Paul Reubens was one of Hollywood’s quirkiest stars with his Pee-wee Herman identity, so it makes sense that a poignant memorial to him is quirky, too. And that involves “dressing up” (painting) a Tyrannosaurus Rex sculpture to look like Reubens, in the gray suit, red bowtie and shockingly white shoes he always wore when in character, as reported by Entertainment Weekly. The statue “Mr. Rex” appeared in the movie Pee-wee’s Big Adventure in 1985.
Mr. Rex resides near Palm Springs at Cabazon Dinosaurs–World’s Biggest Dinosaurs. The dinosaur park posted photos to social media showing the statue’s homage to its human. Reubens died on July 30 after a six-year battle with brain cancer. Besides the iconic suit, the dinosaur sports a painted heart on its chest, with Pee-wee’s name written beneath it. Cabazon’s website says it will keep the memorial up until October 30.
The park notes that anyone can take photos of Mr. Rex’s tribute, but you must pay admission to sit in his mouth. (The 65-foot dinosaur, which took seven years to build, is big enough that you can actually climb up inside his body into his mouth, just as Pee-wee did with his waitress friend in the movie). It’s worthwhile to pay and go into the park; the dinosaur walk includes more than 70 dinosaurs, as well as a dino dig and fossil panning for the kids.
If you do visit, why don’t you take a picture? It’ll last longer.
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