Tuesday, August 11, 2009

100 Greatest Movie Characters: 62

"Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us, Amazing Larry?"

62. Pee-Wee Herman
Pee-Wee's Big Adventure


A strange man-child has his precious bike stolen and embarks on a weird adventure to get it back. Before he had his own playhouse in puppet land, Pee-Wee Herman lived in California with his dog Speck and his beloved stupid bicycle.

The glory of Pee-Wee as a character is that he is, more or less, an immature idiot of a human being. Playing pranks, throwing tantrums, and being generally selfish is the nature of Paul Reuben's bratty character.

It's really hard to explain why a dickish man-child would appear on my list of favorite movie characters, but then again it's hard to explain why the adventures of said dickish man-child would be one of my favorite movies. It's a really well-crafted character in a really well-written and directed film. Pee-Wee's Playhouse raised me as a child even after it went off the air.

Pee-Wee's fucking awesome, you guys.

Defining moment: Okay I'm gonna have to WALL-E this one. So here are some of Pee-Wee's best moments in the film.

  • His breakfast machine
  • Wrestling his even brattier neighbor Francis in a pool
  • Getting progressively more and more annoyed with the hobo he rides in a boxcar with
  • Remembering the Alamo
  • Telling a bar full of angry bikers "SHHHHHHHHH! I AM TRYING TO USE THE PHONE!"
  • Dancing to "Tequila"
  • Crashing his motorcycle near moments after getting it
  • Completely fucking up an entire movie studio
  • Rescuing an entire pet store from a fire, constantly avoiding the snakes until they're the only one left. He then runs out screaming while holding the snakes and passes out.
  • His cameo as a bellhop in the movie about his life


Yeah, Pee-Wee Herman is cool.

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