Paul Reubens played the title character in Tim Burton’s 1985 film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.
Reubens plays Pee-wee Herman, an eccentric man-child whose beloved red bicycle is stolen. He travels across the United States to recover it, encountering unusual characters and increasingly surreal situations along the way.
The movie was Burton’s first feature-length theatrical film as director. Its combination of bright production design, absurd comedy, dreamlike imagery, and Danny Elfman’s energetic score established several elements that would recur in Burton’s later work.
Pee-wee’s Big Adventure also features Elizabeth Daily as Dottie, Mark Holton as Francis, Diane Salinger as Simone, and Large Marge, a memorable truck-stop character. Reubens created Pee-wee for stage and television before bringing the character to film.