Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Hello, Dali!

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 4, 2014

Even the legendary Salvador Dali might have wondered what hallucinogenic aperitif Mrs. Dali slipped into his menu had he been alive to watch any given episode of Pee-wee’s Playhouse, the landmark Saturday morning series which aired on CBS for several seasons in the late eighties and early nineties (seasons populated with lots of reruns, it should be stated). Newton Minow famously opined in the sixties that television was a “vast wasteland” (and that was before the prevalence of cable—yikes!), and nowhere were things more vastly wasteland-ish than Saturday morning “kiddie” fare. Generic cartoons with barely adequate animation ruled the airwaves from the 1950s and 1960s on, interspersed with reruns of family friendly prime time series and the occasional faltering (and usually failed) attempt to generate a live action series like Saved by the Bell. There were of course notable exceptions, including one of the smartest series to ever adorn the little corner of the broadcast networks assigned to cartoons, Jay Ward’s immortal Rocky and Bullwinkle. There’s a lot of Ward’s playful spirit roaming wild and free throughout Pee-wee’s Playhouse, but there’s a good deal more, including a surreal ambience to much of the proceedings that at times seems to out-Dali Dali himself. Paul Reubens had been perfecting the bizarre naif Pee-wee for years before gaining renown first on stage, then an HBO special, and immediately prior to Pee-wee’s Playhouse, cinematic immortality (or something like it) in Pee-wee's Big Adventure . But Pee-wee’s Big Adventure plays like a model of narrative clarity and stylistic restraint when thrust up against the completely outré world of Pee-wee’s Playhouse. This is a series that is completely sui generis — there has never been anything remotely like it in “children’s television” (the reason for the quotes will be discussed later), and chances are there will never be anything remotely like it again.

Is it mere coincidence that psychiatric diagnoses like attention deficit disorder started blossoming almost exponentially both during and directly after the Pee-wee’s Playhouse era? That’s said mostly in jest, of course, though there are probably some curmudgeons out there who will watch this series’ hyperkinetic array of subjects, visual styles and general content and insist that an entire generation’s ability to concentrate on one thing at a time was seriously impaired by Paul Reubens’ anarchic revisionism of what Saturday morning entertainment should consist of. From the original opening stop animation that breezes the audience through everything from wacky jungle animals to a winking Sphinx, through any number of set pieces like Pee-wee checking his toys, interacting with Miss Yvonne (Lynne Marie Stewart), Cowboy Curtis (Laurence Fishburne), mail lady Reba (S. Epatha Merkerson), Captain Carl (Phil Hartman) and countless others, or disclosing the “word of the day” courtesy of robot Conky’s ticker tape emitter, Pee-wee’s Playhouse is a virtually nonstop assault on the senses, or at least the senses affected by watching television. Rarely has any series been so regularly stuffed full of audio and video sensory delights.

Just who (or what) is Pee-wee Herman? Aficionados who experienced Reubens’ original stage show or that first HBO special know that the character was a bit more overtly provocative in his early iterations, a man child who also seemed to have a somewhat lascivious subtext at times. That’s entirely toned down in Pee-wee’s Playhouse, to the point that Pee-wee, while courtly with Miss Yvonne on one hand and flamboyantly prance happy on the other (in a way that would have GLAAD storming the battlements if Pee-wee were supposed to be gay), is almost asexual. But putting gender identity issues aside, Pee-wee is one tic filled bowtie wearing individual. He’s almost incessantly manic, flitting from one activity to the next with absolutely no segueing whatsoever, and his idiolect is rife with staccato laughter, as well as weird vocalizing swoops and grunts. Pee-wee's face? Well, that's a rubbery story in and of itself, with a bizarre array of grimaces, almost grotesque mouth movements and other flat out strange affectations being the norm rather than the exception. That might initially seem to be almost frightening to so-called “impressionable children”. But there’s something else, and more important, running through all of Pee-wee’s admittedly flat out weird personality: he’s incredibly sweet. He’s not always kind, mind you, evincing a typically petulant childlike side at times. Note for example how he demands (albeit with a, yes, sweet smile), "Beg me," when three neighborhood kids want to see his mouse hole (something that would have been a deliberate euphemism in the raunchier early Pee-wee days, but which is here completely literal and innocent). Despite that occasional truculence (which typically abates almost as soon as it begins, in another nod to real life child behavior), he’s almost invariably adorable in his own extremely peculiar way.

What’s rather remarkable about Pee-wee’s Playhouse is how despite the fact that Pee-wee himself is just outright odd, and is further surrounded by a gaggle of mostly peculiar supporting characters (human and otherwise), the show has a very comfy, homelike atmosphere. The writing has a very affable innocence about it most of the time, but notice how slyly Reubens and company work in both pseudo-educational content (the “word of the day” at least helped toddlers recognize how words were spelled and when they were used in sentences) and, perhaps more importantly, a moral code. The world of Puppetland is an inescapably moral place, despite its more than apparent weirdness. When petulant puppet Andy takes over the Playhouse when Pee-wee goes to the store in one episode, insulting virtually everyone in the process, for example, Pee-wee himself makes the strange little tyke apologize—repeatedly. Even Pee-wee himself is taken to task at times when he becomes a bit too overbearing or isn’t properly empathetic with the other characters.

