MonitoRadio Conversations; #55; Pee Wee's Big Adventure - Tim Burton and Sterritt [1985-09-13]

TGIF, I'm Lisa Taylor, producer of Conversations with the Christian Science Monitor. For this Friday, September 13, 1985. This is show number 55. Segment times are as follows. Number one, 59 seconds. Number two, five, 54. Number three, six, even. Number four, eight, 25, and number five, 42 seconds. The running times are based on two minutes for each commercial break. Commercial break number one at 59 seconds. Commercial break number two, eight, 53. Commercial break number three, 16, 53. And commercial break number four, 27, 18. The show will start as usual in about a minute and have a great weekend. This is

Conversations with the Christian Science Monitor, your host, Bob McDonnell. Hi, thanks for tuning in. Last night I went to the movie theater to see a new comedy that just came out a couple of weeks ago. Peewee's Big Adventure. Now, I didn't know quite what to expect and I think originally when it came out I hadn't planned to go see it but so many people told me to go check this new movie out that I decided I'd wander on down. It has got to be one of the most unusual comedies that has come out of Hollywood in a long time and I was very curious to talk to somebody who was involved in putting it together and so tonight we have on the show The Director of Peewee's Big Adventure Tim Burton. After I talk to Tim about the whole process of putting together this wild and unusual new comedy I'll be talking with our own movie critic, The Monitor's David Starratt, about what he thought of Peewee's Big Adventure. Please stay with us. I'll be back with Tim Burton right after this. This is Conversations with the Christian Science Monitor. With me now is the Director of

Peewee's Big Adventure Tim Burton. Tim, before we get underway I'm going to put you on the spot and ask you to try to explain Peewee Herman to someone who has no idea what he's like, who's never seen him before. How would you do that? Well, I may not be the right one to ask because I think he's quite normal in a lot of ways. I think that's part of his appeal but I think that he's many things and I've heard him describe his many things. For me, he really captures the kid quality and all of us and the quality of the extrovert, the person that will do everything that we wish we could do. Again, the real childlike quality, which is what I really responded to. And what appeals to you? How would you describe him visually? A living cartoon character but he's also very real, which is the best of both worlds for me. This movie has got to have one of the heaviest storylines I think I've ever seen. It's all about a man who's looking for his stolen

bike. Very heavy, very complex and hard to understand. What did your family and your parents think when you called them up and said, hey, I'm going to be directing a movie about a man who lost his bike? Well, I haven't spoken to them since I've done it. But the way it's done and the way that Peewee feels about his bike, I mean it's no different than say the plot to treasure of Sierra Madre or something like that. I mean, it's just as important to him as anything, as losing your car, your brother, your wife. So I think it's fairly universal. It's just the actual item is a little different. That's a pretty interesting connection between Peewee's adventure and the treasure of Sierra Madre. Well, I don't mean to be that close, but it's just the way he feels about it. It certainly has as much importance as anything else. Now, Peewee is well known on the MTV

David Letterman show, Tonight Show Circuit. And he has quite a following, some might call it a cult following here in the country. I'm sure that Warner Brothers, when they decided to make this movie and put you at the helm, wanted it to appeal to a wider audience. Who were you trying to attract with this movie? Well, it is pretty much of a fact that the audience is kids and teenagers. And they certainly wanted to go for that crowd. But you know, always try to make the movie for the widest. I mean, I know kids have really loved it, little kids, and a lot of adults have liked it too. So I think that it's sort of spanned the whole age group. So you think you've been successful in broadening the appeal of Peewee Herman with this film? Well, you know, he has that real Jerry Lewis quality where people either love him or hate him. But I do feel that some people that didn't like Peewee before, after seeing the movie, have liked Peewee. Tim, I've got to admit, I'm in

that group. I've seen Peewee before on TV. And I mean, he hadn't exactly excited me, but after I saw the movie last night, I was walking out of the theater and said, you know, I'd rather like this guy. So he's a very likable character. And some people think that he's very one note. I have been to think that he's very complex and there's many different levels to him, which I think I hope show up. I'm talking with Tim Burton, director of Peewee's big adventure. So Tim, you really see Peewee as a complex screen character? Well, yeah, I mean, I do. I think it's, again, it goes into that whole childlike quality. I mean, kids are very complex and there's a lot of, you know, Peewee, when he's, he's very emotional and when he's happy, you know, things are very happy. And when he's down, things are very down. And I just think that he has a real wide range and it can go anywhere. He can basically, you know, do anything.

