FILM 1918: PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE

FILM 1918: PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE

TRIVIA: Tim Burton and Paul Reubens brought on Danny Elfman as composer after Burton had attended concerts by Oingo Boingo, of which Elfman was lead singer and songwriter. Elfman was originally apprehensive, having no formal music training, but he was assisted by Boingo guitarist Steve Bartek as orchestrator. Elfman later said that hearing his music performed by an orchestra for the first time was one of the most thrilling experiences of his life.

Jan Hooks improvised the dialogue for her scenes as the Alamo tour guide.

This was Tim Burton's directorial feature debut. He had previously directed some short films.

The Drive-in sequence was filmed at the Studio Drive In, formerly located in Culver City CA. The Studio was built in the 1930s, and was the first Drive-in Theatre constructed in California. It served as a set for several films, including Grease (1978). It was closed in 1993 and demolished in 1998. No trace of this Drive-in remains.

The rock band whose video shoot Pee Wee rides his bike through is Twisted Sister.

During the magic shop scene, Mario shows Pee-wee heads of different sizes. The largest head that he shows Pee-wee last is actually Aleister Crowley.

The Mr. T cereal eaten by Pee-Wee actually existed. It was not something made up for the film.

Elizabeth Daily (Dottie) would later go on to provide famous cartoon voices such as Buttercup in The Powerpuff Girls (1998) and The Powerpuff Girls Movie (2002)

CAMEO: Cassandra Peterson: (a.k.a. Elvira) Biker Mama at the Biker Bar.

CAMEO: Tom Berenger: Patron that turns around in the diner after the Large Marge sequence.

CAMEO: Phil Hartman: reporter interviewing Francis at the drive-in is "Captain Carl" from Pee Wee's TV shows.

DIRECTOR CAMEO : Tim Burton: the thug who accosts Pee-wee just before he enters the fortune teller's studio.

BOOK 149: BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM: KATE ATKINSON

Behind the Scenes at the Museum is the first novel of British novelist Kate Atkinson. The book covers the experiences of Ruby Lennox, a girl from a middle-class English family living in York. The museum of the title is York Castle Museum, which includes among its exhibits the facades of old houses from the city, similar to the one in which Ruby's family lives.

By interspersing flashbacks with the narrative of Ruby's own life, the book chronicles the lives of four generations of women from Ruby's great-grandmother Alice to Ruby's mother's failed dreams.

Ruby's own life is told in thirteen chapters, written in the first person, documenting key periods in Ruby's life from 1951 ("Conception" beginning with the words "I exist!") to 1992. Between each chapter are (non-consecutive) flashbacks that tell the story from the point of view of one of the other members of Ruby's family—including her great-grandmother Alice, her grandmother Nell and her mother Bunty.

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