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Terry Gilliam reveals the surreal world of Monty Python art

Few are in doubt that the legendary Monty Python troupe elevated comedy to an art form. But visual art was as much a part of their identity as silly walks and great songs.

Original Python and film director Terry Gilliam was responsible for the iconic animations that acted as buffers between sketches, as well as the opening credits of the TV series "Monty Python's Flying Circus" that ran from 1969 to 1974, as well as the Python films that would follow.
Instantly recognizable, they were anarchic sequences that often took famous works of art such as Botticelli's "Venus" and sculptures by Auguste Rodin, and forced them into unlikely situations for comic effect.

Gilliam, an American whose film directing credits include "Twelve Monkeys," "Brazil," "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," and "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," began his career as an animator and strip cartoonist.

After meeting John Cleese in New York, Gilliam went on to form Monty Python with Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle and Cleese. Gilliam was initially brought in to do animations, though he later had some notable comic roles in the sketches....
Read entire article at CNN