Disney Acquisition Request: Pee-Wee Pictures, Inc.

[stevearino]

Dear Bob Iger,

I have a proposal for The Walt Disney Company: in loving memory of Paul Reubens, who died last Sunday, July 30, 2023 at age 70 after a private 6-year battle with Cancer, it's my Humble suggestion that Disney make a deal with the Estate of Paul Reubens for The Walt Disney Company to purchase the rights to the Pee-Wee Herman character, making Pee-Wee Pictures, Inc. a fully-owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.

As part of Disney's acquisition of Pee-Wee Pictures, Disney shall have full ownership rights of the Saturday-Morning '80s sitcom "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" PLUS the 1981 HBO special "The Pee Wee Herman Show" as well as co-distribution rights (with Warner Bros. Pictures & Paramount Pictures, respectively) of "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure" & "Big Top Pee-Wee," with Warner Bros. & Paramount respectively retaining full Home Media rights (including Streaming rights on HBO Max, now simply Max, Paramount+, and DVD and Blu Ray formats), and Disney purchasing Broadcast rights to the films via its Disney Media Distribution banner for Perpetuity purposes.

Likewise, Disney also shall become co-distributor with Netflix the Netflix Original film "Pee-Wee Takes a Holiday," with Disney (under the Pee-Wee Pictures banner) issuing the film for the first time EVER on DVD and Blu Ray.

As I'm sure you can understand, Bob, with Disney's Acquisition of Pee-Wee Herman, the legacy of both Pee-Wee Herman AND Paul Reubens will live forever IF Disney were to purchase Pee-Wee Pictures.

In the meantime, before I continue with the Proposal, let's Discuss the Man behind the HER Man, Paul Reubens, who was born on August 27, 1952 in Peekskill, New York and raised soon after from Infancy up in Sarasota, Florida.

According to various sources e.g. IMDB and Wikipedia, Paul was the eldest kid of 3--including a kid sister, Abby (born in 1953), who grew up to be a Tennessee lawyer, and kid brother Luke (born in 1958), who grew up to be a Dog Trainer--born to Orthodox Jewish parents Judy Rosen & Milt Rubenfeld.

Of Mixed Jewish Heritage (specifically Polish Jewish, German Jewish and Russian Jewish Heritage), Paul Reubens spent his Summers in Oneonta, New York, in the Appalachian Portion of New York State; he graduated from Sarasota High School in 1970 at age 17, after which, per his Wikipedia, he went to Northwestern University before transferring to Boston University.

After graduating from Boston U, Paul headed West to Los Angeles after being turned down by various acting schools, where he eventually became a member of the '70s L.A. local Comedy group The Groundlings, where he conceived and created his most famous alter ego--Pee-Wee Herman.

In 1979, as Pee-Wee, Paul was a Contestant on "The Dating Game," a year before auditioning for "Saturday Night Live" and being Passed Over, after which he developed a stage show called "The Pee-Wee Herman Show," a televised Production of which eventually aired on the HBO Television Network.

The success of the HBO special led Paul to star as Pee-Wee in the 1985 Tim Burton helmed Warner Bros. film "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," which was such a huge hit that it inspired Paul to conceive and create the hit '80s Saturday-morning sitcom "Pee-Wee's Playhouse" for the CBS Television Network, where it aired for 5 seasons on Saturday mornings from 1986-1991, during which time Paul found time to make a film in 1988 for Paramount (as Pee-Wee Herman) titled "Big Top Pee-Wee," Directed by Randal Kleiser; by comparison to the earlier "Pee-Wee's Big Adventure," "Big Top Pee-Wee" was a Flop.

It goes without saying that in July 1991, Paul Reubens was famously Arrested on Criminal Charges of Masturbating in an Adult Movie Theater, charges of which he pled No Contest to, which were soon Dropped and Expunged from his Criminal Record, which included by this time, among other Minor Crimes, Marijuana Possession as a Teen and Loitering in an Adult Theater in 1983--the former of which got him Probation, the latter of which Criminal Charges were Dropped, as were future 2002 Child Porn charges.

Despite his flaws--and Minor Run-Ins with the Law--Paul Reubens left behind a wonderful Entertainment legacy, both as Pee-Wee Herman AND himself--and I personally feel that Disney will do a GREAT job in Protecting that Legacy IF it acquires the Pee-Wee Herman character from the Paul Reubens Estate.

#RIPeeWee

Sincerely,
Steve Arino

[Batman90]

He’s a sex offender so I don’t see Disney wanting to do that.

[Nailwraps]

I think Shout! Factory would be a better candidate.

[Dragon78]

Anyone would be a better candidate then Disney to release anything on physical media. Disney has sucked doing that even ling before having Disney Plus.