Paul Reubens 2009, Reubens voiced Bat-Mite in the "" episode "Legends of the Dark Mite". In January 2009, Reubens hinted that negotiations were under way for his stage show to come back, and in August the return of "The Pee-wee Herman Show" was announced. Reubens said he felt Pee-wee calling, "I just got up one day and felt like I'm gonna come back, that was it." The show is also a way to "introduce Pee-wee to the new generation that didn't know about it", preparing the way for Reubens' main project, the "Playhouse" movie. Before this comeback, Reubens' present age and shape
Paul Reubens that using CGI for "updating" the puppets' looks could be an option, but it all depended on the budget the films would have. Reubens once mentioned the possibility of doing one of the two as an animated film along the lines of "The Polar Express", which uses performance capture technology, incorporating the movements of live actors into animated characters. Reubens approached "Pee-wee's Big Adventure" director Tim Burton with one of the scripts and talked to Johnny Depp about the possibility of having him portray Pee-wee, but Burton was too busy, and Depp said he would have to think about it.