I look at the Pee-Wee movies as being like the Ernest movies: different story, same character. Each Ernest movie doesn't acknowledge the previous one.

All movies/TV shows/productions/stage shows/etc. featuring the Pee-Wee Herman character function separately and are NOT a part of the same universe. They are not sequels in the traditional sense.
There are a few subtle references between them, but again, this is just for the fans and does not mean the movies are set in one continuity.

Big Top Pee-Wee
clearly takes place in an earlier decade. It looks like the 1950's! Whereas
Big Adventure
clearly takes place in the 80's.
So of course it isn't a sequel. If anything it's a prequel.
Big Top
also explains that he is an inventor, whereas
Big Adventure
only shows him with a house full of gadgets.
I really liked
Big Top Pee-Wee
. It was definitely different from the first movie though.

So true.. I shut it off after 20 minutes.. so disappointing after loving Big adventure..

Cheech and Chong's Next Movie
had Paul Reubens in it, but he wasn't dressed as Pee-Wee. He was just a desk clerk named Howie who liked cocaine.
Pee-Wee Herman in those days was the name that Paul Reubens used as an alter ego. So when it says Pee-Wee Herman was in that film, it's referring to the actor, not the character.

That's what I thought. That's like saying Back to the Beach has Peewee in it. Does THAT make it a sequel? Peewee was also in Cheech and Chong's Next Movie. I suppose that makes that movie a PREQUEL

It's not really a sequel, it's just another movie with the Pee wee character.

As much as I loved this movie as a kid I've tried watching "Big Top Pee Wee" and did not like this movie at all, a former close friend of mine thought I was an idiot for disliking this movie considering how much I loved "Pee Wee's Big Adventure"

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