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3) Big Top Pee-wee takes place too much in “a real world.” I was going to say “the real world”, but that’s not true. There are a few modern nods (the high-tech nature of Pee-wee’s combination greenhouse & laboratory) but otherwise the set design of the town near to Pee-wee’s home - the only one we ever see - is a very unwieldy amalgam of the 1950s (automobile types, diner) and the 1850s (blacksmith, dry goods general store, schoolhouse). All the townspeople in key supporting roles (with the exception of Penelope Ann Miller as the schoolmarm/fiancée) are old cranks. On a side note, this makes me wonder where all the families and a lot of the children show up from to witness the performance finale.

Thinking back to the all the people Pee-wee encountered on his Big Adventure, most if not all existed somewhere between cartoon and caricature. This seemed appropriate for dealing with someone who was nothing so much as a cartoon turned to live action. By contrast, all the supporting players in Big Top, from the townspeople to the menagerie of circus acts (including Benicio Del Toro as a dog-faced boy) have been rendered with as much realism as possible, an ill-fated decision. There is nothing fantastical about any of them, which renders the film’s attempts to invoke wonder from spectacle moot. This extends through to the romantic triangle, which occupies way too much space at the heart of the film. More thoughts on that to follow shortly.

The “more thoughts that have now followed shortly” section:

The similarities in beats in the early going between Big Adventure and Big Top are striking to note. Both begin with a Pee-wee dream (winning the Tour de France, becoming a singing idol beloved by the bobbysoxers set) which then becomes a glimpse into the daily routine of our hero, which is then significantly upset by a catastrophic event at the end of the first reel (bike gets stolen, tornado brings new meaning to “the circus just blew into town.”). Pee-wee then undertakes a journey - physical in the former, spiritual in the latter - to find what he has lost.

I was not able to watch more than two episodes in a row of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. The level of mania in the early going was quite overwhelming, exemplified for me by the 150 second opening credits sequence, which abruptly shifts from its idyllic Claymation woodsy/folksy opening to the high-pitched boisterousness of Pee-wee’s theme song (a pseudonymous Cyndi Lauper channeling Betty Boop) which is accompanied by his hyper-kinetic movements and introductions to the (non-human) inhabitants of his playhouse. My favorite of the first season episode skits would undoubtedly be the one where Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne) teaches Pee-wee to square dance (cue rear projection of couples at a hoedown) and in return Pee-wee schools CC in how to “pogo” (the pair dawn punk wigs while a circle slam of fairly polite punkers screens behind them).

What I did note is that the second season intro is slightly less manic, through the use of longer shots, less frenetic movements and alternate angles on some of the actions. This attitude is perhaps mirrored in an episode where Pee-wee and his juvenile charges play-act a school day. Pee-wee leads them through the Pledge of Allegiance - which they recite in its entirety - without any untoward behavior. (I am not sure if I find that or the first season punk interlude more surprising.)

Reubens gave an interview to Time several years back in which he iterated that he wanted Pee-wee to be a role model for kids and for the show to “have a strong moral backbone . . . teach them about the Golden Rule and celebrate the differences in each other.” As I stated above, Big Top Pee-wee strives for that and succeeds to an extent (it deals with the grumpy old contingent with a climax straight out of Spielberg’s contribution to Twilight Zone: The Movie) but Reubens also pushes his creation into an area I don’t feel he (Pee-wee) is capable of sustaining: lover.

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