Now about that “children’s television” descriptor. While it’s obvious Reubens had kids in mind with his wildly playful concept, and courts their involvement not just with Pee-wee’s childlike demeanor but elements like the classic cartoons that are inserted into many episodes, there’s no doubt that the show soon was attracting at least as many adults as kids when it first aired. This may in fact have been one of the few times since the glory days of Jay Ward and company where grown ups found as much to enjoy in a supposed “kiddie show” as the kids themselves. The refreshing insouciance of Pee-wee and his manic environment was like a wrecking ball bursting through the conformity that many young adults were experiencing as the wild dreams of youth gave way to the realities of marriage, mortgages and, yes, kids. The interesting thing here is that Pee-wee’s Playhouse, for all of its undeniable innovation, never really offered adults the same kind of winking and often very smart verbal humor that Rocky and Bullwinkle and their cohorts did. Instead, this show’s appeal to grown ups was probably more about style than content. For a brisk half hour or so every Saturday morning, the cares of the world could be forgotten in a whirlwind of frenetic activity where Pee-wee seemed to serve as a symbol that childhood never really needs to end.

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Pee-wee's Playhouse is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Shout! Factory with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.35:1. Shout's press materials tout the fact that this was sourced from original film elements and that the restoration process undertaken for this high definition presentation was supervised by Paul Reubens himself. The results here look fantastic, with bright, vivid colors (and there has rarely been a more colorful series of any kind on television) and a generally very clear and stable looking image. The series is not razor sharp by today's standards, and indeed can look a little gauzy even in some close-ups (see screenshot 1), but the improvement here over broadcast and DVD versions is rather remarkable quite a bit of the time. There's a really beautiful consistency to the organic look of this presentation that overcomes the many different techniques utilized to cobble together any given episode. A fine grain field is readily apparent, one which tends to spike in some of the stop motion sequences. The interlaced presentation doesn't really present any major problems, though there are hints of moiré at times on the "vision phone" segments. Some of the blue and green screened material also has increased grain and softness at times. The elements don't really exhibit any overt damage or issues of major import (some of the old cartoons and other filmstrip material the show uses are in widely variant conditions, as should be expected). Fans should be very pleased with this release.

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Pee-wee's Playhouse features an uncompressed LPCM 2.0 audio track that offers the near ubiquitous music of Mark Mothersbaugh (along with several other notable contributors) with great clarity and precision. The equally ubiquitous sound effects, many of which are just downright wacky, also sound clear and help make the show the carnival ride that it almost always is. Dialogue is very cleanly presented. The track boasts excellent fidelity and no problems of any kind.

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Building the Playhouse (1080i; 51:48) has some great interviews which help to trace the genesis of the show and, ultimately, the incredible production design.


• Opening the Playhouse (1080i; 10:53) is a really fun look at the opening multi-media title sequence.


• Writing for the Playhouse (1080i; 18:42) doesn't just concentrate on the word writers, but on other writers, like composer Mark Mothersbaugh.


• The Look of the Playhouse (1080i; 29:49) is a good companion piece to the Building featurette, offering more of a look at some of the construction process for the show's incredible array of props, sets and costumes.


• Music of the Playhouse (1080i; 17:39) profiles Mothersbaugh and his compositional process for the series.


• The Cast of the Playhouse (1080i; 48:19) is a loving look at the series' truly phenomenal performers, many of whom have gone on to greater renown (and at least one, Phil Hartman, to his "greater reward". The featurette also nicely includes some of the behind the scenes performers who helped bring characters like Chairy to life.


• Audio Commentaries on the Christmas Special include one with Reubens and various other crew, and a second with the puppeteers.


• The Puppets of the Playhouse (1080i; 30:19) is a great look at the production and manipulation of the show's puppets.


• Animating the Playhouse (1080i; 20:39) details the many different animation techniques which were utilized in the series.


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


• Fans and Memorabilia of the Playhouse (1080i; 13:35) looks at the lasting impact of the show courtesy of tchokes that fans still collect.

Pee-wee's Playhouse: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Pee-wee Herman is such an indelible character that it's sometimes hard to remember there was an actual actor bringing him to life. Paul Reubens' creativity throughout this series is truly incredible, not just with regard to the unforgettable (and unforgettably weird) Pee-wee himself, but throughout the tenor and content of this completely amazing series. Shout! Factory has answered the dreams of a whole coterie of secret and not so secret Saturday morning "kiddie" show fans with this release. Technical merits are very strong and the supplemental package is also excellent. Is it possible to have two words of the day? Screaming is optional, but Pee-wee's Playhouse comes Highly recommended.