10 Iconic Movie Moments With Unexpected Origins
2. The Coconut Horses - Monty Python & The Holy Grail
The Scene
The fantastic running gag where all of the film's knights "ride on horseback" by pretending to gallop on an invisible horse, while their porters bang a pair of coconut halves together to imitate the sound of a horse's hooves.
How It Happened
This gag wasn't actually planned when shooting started, but as it so often does, necessity proved to be the mother of invention.
The film was originally supposed to feature the cast riding actual horses, but due to the production's small budget - a mere $400,000 - there simply wasn't money to acquire actual horses for the shoot, save for a few scattered shots.
As a result, the Python team put their heads together and decided to make a joke out of it, inspired by classic BBC radio serials which would similarly use coconut halves to imitate the sound of clanging hooves. And without question, this gag is to the film's betterment.
But before we head to our #1 entry, if you somehow haven't seen Avengers: Endgame yet, MAJOR SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW...