"pee-wee's big holiday" received positive reviews from critics. on rotten tomatoes, the film got an 82% approval rating. 44 reviews gave it an average rating of 6.9/10. the site's said, "the simple story is a little short on laughs, but there's plenty of sweet wackiness for pee-wee herman fans to enjoy". on metacritic, the film scorde 63 out of 100, from 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".