Getting interactive with Pee-wee’s Big Holiday – a Netflix Original Film #StreamTeam

The other day, a box arrived.

Inside, there were several smaller boxes. And a map. And an invitation.

Seb soon got to investigating. A short while later, he announced that three things were about to happen:

a) movie night

b) presents

c) a treasure hunt

Starting with opening box number 1. Which as it turns out, contained two t-shirts to transform the Other Half and Seb into instant Pee-wees:

Pee-wee’s Big Holiday is aimed at slightly older children, and as such it’s not the kind of film we’d necessarily usually have chosen to watch as a family with a 2 year old involved in the mix. However, the intriguing box full of boxes and screenshot treasure hunt made the whole process a lot more interactive – and all three kids were kept occupied by the story.

Which involves at one point (my favourite bit) jousting on a pinata!

But anyway, back to the box…

The ‘treasure map’ contained a guide to different scenes to look out for as we moved through the movie. Screenshot A meant we should get the relevant box number ready, and screenshot B meant we could open the box.

So as Pee-wee went on his big holiday, we got to go with him!

We started off with some pennants (Fairview and Netflix), and then some cool…double cool…triple cool stickers!

Next up was box number 4 – and with Pee-wee still in Fairview we got the opportunity to try out a milkshake, using his own special recipe!

Then Pee-wee got going on his holiday, and made some friends along the way. We got to share some friendship bracelets…

And some sweets (don’t ask me what they’re called, I don’t know, but they taste a lot like aniseed twists or something)

And some Ruffles crisps, all the way from America…

And some massive balloons, which Pee-wee uses to play a song. Quite amazingly, it turns out that D is actually pretty good at song-ballooning too!

We finished off with some more sweets, and everyone was happily engrossed in the ending.

As it happens, even without the incredibly fun interactiveness, this film really was great for all the family. Pee-wee is a strangely endearing character, and the kids really loved him, right from the start. The somewhat gadgety morning routine he has was right up our street, and drew us all in straight away. The regular sillyness and random montages with Joe Manganiello were very well done, and they capture a childish sense of wonder that appeals to both big and small people alike. It’s got flying cars, milkshakes, and an undertone of friendship that left all of us with a smile on our face, all the way through.

Whether you remember the original 1970’s Pee-Wee series, you were waiting for a sequel to Pee-wee on Broadway, or you’ve simply never heard of Pee-Wee before, if you’re looking for a friday night family film then this is definitely a great one to watch.

And bonus time for the kids, who were firmly in the ‘who is Pee-wee?’ camp – there is plenty more of Pee-wee to watch on Netflix too 🙂