hitchhikers.
She delivers Pee-wee to the nearest diner without any sort of catch, and does nothing worse than spook him a little along the way (and even that seems to be solely so he can carry the message to her old buddies that she's still out there as a ghost).

* DarkIsNotEvil: Large Marge being a creepy truck driving ghost and all, is still rather nice offering rides to hitchhikers. While she spooks Pee-wee at the end of their ride together, she delivers him to the nearest diner without any sort of catch.

* HarmfulToHitchhikers: Subverted. Early on in his journey, Pee-wee hitches a ride with Mickey, who is quickly established as an escaped convict. However, he never harms Pee-wee and even lets him drive. When Pee-wee almost crashes the car, he still doesn't kill him but instead forces him to find new transportation; Mickey isn't ''entirely'' sure what Pee-wee swerved to miss, but he knows it isn't Pee-wee's fault, knowing how utterly harmless Pee-wee is - he just doesn't want any more of the zaniness. He also knows that Pee-wee is completely innocent and doesn't want to get him involved in his run-ins with the law.

* CelebrityParadox: When Pee-wee first enters Mario's Magic Shop, a signed Elvira poster is visible on the wall. Cassandra Peterson cameos later on in the movie as the Biker Mama.

** Large Marge, ''twice''. One right before she shows him [[JumpScare what she looked like]] [[NightmareFace when the first responders showed up to her crash]], and another when she tells Pee-Wee to make sure he tells the diners that Large Marge sent him.

* PhotoIdentificationDenial: At the traffic stop, Pee-wee (in drag) and his escaped convict pal (in disguise) are shown a picture of... the escaped convict pal. The convict, thanks in part to Pee-Wee's over-the-top cutesy shenanigans, successfully fools the police officer into believing that he doesn't recognize his own photo.

* WrenchWench: Dottie, Pee-wee's LoveInterest, works at a bike shop and is noted to be great at repairing them. Pee-wee's CoolBike is implied to have at least in part been built by her.

* DriveInTheater: Where Pee-wee and Dottie finally go on their date.

* HissBeforeFleeing: Inverted. At night in a storm, a deranged Pee-wee is walking through an alley, when he's accosted by a group of hoods ([[CreatorCameo one of whom is Burton]]), he hisses at them to drive them away.

** Mickey is established as a hardened criminal early on, but he never harms Pee-wee, and he kicks him out of his car because he knows Pee-wee is too innocent for his own good and doesn't want him to get mixed up in his run ins with the law.
* KarmaHoudini: The thief hired to steal Pee-wee's bike is never seen again after being told to get rid of it. Presumably he was paid twice, once to steal it and once to sell it.
* LemmingCops: The security guards at Creator/WarnerBros, who take chase (and crash rather impressively) rather than just cutting off all the studio exits.

** At the end Francis presses Pee-wee to let him sit on the bike by pointing out Pee-wee wouldn't have gone on his adventure or gotten his movie deal if it weren't for Francis' own actions. He is right in that if he hadn't had the bike stolen Pee-wee wouldn't have gone through everything he did, something Pee-wee concedes.
** When Pee-wee confronts Francis about his bike being stolen the latter claims it wasn't him. Francis really ''didn't'' steal it but he did hire someone to do so on his behalf.

* UniversalGroupReaction: After hitching a ride with a trucker named Large Marge, Pee-wee goes into a bar and tells them that Large Marge sent him. One patron explains that Large Marge died in a fiery crash (which she'd told Pee-wee about as a third person. Pee-wee looks astonished and say it must have been, prompting the whole bar to state the obvious at once, "Her ghost!"

-->'''Butler:''' He is taking his bath.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Since this was Creator/TimBurton's first film, its very lighthearted than the rest of his work and has no horror elements expect for Large Marge's JumpScare and the nightmare scene.
* EurekaMoment: "Everyone wanted my bike. This morning, before it got stolen, Francis offe- Francis!"

* DidNotThinkThisThrough: Francis having Pee-wee's bike stolen falls into this. He clearly believed that just getting bike meant he could enjoy it all he wants and the thought that Pee-wee would go searching for his lost bike didn't occur to him.

* AluminumChristmasTrees: Yes, ''[[TieInCereal Mr. T Cereal]]'' [[http://www.mrbreakfast.com/cereal_detail.asp?id=244 actually existed]].

* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: The world seems to mildly run on CartoonPhysics. Big-budget Hollywood studios film their movies in the same manner as very-early silent films. Car convertible canopies can act as parachutes for said cars. Chimps are sold as pets in pet stores. Tiny bike horns can emit massively-loud truck horn sounds. Ghosts in ghost vehicles can transport living flesh-and-blood people. Attempting to break an acquaintance out of prison will just get you a disapproving look from a prison guard. Said prison will happily take a presumably-dangerous convict to see a movie based on an acquaintances' life. A major Hollywood studio would be willing to forgive you for trashing the entire studio in exchange for creating a movie about your adventure (which will be retconned as a cheesy spy flick).

* LighterAndSofter: The film is the halfway mark between Paul Reubens' original nightclub act and the TV show he developed afterwards. The nightclub act presents itself as a kids' show but has raunchy humor in it for adults. The film has a few lightly risque jokes, but is otherwise pretty family friendly. The TV show is firmly aimed at kids, though with an occasional innuendo designed to go over the kids' heads.

* ManChild: Pee-wee and his archnemesis Francis Buxton. It's never clear whether they're supposed to be childish men or actual juveniles played by adult actors. Pee-wee is referred to as a "boy" several times.

* StylisticSuck: The movie that is made at the end is an over the top action movie, where the Soviets have stolen P.W.'s top secret motorcycle.

** The armored warrior Pee-wee gets directions from on the WB backlot is wearing an outfit from ''{{Film/Krull}}'', in an odd costume example[[note]]Krull was filmed overseas and distributed by WB's competitor Creator/ColumbiaPictures. It makes sense because from 1972 to 1989 Columbia rented out half of WB's studios to save money; they eventually moved into the old [[Creator/MetroGoldwynMayer MGM]] lot in Culver City when WB merged with Creator/{{Lorimar}}-Telepictures in 1989; Lorimar had bought the lot when UsefulNotes/TedTurner had bought MGM and its sister studio Creator/UnitedArtists for 74 days in 1986 then returned it thanks to a crippling debt load. They sold the MGM lot to Columbia so they could kick them out; the MGM lot today is now known as the Creator/SonyPicturesStudios[[/note]]. The actor playing said warrior is John Paragon, aka Jambi the Genie from Pee-wee's stage show and later, ''Pee-wee's Playhouse.''

** The BadassBiker that says "I say you let me have him first" is played by Cassandra Peterson, aka [[Creator/ElviraMistressOfTheDark Elvira]].

* CelibateHero: Pee-wee seems to be aware that Dottie has a crush on him, but actively rebuffs her attempts at attaining a RelationshipUpgrade with him. Despite this, it's hinted that they become a couple in the end, with two adorable matching doggies to boot!

* ApatheticCitizens: The movie clearly establishes the strip mall Pee-wee visits is busy - with hordes of people walking around, riding bikes and skateboards. However evidently no one seems to have said anything about a person cutting a hundred pounds of chain off of a bike and leaving with it.

* AdaptationalBadass: "P.W." Herman (the version of Pee-wee of the film adaptation at the end) is a Franchise/JamesBond-style super-spy badass played by Creator/JamesBrolin. The bike as well becomes an experimental vehicle of some sort called the X-1. Dottie becomes a sultry Creator/MorganFairchild who's the HotScientist Bond girl {{Expy}} love-interest.