50 Fun Facts About Pee-wee's Big Adventure

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee wins over a furious biker gang by dancing to which 1958 instrumental hit?

"Tequila" by the Champs topped the US pop and R&B charts in 1958, and the film tied the tune so closely to the Pee-wee dance that the two have been linked ever since.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, escaped convict Mickey says he was sent to prison for which trivial offense?

Cutting a mattress tag is all Mickey admits to, yet he reaches for a gun at a police roadblock until Pee-wee comes up with a disguise.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, truck-stop waitress Simone dreams of leaving her jealous boyfriend to live in which city?

Paris is where Simone longs to live, and Pee-wee's pep talk works: he later runs into her at a bus station, already on her way.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee and Simone watch the sunrise from inside which giant roadside statue?

A dinosaur, and a real one: sculptor Claude Bell built the concrete giants beside a California freeway to draw customers to his restaurant.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which trucker gives Pee-wee a ride on the anniversary of her own fatal crash?

Large Marge is a ghost: diners at the next truck stop tell a shaken Pee-wee that she died in a wreck on that very date.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, a phony psychic says the stolen bike is hidden in which part of the Alamo?

The basement is where she sends him, but after hitchhiking to Texas and sitting through a guided tour, Pee-wee learns the Alamo does not have one.

Which rock musician wrote his first major studio film score for Pee-wee's Big Adventure, directed by Tim Burton?

Danny Elfman of Oingo Boingo had never scored a studio feature and worried about his lack of formal training, until Burton accepted his demo of the title music.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee's bike chase through a studio lot crashes a video shoot by which heavy metal band?

Twisted Sister got the cameo after frontman Dee Snider and Paul Reubens met at a New Year's Eve party and found they admired each other's work.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure opens with Pee-wee dreaming that he is winning which famous sporting event?

The Tour de France is the dream that opens the film, though the roadside crowds cheering Pee-wee to the finish were filmed in Malibu, California.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee breaks off his getaway from the film studio to play hero at which burning business?

A pet shop: he carries the animals out and collapses, and although firefighters call him a hero, the police arrest him for breaking into the studio.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, how does Pee-wee pay for his truck-stop meal after finding that his wallet is missing?

Washing dishes settles the bill and introduces him to Simone, the waitress he befriends; he had left the wallet behind at the fortune teller's.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee hides from Simone's boyfriend Andy at a rodeo and ends up competing in which event?

Bull riding it is: disguised as a cowboy, he is mistaken for a contestant, hoisted onto the animal and sets a record before it throws him and knocks him out.

When Hollywood films his story at the end of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee himself gets only which cameo role?

A hotel bellhop is the only part he gets in the story of his own life, and even then his voice has been dubbed by someone else.

Which actor plays the suave "P.W. Herman" in the Hollywood action movie shown at the end of Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

James Brolin was in on a second joke: the movie-within-the-movie spoofs James Bond, a part he had come close to landing himself.

Which actress plays the glamorous screen version of Dottie in the movie-within-the-movie in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Morgan Fairchild plays Dottie as a spy's partner, helping to recover a stolen motorbike that carries secret microfilm wanted by the Soviets.

In the final scene of Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Francis poses on Pee-wee's bike and accidentally sets off which gadget?

The ejector seat launches Francis across the movie screen, moments after he boasts to reporters that he taught Pee-wee how to ride.

At which kind of venue does Pee-wee watch Hollywood's version of his story in the last scene of Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

A drive-in theater hosts the premiere, where Pee-wee hands out refreshments to the people he met on the road, then leaves before the film is over.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which fortune teller sends Pee-wee to Texas on a false lead about his stolen bike?

Madam Ruby runs the tarot parlor Pee-wee wanders into on a rainy night, after his obsession with the bike has driven his friends away.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, how do Pee-wee and the fugitive Mickey disguise themselves to get past a police roadblock?

As husband and wife they are waved through without a fight, which spares everyone a shootout: Mickey had already taken out his gun.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, what saves Pee-wee and Mickey after Pee-wee drives their car off a cliff at night?

The convertible top opens like a parachute and lowers the car to the ground; Mickey then drives off alone, leaving Pee-wee in the dark wilderness.

The breakfast machine in Pee-wee's Big Adventure is a contraption of the kind named after which cartoonist?

Rube Goldberg drew cartoons of gadgets that did simple jobs in comically roundabout ways; Pee-wee's kitchen builds a whole breakfast that way, and he eats just two bites of it.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee pours which celebrity's cereal over a breakfast face made of eggs and bacon?

Mr. T had his own Quaker Oats cereal from 1984, with pieces shaped like the letter T, and Pee-wee showers it over a plate with fried eggs for eyes while imitating the star.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, what is the name of the little dog who shares Pee-wee's toy-filled house?

Speck gets a credit of his own at the end of the film, billed with the words "and introducing" after the human guest stars.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, where is Francis when Pee-wee sneaks into the Buxton mansion to accuse him of the theft?

In the bathtub, and an enormous one: Pee-wee jumps in and fights Francis among his bath toys until the butler and Mr. Buxton pull the two of them apart.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee chains his bike to which mechanical figure shortly before it is stolen?

A clown stands guard over the bike while Pee-wee shops for gags at Mario's magic shop; he comes back to find it gone, staggers into the bike shop calling for Dottie and faints.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Francis expects his father to buy him Pee-wee's bike as a present for which occasion?

His birthday wish is laughed off, so Francis pays a thief to take the bike, then loses his nerve and has it sent away once Pee-wee announces a reward on the radio.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, which biker gang threatens Pee-wee after he knocks over their parked motorcycles?

Satan's Helpers turn from executioners into fans: they cheer his dance on the bar tables, give him one of their own motorcycles and later attend the premiere of his movie.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee rides away on a motorcycle given to him by bikers and promptly crashes into what?

A billboard stops him within seconds, and he wakes in a hospital bed just as a TV news report shows his missing bike being presented to a Hollywood child star.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, what does Pee-wee leap aboard to get away from Simone's furious boyfriend Andy?

A freight train carries him off, and he wakes beside Hobo Jack, whose endless sing-along wears him out until he jumps off, right where he needed to be.

Which song does Pee-wee sing in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, passers-by clapping along, to prove where he is?

Deep in the Heart of Texas was a wartime smash, with five versions in the charts in 1942; the strangers around Pee-wee supply its trademark hand claps.

The Alamo, where Pee-wee expects to find his stolen bike in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, stands in which Texas city?

San Antonio supplied the real exterior, but the guided tour inside was filmed far away, at the Mission San Fernando Rey de España in Los Angeles.

Which future Saturday Night Live star made her film debut as the Alamo tour guide in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Jan Hooks plays Tina, whose long-winded tour Pee-wee has to sit through before he gets his answer; she joined Saturday Night Live the following year.

Which future star of NewsRadio co-wrote Pee-wee's Big Adventure and appears briefly as a reporter in the final scene?

Phil Hartman had helped develop the Pee-wee character on stage, and later said the film's success stopped him from giving up acting at 36.

Elizabeth Daily, who plays Dottie in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, later became the voice of which cartoon character?

Tommy Pickles of Rugrats is her best-known voice, along with Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls; in the film she is the bike-shop mechanic with an unreturned crush on Pee-wee.

Jason Hervey, the child star in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, went on to play big brother Wayne in which TV series?

The Wonder Years cast him as the older brother of Fred Savage's character; here he is Kevin Morton, the pampered young actor who has been presented with the stolen bike.

Cassandra Peterson, who plays a biker in Pee-wee's Big Adventure, is far better known as which horror-hostess character?

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, hosted B movies on Los Angeles television; here Peterson is the gang's Biker Mama, cast alongside her old improv-troupe friend Paul Reubens.

Which Tim Burton short film won him the job of directing Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Frankenweenie sold Paul Reubens within about 15 seconds: he said the wallpaper and lighting of one bedroom shot showed him a director who understood style.

In Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Pee-wee sneaks onto the Burbank lot of which real Hollywood studio to take back his bike?

Warner Bros. produced the film, so the chase tears through its own backlot, and the story ends with the studio's boss buying the rights to Pee-wee's adventure.

Which James Bond actor was Paul Reubens's first choice to play the suave P.W. in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Sean Connery was the dream casting for the film-within-the-film, a spy spoof that remakes Pee-wee's road trip with ninjas, a sleek motorcycle and a glamorous leading couple.

Which veteran comedian makes an uncredited cameo at the studio gate in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Milton Berle, known as Mr. Television, strolls onto the lot telling jokes to his entourage, and Pee-wee gets past the guard by slipping in with the group.

Paul Reubens first planned Pee-wee's Big Adventure as a remake of which 1960 Disney film starring Hayley Mills?

Pollyanna was his favorite film, but the plan changed once he noticed studio staff cycling around the backlot, asked for a bike of his own and started a new script around it.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure has been described as a farce version of which 1948 Italian neorealist classic?

Bicycle Thieves, Vittorio De Sica's drama, follows a poor father through Rome in search of the stolen bike his job depends on, a plot the comedy borrows and turns silly.

The box-office success of Pee-wee's Big Adventure led its studio to hire Tim Burton for which superhero blockbuster?

Batman came his way once the film's profits made him a bankable director, and he set to work on a script for it with writer Sam Hamm.

Tim Burton passed on the sequel to Pee-wee's Big Adventure because he was busy making which 1988 ghost comedy?

Beetlejuice was a project of his own, so the follow-up, Big Top Pee-wee, in which a storm drops a traveling circus on Pee-wee's farm, went to director Randal Kleiser.

Which film critic skipped reviewing Pee-wee's Big Adventure on release, then put it atop his Guilty Pleasures list?

Roger Ebert came to admire the film's fairy-tale world, while his TV partner Gene Siskel gave it a rare zero stars and named it among the worst movies of 1985.

Pee-wee's red bike in Pee-wee's Big Adventure was built on vintage frames from which American maker?

Schwinn DX models dating from 1946 to 1953 were the base, and fourteen bikes were built for the shoot; the Alamo later acquired a screen-used stunt bike for permanent display.

Which animation technique created the ghostly trucker's bug-eyed scare face in Pee-wee's Big Adventure?

Claymation by the Chiodo Brothers, who had worked on the director's early short Vincent, produced the transformation, which lasts only a moment on screen.

The writers of Pee-wee's Big Adventure followed which screenwriting guru's manual, losing the bike on page 30?

Syd Field's 1979 book Screenplay was their guide, and Reubens said they did exactly what it told them: a 90-page script, the bike lost on page 30 and found on page 60.

Pee-wee's Big Adventure filmed at the Wheel Inn restaurant, beside giant roadside sculptures, in which California town?

Cabazon sits just west of Palm Springs beside Interstate 10, and the Wheel Inn fed passing drivers there from 1958 until it closed in 2013.

The Hollywood premiere of Pee-wee's Big Adventure was the first film premiere broadcast live by which cable channel?

MTV carried the night live from Grauman's Chinese Theatre, and the carnival-themed party that followed drew Eddie Murphy, Alice Cooper and David Lee Roth.