Monty Python and the Holy Grail in popular culture

Monty Python and the Holy Grail was released in 1975 and is a British comedy satire film of the Arthurian legend. It was written by the Monty Python comedy group, consisting of comedians Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. Since its release, Monty Python and the Holy Grail has garnered both criticism and praise, inspired a musical adaption and gained a cult following.

Arts

Filmmaking history

Financial legacy

The film was distributed by EMI Films but, according to a tweet by Eric Idle in 2021, it was financed by a number of famous musicians and music labels. Idle explained contributions (at the time) as follows: £31,500 by Led Zeppelin, £21,000 by Pink Floyd Music, £63,000 from Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson, £78,750 by film producer Michael White, £21,000 from Island Records, £5,250 from Charisma Records, £5,250 from Time Rice's cricket team Heartaches, and Chrysalis Records gave £6,300. Terry Gilliam said, in a 2002 Guardian interview, that there was no studio interference because they were given no money, going on to say "this was at the time income tax was running as high as 90%, so we turned to rock stars for finance." Gilliam said that all investors were entitled a certain percentage of royalties for the subsequent musical of the film, Spamalot.

Impact on television and filmmaking

In a 2015 article for The Atlantic, David Sims argues that Monty Python and the Holy Grail (as well as Monty Python in general) has had a significant impact on sketch comedy, particularly for its use of breaking the fourth wall. Sims writes that Saturday Night Live aired a year after the Holy Grail was released, and cites Matt Groening recognising it was a great influence on The Simpsons. Groening also stated that his adult animated sitcom Disenchantment, set in a fictitious medieval fantasy kingdom first released in 2018, was heavily influenced by Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Writing on the legacy of Monty Python and the Holy Grail 45 years on in 2020, Ultimate Classic Rock magazine argued that "The sustained absurdity of Holy Grail is not simply that of ridiculous characters; it also sends up the traditions of filmmaking in ways that anticipate both the acerbic and self-aware turn in comedy from the '90s onward and the ironic trends of '10s advertising." The spoof and self-aware style of Monty Python and the Holy Grail can be seen in films like Airplane! (1980), Spaceballs (1987) and the Scream franchise. The film was derived from the Monty Python sketch comedy series, and similarly, sketches from Saturday Night Live went on to inspire film adaptions. For example, The Blues Brothers in 1980 and Wayne's World in 1992.

Parodies

Monty Python and the Holy Grail has been parodied and referenced in a number of film and television productions, as well as in comics, literature and video games.

• The Simpsons (TV series)
  • Pulpit Friction, an episode in which there is scene when the residents of Springfield are throwing away their mattresses because of a bed bug epidemic, and Moe wheels a cart full of mattresses while shouting "Bring out your beds!" in the style of Eric Idle's character in Holy Grail shouting "Bring out your dead!"
  • Marge Gamer, an episode where Bart plays 'The Black Knight' character, in the game World of Warcraft, whose arms and legs both get removed, like the Black Knight in the Holy Grail.
  • Homer Goes to College, an episode where Homer befriends a group of geeks, Benjamin, Doug, and Gary who quote from the "Knights Who Say Ni" sketch.

• Phineas and Ferb (TV series)
  • The Chronicle of Meap, an episode in which Phineas asks Mitch his name and he answers, "I am known by many names throughout the universe, well two mainly, Mitch and some of the guys call me Big Mitch." This is similar to when Tim answers "there are some who call me...Tim?" in the Holy Grail.
  • One Good Turn, an episode with a war between Gimmelshtump and Stumblegimp where animals are thrown via catapult, similar to Holy Grail.

• Nexo Knights (TV series)
  • The Book of Monsters - Part 2, an episode in which Jestro encounters an evil bunny, much like the killer rabbit in the Holy Grail.
  • The Power of Merlock, an episode in which the King's servant FancyPants recites the "banana-shaped Earth" line from the Holy Grail.
  • The Book of Monsters - Part 1, an episode where a character pilots a mech robot called 'The Black Knight' which loses all of its limbs similar to the Black Knight in the Holy Grail.

• Disney's Donald Duck Universe (Comic books)
  • A Little Something Special, a 1997 Scrooge McDuck comic in which Magica, a witch, says she doesn't weigh the same as a duck but that she is a duck. This is similar to the witch weighing scene in the Holy Grail where Connie Booth's character is weighed against a duck.
  • The Once and Future Duck, a 1996 Donald Duck comic based around the Arthurian Legend and features a monstrous rabbit.

• Film:
  • Finding Nemo, a 2003 Disney Pixar film in which the line "Swim away!" is used in a similar way to the line "Run away!" in the Holy Grail.
  • Shrek The Third, a sequel film to Shrek in which both Eric Idle and John Cleese star and has a scene set at a play where a horse trot is replicated using two coconuts, like in the Holy Grail. Eric Idle was allegedly unhappy about the use of this gag, and threatened to sue.