| “ | You'll be sorry, Pee-wee Herman! | „ |
| ~ Francis Buxton to Pee-wee Herman. |
Francis Buxton is the main antagonist of the 1985 comedy movie Pee-wee's Big Adventure. He is the son of Mr. Buxton who always allows his son to get him whatever he wanted, until he came to cross-paths with setting the events of the film by stealing Pee-Wee’s scooter.
He was portrayed by Mark Holton, who also played John Wayne Gacy in Gacy.
Personality[]
Francis is spoiled, childish, and selfish. He would always get what he wants regardless, especially when he tried to buy off Pee-wee's very own prized bicycle on his birthday but Pee-wee refused and Francis vowed to make his rival pay for his denial. Francis ranked #97 greatest villain of all time on Wizard Magazine's Top 100 greatest villains ever list.
Biography[]
Francis walked by Pee-wee's house and offers to buy Pee-wee's bike for his birthday, but Pee-wee simply refuses. Pee-Wee, who chained his bike in a shopping center, finds the chains cut and his bike stolen.
When Pee-Wee reported to the police about his missing bike, they said it’s very hard to recover stolen bicycles, but try to think of anyone who wanted the bike as a possible suspect. This causes Pee-Wee to remember Francis and proceed to the Buxton mansion. Pee-Wee began attacking Francis while taking his bath and the fight was broken up by Francis' father and butler. However, Pee-Wee lacked proof, and Francis had an airtight alibi (He and his father spent all that day assembling the train set he got for his birthday). Francis did indeed steal the bicycle, albeit by hiring a street punk to engage in the actual theft. Pee-Wee advertised a lucrative reward for recovering the bike, as well as buying air time to announce it. A radio DJ wished Pee-Wee good luck in finding his bike and remarked that with a reward worth a king's ransom that there will be people with their eyes peeled. This was heard on the radio at the Buxton residence, which made Francis nervous. Francis now realized that he underestimated the relentlessness of Pee-Wee Herman. Francis realized that the negativity of his sins were too much for him to bear and he no longer wanted the bike. The bicycle thief remarked that he did not care how Francis felt; but that he was annoyed over nonpayment. Francis made a new request; for the thief to fence the bicycle far away from here. The punk said that now Francis owes him more money. Francis handed over a wad of cash, which satisfied both the nonpayment and covered the cost of the new job. The punk remarked "Thanks a lot, Bucks-Ton" and left the Buxton mansion.
Francis was not seen for much of the movie afterwards, save for a nightmare where Pee-Wee's bike is beyond repair and sent the fires of Hell. Francis is seen as the Devil, albeit his attire looks more cartoonish than intimidating as it is a Halloween devil costume. What happened to the bike was not known either, although it was briefly seen on a flatbed truck full of bicycles on a highway at or near Texas. The bicycle was somehow acquired by Warner Brothers to be used in a prop for a movie that featured Kevin Morton, a child actor whose personality was similar to Francis.
After his adventures finally ended in his daring rescue of all of the animals from the burning pet shop, Pee-wee is brought before a Warner Bros. studio executive who offers to buy the rights to Pee-wee's story in exchange for dropping all charges. Dottie is summoned into the office, bringing along Pee-Wee's beloved bicycle. He attends the premiere at his local drive-in theater, and it turns out to be a James Bond-style action film involving James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild fighting ninjas. Pee-wee has a cameo appearance as a bellhop, with his voice dubbed over. Then Francis appeared with a TV news crew to Pee-wee and Dottie, giving an interview with them in which he claims that he was the one who first helped Pee- Wee learn to ride his bike. Francis approached Pee-Wee because he wanted to ride on his bike. Pee-wee allowed it, only to press a yellow button that is an ejection button and it threw Francis high up in the air. After watching for a few minutes, Pee-Wee decides to leave, having already lived the real story. Reunited with his bike, he rides away into the night with Dottie.
Casting and Character Development[]
Originally the character was going to be a nerdy goofball thief who wore glasses. The first choice to play Francis was Rick Moranis because of Moranis performance as Louis Tully in Ghostbusters but Moranis turned down the role fearing he would've felt uncomfortable playing a thief who acted like a spoiled kid.
Daniel Stern auditioned to play Francis but wasn't cast. Matthew Broderick, Jim Carrey, Tom Wilson, Robert Carradine and Bob Saget were also considered for the role but Mark Holton was cast and they decided to change Francis from a nerd to a spoiled rich wealthy person.
Gallery[]
