RATING


Mix a little alcohol, some mild violence, a dash of sexual innuendo and one of the most beloved children’s television characters of all time.The result: “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.”

We have all fantasized about seeing the TV personalities of our childhood in a more “mature” light. Shows like “Sesame Street” and “Barney” have served as fodder for countless drug-related gags. What makes Pee-wee Herman different is that creator Paul Reubens was able to give the character a different context in a far more tasteful manner.

With the help of co-writer Phil Hartman and then-rookie director Tim Burton, Reubens succeeded in creating a cultural event in 1985 that has remained a cult phenomenon. The character never loses his impishness and youthful appeal, but thrusting him into the “real world” makes him far more capable of entertaining an older age group.

An insecure man-child has his tricked-out bicycle stolen. He travels cross-country in search of it, meeting escaped convicts and truck-driving ghosts along the way. Sound like a kids movie? It may to some, but the end result is ultimately a movie that will please any age group. A person who enjoyed it as a child for it’s goofy qualities can easily come back to it 20 years later and pick up on the subtleties lost on them all those years ago.

But what’s the point of all of this? If you’re looking for a deeper meaning in “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” you shouldn’t be watching it. There is no moral. There are no lessons to be learned. This is just Pee-wee Herman being Pee-wee Herman, and that is a gem in itself.

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