Among the silly escapades in Big Top Pee-wee is Pee-Wee’s klutzy relationship with his financé Winnie Johnson.
Every day, Pee-wee and Winnie meet for a lunchtime picnic, for which she makes egg salad sandwiches that Pee-wee hates. Pee-wee endures this because it’s a chance to spoon. However, Winnie rebuffs every romance. She is insistent, and every embrace is resisted with force. Winnie doesn’t love him but plays him. Pee-wee is clueless.
Finally settling, Pee-wee rests his head on her lap and tries to engage in conversation: “Boy, those clouds sure do look beautiful,” he says. But Winnie ignores him, munching instead on her egg goop egg salad sandwich, some of which drips onto Pee-Wee’s jacket and face. He wipes it on her skirt.
Dropping egg salad on Pee-wee’s face is both embarrassing and humorous.
Pee-Wee’s love life improves when he joins the circus and falls for a trapeze artist (pun intended) named Gina Piccolapupula.
Featured Image: Egg salad sandwiches are preferred. Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) and his fiancé Winnie Johnson (Penelope Ann Miller)
See Randal Kleiser. Pee-wee Big Top (1988). Screenplay by Paul Reubens and George McGrath.