10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Monty Python And The Holy Grail
Here are plenty of Monty Python facts, including the owner of God's face!
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a classic comedy movie, full of the most absurd humour ever put to film, as you would expect from the silly troupe. It has stood the test of time, and remains incredibly funny to this day, thanks to its focus on ridiculous humour that is grounded in a surprising amount of research.
The collection of actors who make up Monty Python are all comedy legends, and their legacies will last for generations to come. The comedians themselves were often just as interesting as the titles that they produced, and as such it comes as no surprise that there are plenty of weird facts about their debut feature-length movie that you might not know about.
While certain information is common knowledge now - such as the need for an abrupt ending and coconuts instead of horses thanks to a small budget - there is so much more to this irreverent movie that you probably don't know.
For the record, an Unladed Swallow isn't a bird that truly exists, and as such, there is no tangible way to know what its air-speed velocity is.
10. "God" Is Actually An English Cricket Player
Part of the appeal with the Monty Python property were the amazing animations produced by Terry Gilliam. This incredibly talented filmmaker was a master at making strange and wacky cartoons that seemed to reveal the inner workings of the mind he possessed. Even to this day, the strangeness of Gilliam remains, with the filmmaker still actively creating content, but one of his best has to be bringing the face of God to screen.
God gives the knights a task to retrieve the Holy Grail, and this is a significant plot point of the film. So, it was important for the depiction of the deity to be well done. Thankfully his appearance was entirely appropriate, but it wasn't altogether creative licence that brought him to the screen.
The face used to depict God is actually that of the 19th-century English Cricketer W.G. Grace, who seemed to have the perfect beard and look for the important figure. Gilliam used a photograph of the sportsman and animated it appropriately, adding Graham Chapman's voice to bring it to life.
So God doesn't have a face - it's just a model.