Now, you know, when I was viewing the movie last night, it seemed, you know, all the pieces seemed to work together to give off a kind of, I wouldn't necessarily call it surreal, but a fantasy, a very distinct style and tone to the whole movie. How hard was that to achieve? Well, I mean, actually, that's what I love the most. And again, why I was drawn to it was to try to put Peewee in a situation where you believed Peewee. I mean, when I see most films today, they'll take some strong comedian and just, you know, stick them on a street corner and have them be funny. What we tried to do was to put Peewee in a situation that was like him, you know, an atmosphere that he sort of belonged in. So that was actually a lot of fun. And it wasn't, in fact, I think if Peewee and I had our way, it would have been much more so, you know, much more of a, not fantasy, but

just stranger, more surreal elements into it. But before we go to a commercial briefly, how would you describe that atmosphere you were trying to achieve? Peewee, I mean, that's just sort of an off -kilter, slightly off -kilter, but also real colorful, you know, I mean, it's all pretty much there, hopefully. But, you know, not so far out that you don't believe it. So rooted in reality. Yeah, absolutely. Okay, Tim, let's pause right here. I'll be back with more about Peewee's Big Adventure with its director Tim Burton right after this. Welcome back to Conversations. My guest is Tim Burton, the director of the new comedy film, Peewee's Big Adventure. Tim, the atmosphere and the style of the movie, which are such an important part of what you were trying to achieve in Peewee's Big Adventure, was it completely thought out before you started on the first day of filming? Yeah, I mean,

definitely. You know, we had a couple of months of pre -production, which, you know, it was a very quick film. There was, you know, not as much pre -production and not as much post -production, but, you know, that was also sort of a fun challenge, just the spontaneity of it helped a lot too. So, but yes, we did plan, you know, as much as possible. Of all the elements from the music score to the editing, to your direction, to the script, what were the things that were really critical in your mind? What had to click to achieve what you wanted to achieve? You know, you have a very strong image in Peewee, and I think that it was a thing of making people understand Peewee, and that's what you're going for, you know, it's basically all for him. It's all to make that image and that character fit to read, put him in the atmosphere, match his emotions, you know, that type of thing. So, again, once you understand Peewee, then you have a goal, and you have the thing

to go for. So, Adam, if that answers your question. Well, it sort of does. I guess the reason I thought about it so strongly is I was sitting there in the theater last night, the music score stuck out to me, in particular, as being perfect. I mean, there were moments after moments where I was sitting there and I was going, gosh, this music is just what it needed right here. You know, if I was going to rate something over something else, I might say, you know, the music seemed very important to me. Oh, absolutely. Well, again, that goes into the way I, I mean, we all feel, but I felt that, I mean, when we started out making it, we knew that since we had to shoot so quickly and just all the different sort of episodic nature of the film, and the quickness that it was almost like shooting a silent movie, in a sense. And that coupled with the way Peewee's emotions, the way he gets so happy, and the way he gets so depressed, and how seriously he takes everything, you know, in terms of the

music score, we just wanted to mirror all of that. And again, you know, just the concept of Peewee as a living cartoon character, you know, the score also mirroring that a little bit. So all of those elements, and then coupled with the right, you know, the right person to do the score, he did stood a fantastic job. I mean, you know, that's always, for me, if you just get the right person to do something, and it's fantastic. And who did the score for the movie? Danny Elfman. You know, the movie looks like Tim, the movie looks like it was a lot of fun to make. Was there a lot of fun on the set while you were putting this together? Yeah, I mean, it was very hectic just because of the schedule, but it was also invigorating too, because of it. I mean, we, you know, had like two new locations every day. I mean, I felt like this is incredible when we got to shoot on a set for more than a day and a half. You know, it felt like a gigantic luxury. You know, we were just really operating like an old -time movie.

