How could I have known as a kid that I was living in the tail end of the golden years of children's television? There was no real way of assessing that as I lacked any concept of history or the future, and my ability to think abstractly was nil. Even though I wasn't aware of it I don't think I appreciated it any less. I consumed it hand over fist. Ninja Turtles, Thundercats, Heman, GI JOE, Peewee Herman, Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, Fraggle Rock, Gummy Bears. I loved it all dearly.
I wasn't old enough to catch most of it in its original run so I relied a lot on syndication, but how was I to know the difference? These shows burrowed into my subconscious and helped me to develop the imagination I have today.
Some shows I have vivid memories of, even though its been some twenty years since I have seen them, others I only have bits and pieces. Those bits and pieces are funny things, because I'm not at all aware of them until I'm faced with the collective whole once again.
When I was working to build a youth program at my church my vision was to follow my personality more than the standard formula most youth groups fall into (hangout time/game, worship, message, everyone goes home happy). I wanted it to feel organic, with the fun and seriousness mixed in together so that you didn't know where one ended and the other began. There would be worship, prayer, games, and a message but also skits and weird characters who's business being in a setting like that might seem strange to anyone who wasn't there week in and week out. I took a cast of characters I had worked on and placed them in ridiculous sketches or had them teach on something (perhaps the Greek alphabet) so that students were getting information while also (one hopes...) laughing.
One of the characters I used was from a five minute play I wrote in high school for a competition. His name was ADD Boy, a character so loaded with energy it could hardly be contained, who's relentless optimism overshadowed everything around him. He was loud, obnoxious, and... ridiculous. But the kids seemed to enjoy him. He yelled when he shouldn't, smiled without end, laughed uncontrollably, and seemed entirely incapable of tolerating anything boring. I liked him. And I thought he was entirely original, a creature built by me.
But I was wrong. I did little skits as that character (and even some videos that had me, as myself, interacting with ADD Boy) for nearly two years and stopped as I stopped running the youth program.
That's when I found Peewee's Big Adventure on DVD for only five dollars. As a Tim Burton fan (except for Alice in Wonderland, which made my soul ache) and a thrifty movie shopper I was morally obligated to buy it, so I did. I took it home that night and cried laughing during the opening sequence (the plan was the eat whilest watching, a plan that was quickly set aside until about ten minutes into the movie when Peewee finally left his house). While I was beside myself enjoying every second I realized something: I completely ripped off Peewee Herman every second I was ever acting as ADD Boy. He is an exact replica, only lacking the cool suit and bow tie (If only i had those...).
There are only bits and pieces of Peewee's Playhouse and -Big Adventure floating around in my head. I remember a talking chair, a sailor type character, a cool red bike with a lion on the front, the claymation Penny, and Peewee's laugh, but that's about it. I hadn't watched anything Peewee related since kindergarten and ... well... his legal troubles. I have no active memory of the character or the show, but apparently the character burrowed its way into my brain and stayed there for some twenty years, because the second I pretended to be this character he came screaming out.
Its funny how things like that can work. I blatantly ripped off the man's work without even being aware I was pulling from it. Which I hope is a compliment to the world of Peewee Herman (even if Paul Ruben himself isn't the man most fitting of a compliment-this I cannot say with certainty either way*) that he affected me in this way.
Now revisiting the movie (and hopefully if I can get my hands on it-the show) there is so much to love about it's whole world, but mostly Peewee himself. Every second he's on screen, whether in his protective, insulated world, or out among murders, bikers, cowboys, and ghosts makes me laugh.
I love and long for his relentless optimism. There is a part of me that wishes for that childlike wonder he possessed-jumping on his bed the second he woke up, playing with ridiculous toys, making faces in the mirror (especially the tape bit), talking to his breakfast, and constantly laughing at himself all the way through. The thing I think I enjoy the most is his look of ever-tempered joy that fills his whole body as he takes in the world around him. He looks like he is going to explode with delight at any moment. He's not ironically joyful, he's simply joyful. And him enjoying the world around him is a joy for me. The potential to make anything fun, even brushing one's teeth, is something that I lose at times, especially when I am with other people. Peewee Herman, in it's silly way, reminds me of it.
Peewee's Big Adventure is now my official feel good movie, the one I'll throw on any time I'm in need of a quick, but well deserved, laugh. This week it served that very function and I can't express my appreciate for that enough, for ninety minutes of uninhibited silliness. And for only five dollars? What a steal!
*but his part in Buffy The Vampire Slayer was pretty great too!
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