Paul Reubens's followup to the box-office hit Pee-Wee's Big Adventure is just as outrageous and cartoonish, though not as good. This time, child-man Pee-Wee runs a colorful farm, chock full of talking animals and outsized produce. On the morning after a tornado of Wizard of Oz dimensions, Pee-Wee awakens to discover that a travelling circus has been deposited in his back yard. Befriended by circus owner Kris Kristofferson, Pee-Wee takes an acrobatic job, hoping to impress lovely trapeze artist Valeria Golino--thereby incurring the jealous rage of his hometown sweetie Penelope Ann Miller. When the circus is faced with bankruptcy, Pee-Wee comes up with a brilliant idea: why not stage a three-ring spectacular celebrating the wonders of agriculture?

A partial takeoff of such earlier sawdust-trail flicks as Martin and Lewis' Three Ring Circus and Disney's Toby Tyler, Big Top Pee-Wee is generally entertaining, but goes off in too many directions at once, leaving a lot of loose plot ends and underdeveloped characters. Also, Pee-Wee's overactive libido (at least in this film!) is not all that suitable for his younger fans. Even so, there are plenty of hilarious set-pieces. Big Top Pee-Wee was produced and cowritten by Paul Reubens. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide






Cast (in credits order)verified as complete
Paul Reubens
....
Pee-wee Herman (as Pee-wee Herman)
Penelope Ann Miller
....
Winnie
Kris Kristofferson
....
Mace Montana
Valeria Golino
....
Gina Piccolapupula
Wayne White
....
Vance the Pig (voice)
Susan Tyrrell
....
Midge Montana
Albert Henderson
....
Mr. Ryan
Jack Murdock
....
Otis
David Byrd
....
Deke
Mary Jackson
....
Mrs. Dill
Frances Bay
....
Mrs. Haynes
Leo Gordon
....
Joe the Blacksmith (as Leo V. Gordon)
Anne Seymour
....
Pearl
Kenneth Tobey
....
Sheriff
Jay Robinson
....
Cock
Eve Smith
....
Bunny
Andrew Shalit
....
Paolo Piccolapupula
Mihaly 'Michu' Meszaros
....
Andy
Terrence Mann
....
Snowball the Clown
Vance Colvig Jr.
....
Clownie
Matthias Hues
....
Oscar the Liontamer
Benicio Del Toro
....
Duke the Dog-Faced Boy
Kevin Peter Hall
....
Big John
Lynne Marie Stewart
....
Zelda the Bearded Lady
John Sherrod
....
Del the Human Cannonball
Joseph Arias
....
Shim the Half Man/Half Woman
Helen Infield Siff
....
Ruth
Carol Infield Sender
....
Dot
Bunny Summers
....
Costume Woman
Kevin B. Kaplowitz
....
Child - Mr. Ryan
Jeffrey R. Shaw
....
Child - Otis
Dustin Diamond
....
Child - Deke
Franco Columbu
....
Orin the Strongman
Lisa M. Ball
....
Child - Mrs. Dill
Savannah Prue
Marie Hawkins
....
Child - Pearl
Molly Ann Carter
....
School Child
Shea Joachim
Dustin Berkovitz
....
School Child
Kit MacKenzie
....
School Child
Jered Aspenson
....
School Child
Shelly Rudolph
....
Teenager
Cheryl Treibitz
....
Teenager
Myka Peck
Judy Rubenfeld
....
Honey
Milton Rubenfeld
....
Herman
Diane C. Valentine
....
Web Girl
Jennifer Miller
Alison Logsden
....
Web Girl
Patricia M. Peters
....
Web Girl
Lynn Marie Polke
....
Web Girl
Lita Villacana
....
Web Girl
Gainer Johnson
(as Gainer C. Johnson)
Stephanie Hodge
April Tatro
Carla Drake
Joe Gibb
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Randal Kleiser
....
Popcorn Vendor (uncredited)

Directed by
Randal Kleiser
 
 
Writing credits (WGA)
Paul Reubens
 
(written by) &
George McGrath
 
(written by)

Produced by
Richard Gilbert Abramson
....
executive producer
Debra Hill
....
producer
William E. McEuen
....
executive producer
Paul Reubens
....
producer
 
Original Music by
Danny Elfman
 
 
Cinematography by
Steven B. Poster
 
(as Steven Poster)
 
Film Editing by
Jeff Gourson
 
 
Production Design by
Stephen Marsh
 
 
Art Direction by
Beala Neel
 
(as Beala B. Neel)
 