We've been talking about the schedule so much. How fast from start to finish was this put together? What is a fast schedule? Well, you know, it all depends on the nature of the script, but ours was a 40 -day schedule that we went over a little bit, of course. But again, it was a new location every day. And does that whole process of moving on to the next spot? Exactly. It's very, very tough for the big company. Yes. Well, what are some of the other things you've done? What have you done earlier to making your debut as this is your first feature film? Well, I did a short film at Disney, a half -hour film, which actually got me, you know, the people here at Warner Brothers and the producer saw it. What was that about? It's called Frankenweeney, and it's sort of a retelling of the Frankenstein story, but it's about a boy and his dog is killed and he brings a dog back to life. And it sort of parallels the Frankenstein story, but it's more from a kid's

point of view. What else have you made? Well, I did a short animated film at Disney that sort of started me. Then I did a couple other things. I did a little Disney cable film, and then I did one of Shelley DuVall's fairy tales for public television. For, yeah, for showtime. And then I started out as an animator at Disney, so that's about it. What's a critical reaction been like to the movie? To Pewie? Yeah. Very mixed. I mean, some people think it's the funniest movie ever made. Some people think it's one of the worst movies ever made. I mean, it's very extreme. People, you know, I've seen people respond to Pewie, and I know how people respond to me, and I think with us together, people either like it or they hate it. But it has been more positive, I think, than negative, definitely. How's the commercial reaction been? It's very good.

Very good. I mean, the movie didn't cost that much to make, and it's really making money. It's very successful. We're going to see more Pewie of Pewie's adventures. I think so. I'm sure you will. Tim, thank you very much for being with us on conversations tonight. Well, thank you. I'll be back with the monitor's film critic, David Starratt, to talk about Pewie's big adventure right after this. This is Bob McDonald, and you're listening to Conversations with the Christian Science Monitor. With me now is the monitor's film critic, David Starratt, so the two of us can discuss Pewie's big adventure. David, this is definitely an interesting movie, and I was wondering what you thought of this effort to take the character of Pewie Herman, who's well known to late -night TV fans, and put him in a film setting. Well, I'm not much of a TV watcher, so this was my first real exposure to Pewie Herman in person, so to speak. And I was kind of shy about saying this for

a while, but I was really sort of struck by him. I had a good time watching Pewie Herman. In fact, I had a much better time than I had expected to have. Expectations are an important thing here, because when I know when friends of mine have seen the trailers and the previews for the movie, they wonder what's this going to be like. What were your expectations going into the movie theater? Well, from my very little exposure to the Pewie persona that I had had earlier, I had expected something sort of flaky and sort of, there's kind of a 50s -ish overlay to his character, and I had expected some of that stuff. What I hadn't expected was, first of all, the intensity of it, the way this guy really is into this Pewie Herman stuff, and number two, the way it is sustained over the course of the whole movie. It doesn't falter. It doesn't fall apart. He doesn't have to start pushing it to keep it going. It just keeps going of its own accord. It's quite an achievement, I think.

And you enjoyed it. Yeah, I had a good time. I think the Pewie character is a really interesting one. I think it's a weird one, but it appeals to me somehow. And I think it's a well -made movie. I'll mention that right away. I think that Tim Burton's done a real good job. The movie is just as straightforward and just as clean in its lines and as undistracted and uncluttered as Pewie himself is. The movie is kind of like his suit that he wears through the movie. It is always pressed. It is always needed. It is always there. It's dependable. It's a nice, dependable movie. You know, it's unusual you say that because I know in some of your other reviews and I think it's something that we all hear a lot from people when they're responding to movies. We've seen so many uneven comedies lately that can't sustain a line as they go through. Yeah, well, if Pewie doesn't appeal to you, if this is not your bag, then this very consistent thing might drive you out of your mind. Because the movie really does do one thing all the time. You might even

say it's, you know, that old Bettinoir to one joke movie. But it's not really a joke. It's a personality. And that's a big difference. This personality, I think, keeps things going. David, how would you describe the storyline of Pewie's big adventure? Well, to call it a storyline is already magnifying it a little bit, I think. Somebody steals Pewie's bike and so Pewie goes looking for it. That's about it. Now, Pewie's guy who always wears a plaid suit and he always wears a little bow tie and his life has lived out in this kind of eternal suburbia. And he's very childlike and childish. And his bike means a lot to him. He loves his bicycle. And so that's enough to motivate him for a whole movie. He goes out and he hunts for his lost bike. And that's really it. You know, there's a little bit of romance on the side, but certainly doesn't amount to much because Pewie doesn't think to have time for that sort of thing. I'm not sure what he does have time for when he's not looking for his bike, but whatever it is, it

