Paul Reubens is headed to Phoenix on a tour celebrating the 35th anniversary of  “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” the movie debut that still defines his impact on American pop culture.

Released in 1985, it also marked the feature-film debut of a young director named Tim Burton, who’d won the gig on the strength of two shorts he’d done, “Vincent” and “Frankenweenie.” 

“Actually, I had to talk the studio out of a director they thought should direct the movie,” Reubens says. “I told them they had the wrong director and they grudgingly gave me one week to find someone else who’d be approvable, available and affordable. The three ‘A’s’.”

Someone Reubens knew had just seen “Frankenweenie” and suggested he check it out.

“I screened it the next day,” he recalls, “and knew about 20 seconds into it that he was the guy. And the rest is history. I could tell by halfway through the film, and certainly when I met him in person, that he was the absolute right decision.”

The birth of Pee-wee Herman

The childlike character had been a part of Reubens’ stage act for several years by then. It even landed the improvisational actor, who joined the Los Angeles comedy troupe the Groundlings in the ’70s, a Pee-wee HBO special in 1981.

“More than any other character I had debuted at the Groundlings, Pee-wee was an instant hit,” Reubens says. “The first audience reacted so favorably, and the character felt so familiar and right, it wasn’t hard to realize Pee-wee was a character I needed to pursue.”

At a certain early point in the development of Pee-wee’s character, he says, “I made a very conscious decision to drop all my other characters and concentrate on Pee-wee. It’s ironic, in hindsight. I thought when I became an actor that I wouldn’t have to wear a suit to work.”

Taking Pee-wee to the big screen

A feature film was a logical extension of the work he’d done to make Pee-wee a part of the cultural fabric.

“From almost the very beginning,” Reubens says, “I thought it would be great to use a movie format to tell a long story with the character. To have the time to see lots of different sides of him. For quite a while, I may have been the only person who thought that was a good idea, though.”

He recalls an early bit of press he got before the film came out in a magazine’s summer movie preview issue.

“They said something like, ‘Pee-wee is a funny few minutes on “Late Night With David Letterman” — but a feature-length film?!??'”

To which the only sane response would be “I know you are, but what am I?”

As luck would have it, history would take a kinder view of “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure.” 

The film grossed more than $40 million in North America on its way to becoming a cult film and spawning two sequels – 1988’s “Big Top Pee-wee” and 2016’s “Pee-wee’s Big Holiday.”

Pee-wee meets his bicycle

Reubens co-wrote the script with Phil Hartman, who’d helped develop the character at the Groundlings, and Michael Varhol.

As Reubens recalls the process, “We bought a book called ‘The Screenplay’ by Syd Field. It told you exactly how to write a movie. We followed it exactly.”

The original premise didn’t have a thing to do with Pee-wee’s bicycle.

“I would complain every day about not having a bike like everyone else at Warner Brothers Studio,” Reubens recalls. “One day, I came back from lunch and outside my office was a beautiful 1937 Schwinn racer, a gift from the producers of the movie.”

The producers had chained the bicycle to a post with a sign that read “Pee-wee Herman Parking Only.”

As soon as he saw that, Reubens says, “I knew we had been writing the wrong story and we immediately started writing about Pee-wee’s beloved bike being stolen.”

On knowing ‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’ was a hit

Reubens says he knew the film would be a hit as they were making it. 

“You often hear actors say it’s hard to know while you’re filming if a movie you’re making is any good,” he says. “I had a lot of confidence in both the script and my character. Plus Tim Burton’s talent. If I sound cocky, I think that’s a good way to describe it, in a way.”

He could see that they were making something special.

“I felt like there were a lot of amazing, incredible elements that were all coming together in a fantastic, organic way,” he says. “That being said, I know you can feel like that and have the completed movie not be good, so I feel lucky it made me proud after it was finished.”

Pee-wee’s Big Phoenix Adventure

On Reubens’ tour, he’ll be screening the film and then talking about it afterward — as Reubens, not Pee-wee.

“I’m not wearing my Pee-wee suit,” he says. “It’s me, Paul, creator of Pee-wee. Someone who saw the show told me they thought it was interesting to see how much Pee-wee is in Paul and how much Paul is in Pee-wee. That seems very profound, if you ask me. Or Pee-wee. I’m getting confused.”

In a recent appearance on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” it was brought up that Reubens had run into Kimmel at Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix. 

“I was in town to attend Phoenix Fan Fusion, a convention,” Reubens says. “The pizza we had was staggeringly delicious. I was told it would be, and the word on the street was correct. Yum! My mouth is watering just thinking about it again.”

He’s always been a fan of Arizona, Reubens says. 

“From the first time I came here, I felt an affinity for the land and desert, like I’d been here before,” he says. “It’s a feeling I’ve only had a few times in my life. I hope no one reading this thinks I’m just saying this. I really mean it. If I were going to live anywhere else than where I live now, it’d be somewhere in Arizona.”

Paul Reubens writes a memoir

In addition to reflecting on the early days of his career on tour, Reubens has been working on a memoir. 

“I’ve been making notes and writing down ideas for a few years already,” he says. “I wrote all my funniest stories first and then moved on to more serious stuff. I’ve certainly lived an interesting life, met lots of amazing people and had all kinds of incredible experiences and opportunities.”

He has no shortage of material.

“I’ve been smart and intuitive,” Reubens says. “Happy, sad, low and elated. I’ve learned many things and feel like I’ve become wise. I have very few regrets. And above all, I’ve been wonderfully blessed and lucky. I have a fantastic book in me and I’m excited to finish it and then play myself in the movie version!”

‘Pee-wee’s Big Adventure’ 35th anniversary tour

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7. 

Where: Arizona Federal Theatre, 400 W. Washington St., Phoenix.

Admission: $39.50 and up.

Details: 800-745-300, ticketmaster.com.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4495. Follow him on Twitter @EdMasley.

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