Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 6, 2015

Pee-wee Herman can be an acquired taste, to put it mildly. Pee-wee’s Playhouse may be even more of an acquired taste, what with its tendency to plop its already outsized hero down in an often weirdly surreal lunatic environment. Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series was brought out by Shout! Factory just about a year ago, offering the complete multiseason run of the series along with copious bonus content. Even some unabashed Pee-wee fans may not have had the scratch to fork over the bucks for the large set, while some who weren’t head over heels in love with Pee-wee may not have wanted quite that much of the bizarre characters. Those folks may find a more accessible price as well as more bite sized content in this new standalone release of the Playhouse’s charming if hallucinatory Christmas special.

The Christmas Special offers a glut of sometimes outré guest list that includes folks like Frankie and Annette, Charo and Grace Jones. Pee-wee is his typical childlike (and, frankly, childish) self, at times more excited about what he’s receiving than what he’s giving. But there are some sweet morals delivered here, along with the series’ typical penchant for surreal visions.

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.35:1. This appears to be a direct port over from the version released as part of Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series, for a cursory (and admittedly non scientific) comparison of bitrates showed near identical streaming rates. While a bit soft looking, as the entire series was, this special boasts wonderfully saturated color, and very good to excellent fine detail in close-ups. The interlaced presentation generally holds up very well, and even the vision phone sequences don't really devolve into moiré.

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One minor difference on this release is a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, as opposed to the original release's LPCM 2.0 mix. There's really no appreciable difference that I could detect between the two. The special is filled with music and goofy sound effects, along with the crazy dialogue that was part of the series' hallmark. Prioritization and fidelity are both excellent, and there are no issues of any kind to report on this track.

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This new standalone disc ports over the special specific supplements that were part of Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series. These include:

• Audio Commentaries:

  Commentary 1: Paul Reubens (co-writer), John Paragon (co-writer), Prudence Fenton (Animation Producer), and Lynne Marie Stewart (Miss Yvonne

  Commentary 2: The Puppeteers - Kevin Carlson, Ric Heitzman, George McGrath, Alison Mork, John Paragon and Wayne White

• A Very Merry Christmas Special (1080i; 10:02) goes behind the scenes of this special episode.

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For those who found the price tag of Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series a little too steep, or for those who either need or want a little less of a "commitment" with Pee-wee, this sweet Christmas Special may just be the perfect stocking stuffer. Recommended.