Pee-wee Herman - Honors and Pop Culture References

Honors and Pop Culture References

The Pee-wee Herman character has received various honors, particularly during his peak fame in the late 1980s. During the original run of Pee-wee's Playhouse, the series garnered 22 Emmy Awards. Pee-wee Herman was also awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1988. Under the category of motion pictures, it can be found at 6562 Hollywood Blvd. The character also appeared on three covers of Rolling Stone, including issue 493 (February 1987), 614 (October 1991) with a cover story of "Who Killed Pee-wee Herman?," and finally 619/620 (December 1991) for the 1991 Yearbook.

In the 1986 film Flight of the Navigator, directed by Randal Kleiser, who had also directed Big Top Pee-wee, Pee-wee's characteristic laugh is uttered several times by the Trimaxian Drone (Max), after he "contracted" emotions and 1980's knowledge from David. This persona, speaking in altered pitch similar to Pee-wee, persists for the rest of the movie, a stark contrast to Max's original HAL 9000-esque tone.

Shortly after Reubens's 1991 arrest, Jim Carrey impersonated Pee-wee Herman on the FOX sketch comedy series In Living Color. Later, rapper Eminem would imitate Herman in the song "Just Lose It", copying his trademark laugh and even dressing as the character in the music video.

While the Pee-wee Herman character had not originally been intended for a child audience, during the mid-1980s Rubens started forming him into the best role model he possibly could, making of his TV program a morally positive show that cared about issues like racial diversity, the four food groups, and the dangers of making prank calls, but did so in a manner not overly preachy. Reubens was also careful about what should be associated with Pee-wee. Being a heavy smoker, he went to great lengths never to be photographed with a cigarette in his mouth; he even refused to endorse candy bars and other kinds of junk food, while trying to develop his own sugar-free cereal "Ralston Purina Pee-wee Chow cereal," a project that died after a blind test. During this time, he began successfully building a Pee-wee franchise with toys, clothes, and other items generating more than $25 million at its peak in 1988. Reubens also published a book as Pee-wee in 1989 called Travels with Pee-wee.

In early 2007, Nike SB released a style of sneakers called Grey/Heather Dunk High Pro SB that use a grey and white color scheme with red detail inspired by the colors of Pee-wee's trademark suit and an illustration on the insole suggesting Reubens's theater arrest.

Pee-Wee Herman won the Pop Culture award at the 2012 TV Land Awards.