Set Decoration by
Anne D. McCulley
 
 
Costume Design by
Robert Turturice
 
 
Makeup Department
Greg Cannom
....
special makeup
 
Production Management
Kurt Neumann
....
unit production manager
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Edward Crocitto
....
second second assistant director
Linda Montanti
....
second assistant director
Roger Joseph Pugliese
....
first assistant director
 
Art Department
Oscar Delgadillo
....
lead man
 
Sound Department
Sandina Bailo-Lape
....
sound editor
Dick Bernstein
....
music editor
Julia Evershade
....
sound editor
Kirk Francis
....
production sound mixer
Cecelia Hall
....
supervising sound editor
Ronald Jacobs
....
supervising sound editor (as Ron Jacobs)
Trevor Jolly
....
sound editor
Rick Kline
....
sound re-recording mixer
Dessie Markovsky
....
adr artist
F. Hudson Miller
....
sound effects editor
Donald O. Mitchell
....
sound re-recording mixer
Kevin O'Connell
....
sound re-recording mixer
R.J. Palmer
....
sound editor
R.J. Palmer
....
sound effects editor
John Rotondi
....
scoring engineer: Y4
Mychal Smith
....
boom operator
Dan Wallin
....
score mixer
 
Special Effects by
Yarek Alfer
....
sculptor
Dale Brady
....
puppet fabrication
Thaine Morris
....
special effects foreperson
Matt Sweeney
....
special effects
 
Visual Effects by
Wayne Baker
....
visual effects (as Wayne D. Baker)
Mike Chambers
....
visual effects coordinator
Richard Edlund
....
visual effects
Neil Krepela
....
visual effects supervisor
Chris Regan
....
optical supervisor
Howard Stein
....
visual effects editor
Michael Van Himbergen
....
visual effects coordinator: Boss Film Corp.
 
Stunts
Bill Couch Jr.
....
stunts
Bill Couch
....
stunt coordinator
Ginear Emilio Mendez
....
stunts
Gary Morgan
....
stunts
Alex Plasschaert
....
stunts
Karen Price
....
stunts
Mel Ray
....
stunts
Bob Yerkes
....
stunts
 
Other crew
Scott E. Chester
....
assistant: Mr. Reubens
Jerry Herrin
....
set costumer
John Koester
....
camera operator (as John C. Koester)
George Kohut
....
camera operator
Maria Lee Silver
....
assistant editor
Paul Plannette
....
production assistant
Chris Regan
....
optical supervisor
Michael Roberts
....
production accountant
William Ross
....
orchestrator
Dianne Ryder-Rennolds
....
assistant editor (as Dianne Ryder-Reynolds)
Steven Scott Smalley
....
orchestrator
Jeanine Wilson
....
first assistant accountant
Ron Kunecke
....
musco light operator (uncredited)
 

Production Companies
• Paramount Pictures
Distributors
• Paramount Home Video (video)
• Paramount Pictures

Runtime: 86 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Sound Mix: Dolby
Certification: USA:PG / Iceland:L

Trivia: One of Pee-Wee's biggest successes is a Hot Dog tree. Years later on "The Simpsons" , when Grandpa and Homer return to their childhood house, Homer seeks out "that hot dog tree I planted" (more)

Memorable Quotes from
Big Top Pee-wee (1988)
Pee-wee: I call it... the hot dog tree, because... it's a hot dog tree.
Vance: So how was lunch?
Pee-wee: Fine, let's go get something to eat.
Pee-Wee: [shouting] All I wanted was a measly sandwich. I very nicely explained that I was starving. I'm starving. Please.
Mr. Ryan: [Angrily] Sorry, ladies, I guess you'll just have to wait. You remember, nobody is as important in this community as Pee-Wee Herman. All you other shoppers will just have to play second fiddle to Pee-Wee. I guess that's just the way things are around here. My whole purpose in life is to serve Pee-Wee Herman. Everything else comes second. Here's your sandwich. Is there anything else I can do for you, Pee-Wee?
Pee-Wee: Well, I would like a pickle if it's not too much trouble.
Mr. Ryan: Oh, no trouble at all, Pee-Wee. Sorry, Otis. Sorry, Deke.
[Opens a barrel, knocking off their chess board]
Mr. Ryan: Game's over. Pee-Wee Herman wants a pickle. Here, here's your darn pickle. Are you happy now?
Pee-Wee: Mmm-hmm.
Winnie: [witnessing Pee-Wee and Gina sharing a long kiss] Pee-Wee!
Gina Piccolapupula: Who is that?
Pee-wee: Her? Oh, she's my fiancée.
[Gina slaps Pee-Wee and takes off]
Paolo Piccolapupula: I'm Paolo.
Giancarlo Piccolapupula: I'm Giancarlo.
Dino Piccolapupula: I'm Dino.
Antonio Piccolapupula: I'm Anton