Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Continuity mistake: In the scene where Andy chases Pee-wee down with a dinosaur bone, we can see Simone in the background flailing her arms and screaming Andy's name. At first she's walking towards a nearby staircase on the dinosaur's left side, but between cuts she quickly repositions and is now standing in front of the dinosaur's large foot instead. (00:49:25)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Mickey has to stop his car for the officer, he shifts into park and sits rigidly, facing the windshield. From the next angle he's facing right instead. (00:36:25)

ryguy_1983

Pee-wee's Big Adventure mistake picture

Continuity mistake: When Pee-Wee first tries hitching a ride to Texas, two cars pass by before he reaches into his bindle for a fake thumb. Between shots, the darker car vanishes. (00:33:00)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Pee Wee walks up to the bums at the drive in, the soda falls over in the holder in his right arm. When he steps in to give them their snow cones, it's instantly standing again only to see it fallen over again when he watches the fight scene with the ninjas on screen.

jerimiah

Continuity mistake: After throwing the candy to the bikers, Pee Wee is holding a box of Milk Duds and a candy bar. After he watches himself in the movie, the candy bar disappears then reappears behind the Milk Duds between shots. Then in the next shot of him skipping towards Dottie - all of the candy disappears completely.

jerimiah

Continuity mistake: When Pee Wee is dressed as a nun on the sound stage, he looks impatiently at the bike - we see only a shadow from the bike on the left side. Then from the front shot, there is now the shadows of the actors right all behind the bike which weren't there in the prior shot.

jerimiah

Continuity mistake: When the security guards are seen pulling the cords out from the wall, we see four of them pulling the plugs. However when the shot changes, we see three of the carts pulling away and the fourth guard still hasn't reached his cart or plug yet. (01:12:30)

jerimiah

Continuity mistake: During the clown nightmare sequence, three clowns open a set of doors and push a gurney carrying Pee-Wee's dismantled bike down a long corridor. As the shots change, the gurney's handle lowers by itself, then lifts up again. (01:07:10)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: After finding out that his bike has been ripped-off, Pee-Wee returns to Chuck's Bike-O-Rama and shouts for Dottie. All the while, a mechanical clown seated on top of a bass drum near the electronic shop stops and starts with each changing shot. (00:19:00)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Pee-Wee is wandering through the Warner Bros. lot in search of Kevin Morton, he asks a feminine-toned crew member for help. The member grabs his helmet with the left hand, saying "Gee I don't know." But in the next shot he reaches for the helmet all over again. (01:09:50)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: After Pee-Wee collapses in the Bike-O-Rama, Chuck can be seen talking with a police officer. The officer then turns his head towards Pee-Wee, lying on the stretcher. But he repeats the same action in the following shot. (00:19:20)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: At the police station when Sgt. Hunter tells Pee-Wee that hundreds of bikes are stolen every month and very few are recovered, her hands change positions between shots. Initially she's holding them together while talking to Pee-Wee, but then her right hand is waving a blue pen around. (00:21:20)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: Burn marks on the edge of the pet shop door temporarily disappear when Pee-Wee is outside freeing the flock of doves. (01:18:30)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Pee-Wee knocks repeatedly on Francis' front door, Professor Tanaka answers - holding the door steady at his side. But after Pee-Wee demands to see Francis, the door goes from opening slowly to being stationary in alternating shots. (00:22:10)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: The dummy wearing a fez at the front desk of Mario's Magic Shop keeps changing the position of its left arm throughout the scene. Most of the time it's holding a tea cup at face level, and other times it's being held much lower than that. (00:14:40)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: During the Warner Bros. chase sequence, Pee-Wee blasts through a studio that's filming a beach-themed movie. Upon exiting into the alley - where only a couple of idle trucks are present - he's pursued by a security guard driving a boat with two skiers in tow. But in the next shot, a station wagon and three actors emerge in the alley from out of nowhere. (01:14:20)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: When Pee-Wee is in the car with Mickey, some shots are shown from Mickey's point of view and you can see the background behind Pee-Wee. If you look carefully, you can see that in the background there is a road that comes into the main road they are driving on. This smaller road appears twice, as if they have not moved anywhere.

Continuity mistake: When Andy first charges at Pee-wee with the dinosaur bone, he swings it over his left shoulder. In the next shot he repeats the same action (albeit slightly differently). (00:49:20)

ryguy_1983

Pee-wee's Big Adventure mistake picture

Continuity mistake: In front of the AM radio station downtown where Pee-Wee and Dottie are busy posting a $10,000 reward sign, the amount of red tape applied to the sign, especially the top, changes between shots. (00:25:40)

ryguy_1983

Continuity mistake: After Mickey and Pee-Wee evade the highway patrolman, Mickey takes a good look at Pee-Wee in the outfit and smiles. Before the scene cuts away, you can see how the convertible is missing its rear-view mirror. Soon Pee-Wee sends the car over a cliff's ledge and, as they're screaming together on the way down, a rear-view mirror is hanging from the windshield all of a sudden. But once the car hits ground, the mirror is no longer there. (00:37:40 - 00:39:00)

ryguy_1983

Visible crew/equipment: When Pee Wee is chaining up his beloved bike you can see the long chain coming up through the bottom of the bike box. Full screen version only. (00:13:40)

More mistakes in Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Pee-wee: I'm here to see Francis.
Butler: Francis is busy.
Pee-wee: Busy doing what?
Butler: He's having his bath.
Pee-wee: Oh, really? Where are they hosing him down?

More quotes from Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Trivia: Just as Pee-Wee walks into the Joke Shop at the beginning of the film (after he chains his bike to the clown), there is a mini-poster of Elvira on the shop's wall. (00:14:25)

More trivia for Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Question: When Pee-Wee offers gum to Francis and Mr. Buxton as a peace offering, what was it with the gum that caused Mr. Buxton to scream?

Answer: It was some sort of gag gum (popular in the past) that either had hot pepper/cinnamon or simply tasted terrible.

Brian Katcher

More questions & answers from Pee-wee's Big Adventure

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