When Pee-wee’s Big Holiday debuts on Netflix tomorrow, it will not only mark the feature-length return of Paul Reubens’ bowtie-wearing imp, it will also cement one of the most unlikely pop-culture comebacks of all time. Reubens retired Pee-wee in the early ’90s—but in the two decades that followed, his series Pee-wee’s Playhouse became a DVD (and Netflix) hit, while the 1985 film Pee-wee’s Big Adventure grew into a hand-me-down classic among college kids, rebel loners, and Alamo historians worldwide. With Big Holiday—produced by Judd Apatow, and co-written by Reubens and Love co-creator Paul Rust—Reubens gets the chance to introduce Pee-wee to a new audience, one whose members were barely born when Playhouse went off the air. For those who are new to Pee-wee, or for fans who said “Au revoir!” after the ’90s, here’s an overview of the persona’s nearly 40-year career: