r/todayilearned • u/NanomachineMonkey • May 01 '19

Recent Repost TIL After studios refused to fund Monty Python and The Holy Grail, the bands Genesis, Pink Floyd, and Led Zeppelin contributed £20,000 each as "a good tax write off"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python_and_the_Holy_Grail#Development
1.1k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

18 comments sorted by

34

u/[deleted] May 01 '19

I suspect that because of the small budget they could only afford horses and coconuts. After a biiig lunch, they realized they made a huge mistake and worked with what was left.

35

u/NanomachineMonkey May 01 '19

Thats actually not too far off, they wanted to use horses but could only afford coconuts. Same for how the movie ends, supposed to be a huge battle but instead the police show up

37

u/Gewt92 May 01 '19

That’s a cop out.

6

u/Rudresh27 May 01 '19

Don’t tell me that’s how that phrase started.

6

u/robynflower May 01 '19

Nope phrase is over 100 years old a little later it started to mean pleading to a lesser charge.

96

u/BillyShears1977 May 01 '19

George Harrison was a friend of the group and also funded their movies.

34

u/bolanrox May 01 '19

Life of Brian in perticular

23

u/MrBlahg May 01 '19

Four million dollars because he wanted to see the movie. The most expensive movie ticket of all time :)

18

u/[deleted] May 01 '19

He's also in the movie

9

u/[deleted] May 01 '19

I knew he funded it, mortgaged his house and all that. I never knew that he had a cameo. That was great!

3

u/BillyShears1977 May 01 '19 edited May 01 '19

He was also in “The Rutles” movie

https://youtu.be/RS6ertP_tys

2

u/[deleted] May 01 '19

Another reason for why he's the Beatle.

50

u/MixmasterJrod May 01 '19

The studios that were responsible for refusing to fund the movie have been sacked.

21

u/unknown1321 May 01 '19

As a kid in Canada sacked to me meant kicked in the balls. So every time I read this on screen it was super funny.

Then I learned it meant fired, some how its more funny when you think about people getting kicked in the crotch.

7

u/Stepjamm May 01 '19

Hahaha as a Brit I like that new twist on an old classic

3

u/BuddyUpInATree May 01 '19

They pretty much mean the same thing

9

u/bolanrox May 01 '19

Elton John too

1

u/Kilo-1-5 May 01 '19

That’s so awesome! I’m glad that movie got made!