History Creator / TerryGilliam

* SelfInflictedHell: The DevelopmentHell of ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'', caused in no small part by Gilliam stubbornly clinging to his artistic vision in the face of a just as stubbornly adverse reality:
** The successive castings of archetypical actors to play Don Quixote, all over 70-80 years old, [[LostInImitation despite the book character being canonically in his early fifties]], who end up injured because they cannot handle the physicality of the character or are diagnosed with age-related health problems before they can shoot the movie, inevitably putting filming on hold again.
** Filming in Spain, [[YourCostumeNeedsWork but not in La Mancha because it isn't picturesque enough]]. Gilliam's choice of filming in Navarre's Las Bárdenas Reales resulted in the sound being ruined by planes exercising in a nearby NATO base and was ultimately ended by a freak storm that completely changed the landscape (LBR's unique look is caused by its rapid rate of erosion in the first place).
** Ultimately ended as Gilliam [[https://www.facebook.com/Terry.Gilliam/photos/a.256735074385314.62810.256730041052484/1421392574586219/?type=3&theater wrote about production finally wrapping]] after a decades-long battle to get it made.

*** Whenever either Gaiman or Pratchett did a Q&A anywhere, it always seems someone asks about the status of the ''Good Omens'' movie. At one point Gaiman replied, "It's the same as it's always been: Terry Gilliam wants to do it, Terry Gilliam has a script, no one will send Terry Gilliam seventy million dollars."
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* TricksterArchetype: Baron von Munchausen and Mr. Nick in ''The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus''.

Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British cartoonist, animator and film director, best remembered as the token American member of the very British Creator/MontyPython (although he held a dual US/UK citizenship during his years with the troupe and renounced his US citizenship in 2006).

''Website/TheOnion'' once joked that if Terry Gilliam were to have a barbecue, [[https://politics.theonion.com/terry-gilliam-barbecue-plagued-by-production-delays-1819567508 it would be beset by production delays]]. But his perilous productions have resulted in a portfolio of, if not always successful, at least fascinating films.

Born in Minneapolis and raised in Los Angeles, Gilliam began his career in the '60s as a photographer and cartoonist for Creator/HarveyKurtzman's satirical magazine ''Help!''. After that publication folded, he moved to the UK; there, he first came to prominence with the children's series ''Series/DoNotAdjustYourSet'', where he worked with several of his fellow future Pythons and for which his primary responsibility was creating the surrealist cut-out animations that he subsequently brought over to ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''. As the latter series progressed, Gilliam also did many small roles the other Pythons didn't want to perform for various reasons, and had very few speaking parts, if you forget his voice acting during the animated segments (one of his most notable lines is "I want more beans!"; he was also Cardinal Fang of the Spanish Inquisition). He also helped write a number of the sketches, and from there co-wrote the troupe's three films based on original material with the rest of the troupe, on which he also played much more parts than he usually would in the series. He co-directed ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' and directed the opening segment of ''Film/MontyPythonsTheMeaningOfLife'', "The Crimson Permanent Assurance".

From there, Gilliam moved into writing and directing non-Python films, though some of his fellow troupers have appeared in and/or co-wrote them. His specialties are fantasy and science fiction films, often laced with dark humor: one could construe his worldview as "We're all doomed! Isn't that hilarious?" He was Creator/JKRowling's choice of director for the ''Film/HarryPotter'' movies -- however, Creator/WarnerBros decided against it.

This is understandable, given that few directors in the history of film have been so prone to ExecutiveMeddling, production delays and budget overruns, and just plain bad luck as Terry Gilliam. After ''Film/{{Jabberwocky}}'' (1977) and the hit ''Film/TimeBandits'' (1981), the first great tale of his struggles came with 1985's ''Film/{{Brazil}}''. It put him at odds with Universal Pictures when executives attempted to recut the movie, especially its ending; the subsequent book ''The Battle of Brazil'' tells the tale. His next film, 1988's ''Film/TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen'', went wildly over budget and then bombed in the U.S. thanks to Columbia Pictures undergoing a regime change that kept it from getting proper release and promotion.

In the 1990s, things were looking up with ''Film/TheFisherKing'' (1991), ''Film/TwelveMonkeys'' (1995), and ''Film/FearAndLoathingInLasVegas'' (1998). Then at the TurnOfTheMillennium, his films became a parade of bad situations behind the scenes. ''Film/TheManWhoKilledDonQuixote'' took twenty five years of on-and-off production to complete thanks to trials and tribulations covered in the documentary ''Film/LostInLaMancha''. ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm'' (2005) was beset by ExecutiveMeddling, this time via Bob and Harvey Weinstein. ''Film/{{Tideland}}'' (also 2005) made it to theaters, but was overlooked and shunned for containing some pedophilia (plus it was set in, and filmed in a desert, but it ''just kept raining'' during filming). ''Film/TheZeroTheorem'' (2013) was barely released and under-performed. And finally, perhaps saddest of all, ''Film/TheImaginariumOfDoctorParnassus'' (2009) became Creator/HeathLedger's final film when [[DiedDuringProduction he died before completing his role]].

* DownerEnding: Most of his films have this. On the DVD Commentary of ''Film/TheBrothersGrimm'', he says that[[TrueArtIsAngsty he hates happy endings]].

Terrence Vance Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-born British cartoonist, animator and film director, best remembered as the token American member of the very British Creator/MontyPython (although he held a dual citizenship during his years with them, and renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2006).

* ThematicSeries: He considers ''Time Bandits'', ''Brazil'', and ''The Adventures of Baron Munchausen'' to be his "Imagination Trilogy". The movies themselves are not connected by continuity but they share similar themes.

Also, Gilliam supports Creator/RomanPolanski (who drugged and raped a 13 year old girl, BTW). He is also a massive transphobe.

* KnightInShiningArmor: Knights and their associated imagery are PlayedWith to varying degrees in a few of his films. There's the obvious parody examples of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' and ''Joberwocky''. Both ''Fisher King'' and ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' feature delusional men convinced they're such a character. A knight shows up early on in ''Time Bandits''. Even in ''Brothers Grimm'', the titular brothers dress in armor made of literal mirrors for a few scenes.

* KnightInShiningArmor: Knights and their associated imagery are PlayedWith to varying degrees in a few of his films. There's the obvious parody examples of ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' and ''Joberwocky''. Both ''Fisher King'' and ''The Man Who Killed Don Quixote'' both feature characters convinced they're such a character. ''Time Bandits'' features one briefly but prominently. Even in ''Brothers Grimm'', the titular brothers dress in armor made of literal mirrors for a few scenes.