definitely consumes him because there's really nothing in his life except sort of giggling a lot. Now, looking at who will be enjoying this movie, you enjoyed it. Talk about the audience you that this movie is going to appeal to. Well, I think that it should be able to reach out to a lot of people. I suspect that it already is. I liked it. I had a good time. I regard it personally as the most avant -garde movie to come out of me from a Hollywood studio in a very long time. You know, it doesn't just pretend to be weird, but it's really peddling the same old formulas. I think it is somewhat weird. And I have to give it a few points for that. My kids think it's just great. My teenage kids are walking around talking like Pewie Herman. I'm not sure how much I like that. And I recently saw a review by a person who I regard as sort of a high -brow type of a critic who was going through this sort of apologetic routine about how much he liked the movie. It was, you know, oh, he has a friend who says this stuff is cultural decadence, but the critic says, hey, this stuff is good. I like this stuff. I think for some of the same reasons that I liked it, so I decided I wasn't really crazy and I

started admitting to people that I like Pewie's big adventure. I'm talking to monitor film critic David Starratt. David, we've mentioned Tim Burton's direction as being an important part of pulling this whole movie together and making it what it is. What else struck you in terms of the elements that go into the film that really made it click? Well, there's not a whole lot. It really is a very simple movie, which is one of the things that makes it different. Again, the directing style is very crisp and streamlined and unquuttered. I do think that plays a very important part. The Pewie Herman persona, of course, is the central element. And, you know, there are some interesting supporting performances, occasional little visual surprises that add something. I think it's important to note that this character, Pewie Herman, really does have a pedigree. It's not something that suddenly sprang full -blown from the head of Warner Brothers or anything like that. Arrested development has always made a hit with moviegoers, and we've had Jerry

Lewis, who for a long time had a really big movie career. And way back to the days of the old silent films when Harry Langdon did very much the same thing, the eternal child man. Now, I think Pewie Herman has something different going from either one of those people. He has a murky kind of intelligence that the really childish Langdon hardly ever showed. Murky kind of intelligence, David. Interesting line. Now, what do we mean by that? Well, lurking behind Pewie's unlined brow. It's lined sometimes, actually. I think there's a sort of a mind that's at work there. I think that he thinks. I think he has a real relationship with life. It's a very strange one and believe me. I think you'd have to analyze the movie in great detail to begin to figure out what really goes on in this guy's head. And even then, you know, you could have big arguments about it with somebody else. But I do think that there's something going on in his mind. I think that he's a conscious kind of a character. He doesn't just, life does not just toss him

around the way it often did with Harry Langdon. Jerry Lewis was more aggressive. Jerry Lewis was always twisting his face and making weird voices and, you know, contorting his limbs into bizarre positions. Pewie Herman doesn't do too much of that. He does some voice stuff. And, of course, he does, you know, fair amount of physical stuff. But it's not aggressive like Lewis. There's something that really interested me about the Pewie Herman character. He spends a lot of time giggling. That's sort of his philosophy of life when things are going great, giggle. When you have trouble, giggle some more. That's kind of basic. You can go away, giggle even more. And, you know, sure enough he gets his bike back. And so you can't argue with results. But every once in a while, Pewie Herman, rather than just giggling at the camera or at somebody in the movie, you just sort of see him in the frame up there on the screen and his mouth is closed and he sort of looked at the other way. And he's giggling. I think this guy really loves life. And I think life sort of loves

him back, too. And I think that that's what makes the movie kind of charming. David, you know, it sounds like we're going to be studying this movie for years at cinema schools all over the country. Well, gosh, thank you very much for being with us tonight on conversations and giving us your thoughts on Pewie's big adventure. It is my pleasure. I'll be back with a preview of Tomorrow Night Show right after this. That's it for another week of conversations. Join me again Monday night when the subject will be Polo, a sport that's making a comeback around the country. Membership is doubled in the US Polo Association since 1977, and I'll be talking to its president Don Little about the trend. An increasing number of women are playing Polo, and my second guest will be Sue Sally Hale, the first woman to join the US Polo Association. Thank you for listening. This is your host Bob McDonald. Have a great weekend. This has been Conversations with the Christian Science Monitor, produced in

Boston, Massachusetts, and is a copyrighted broadcast. You