Terry Gilliam is perhaps widely known as a film maker but shall also be remembered as the guy who did those strange and crude but devilishly funny cut-out animations for the Monty Python shows.
When I was a kid and I saw Monty Python on TV, I hated it! I thought it was ugly and the colors were off and I didn’t understand any of the jokes. Seeing the animations now, I’m amazed how well they actually work. As you will see in the video’s, they were done with the simplest of means and oh, yes, the jokes are crude and childish, but the timing is so spot on and the animation, however simple, really works wonderfully for this kind of humor.
Two videos: the first gives you a short introduction on Terry Gilliam and Monty Python. But the second is the real treat: young Gilliam actually shows us how he did the animations and gives countless little tips and tricks on how you could do it yourself. More importantly, he also talks about how the limitations of the technique actually defined the outcome and how all he was doing was try to find ways in which to make animation as fast and simple and with the least amount of work as possible.
Enjoy…
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