History Trivia / TheAdventuresOfBaronMunchausen

--> "[I]t definitely left me with a few scars ... It was just so dangerous. There were so many explosions going off so close to me, which is traumatic for a kid whether it's dangerous or not. Being in freezing cold water for long periods of time and working endless hours. It was physically grueling and unsafe."

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed by the Studio]]: It was greenlit by Columbia Pictures, then under the management of eccentric British producer David Putnam, who wanted to make Columbia the anti-Hollywood of the Hollywood studios and flopped miserably. Columbia cleaned house and hired new management who didn't care about the remaining Putnam films, so ''Munchausen'' was dumped into 117 North American theaters with next to no publicity. It made only $8 million in the end. It still managed a few Academy Award nominations for its technical strengths (though it didn't win any) and did well with critics; today it's considered one of Gilliam's best films.

* WagTheDirector: When Eric Idle first put on the costume for his character, he complained that the costumes huge thighs made him look like he "[[BarbieDollAnatomy had no dick]]" and half-jokingly demanded that the costume department make him a false one. They complied and it remains in Idle's position to this day.

* BoxOfficeBomb: Budget, $46.63 million. Box office, $8,083,123. This film's implosion, along with the severe financial failure of ''Film/{{Ishtar}}'' and to a lesser extent other movies such as ''Film/LeonardPart6'', led to Columbia merging with Tristar and Coca-Cola selling their whole film business to Sony. It didn't help that the film was released that only 117 prints were made for the American market, which is unusual for a film of this budget. The film also did not get production company Allied Filmmakers off to the start they would have hoped for, with most of the label's films being a critical flop, a commercial flop, or a flop of both kinds. That said, this is one of the films that is an Acclaimed Flop, having a 92% on Website/RottenTomatoes.

** Originally, Gilliam planned to have a whole herd of cows in the Vulcan set. But because of escalating costs and a revised budget, he was only allowed one.

* ActorAllusion: In a deleted DVD scene [[CreatorCameo Gilliam, as the accordion player inside the whale]], falls off his chair and dies in exactly the same way that he did as the animator in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.

* ActorAllusion: In a deleted DVD scene [[CreatorCameo Gilliam, as the accordion player inside the whale]], falls off his chair and dies in exactly the same way that he did as the animator in ''MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.

* AwesomeDearBoy / PromotedFanboy: John Neville was not a film actor at the time, preferring the theater. However, he was also a big Series/MontyPython fan so he readily agreed to take the lead.

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed by the Studio]]: The film received virtually no pre-launch publicity and appalling distribution.

* DyingForTheirArt: The main male cast all shaved their heads bald to accommodate the wigs they would wear.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Creator/UmaThurman makes her film debut as Venus.

* ThrowItIn: It shouldn't be a surprise that Creator/RobinWilliams' dialogue was ad-libbed.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Creator/SeanConnery was considered for the King of the Moon. Then the role was scaled down and Connery didn't think it was "kingly" enough. He was also considered for the Baron.

* TroubledProduction: Big time. The film went overbudget, the plane that had the costumes and prop were stuck in an airport in another country due to a custom strike, a lot of the animals for the film died and had to be replaced, etc. Producer Thomas Schuhly acted like a prima donna, refusing to sign forms and refusing to get along with the English crew and the complex relationship between the UK crew and the Italian crew. And because Columbia Pictures was undergoing a regime change at the time and the new bigwigs didn't want to support a film this troubled, they didn't put much money into the marketing campaign or even give it a wide North American release, and it flopped. Eric Idle called it "A truly horrible experience and even remembering it is a bit of a nightmare."
** Sarah Polley, who was nine years old at the time of filming, described it as a traumatic experience. "[I]t definitely left me with a few scars ... It was just so dangerous. There were so many explosions going off so close to me, which is traumatic for a kid whether it's dangerous or not. Being in freezing cold water for long periods of time and working endless hours. It was physically grueling and unsafe."
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: SeanConnery was considered for the King of the Moon.
** Creator/TerryGilliam originally wanted Creator/PeterOToole to star as Baron Munchausen.
** Gilliam also wanted Creator/MarlonBrando to play Vulcan, even meeting him at his home. They reportedly had an enjoyable afternoon until Brando's agent showed up.

** Creator/TerryGilliam originally wanted Creator/PeterOToole to star as Baron Munchausen.

* DoingItForTheArt: Robin Williams was a last-minute casting after the budget had run out, and performed his role uncredited and unpaid.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: SeanConnery was considered for the King of the Moon.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Sir John Neville as the Baron. He wasn't necessarily a big-deal name, but he was cast ''specifically because of that''--casting a lead actor would have overshadowed the "Baron Munchausen" aspect.
** [[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Eric Idle]] as the Baron's right hand man
** OliverReed as Vulcan
** Jonathan Pryce (aka [[PiratesOfTheCaribbean Governor Swann]] and [[{{Film/Brazil}} Sam Lowry]]) as the Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson
** Winston Dennis, who plays Albrecht, also played the minotaur in ''Film/TimeBandits''

* TroubledProduction: Big time. The film went overbudget, the plane that had the costumes and prop were stuck in an airport in another country due to a custom strike, a lot of the animals for the film died and had to be replaced, Producer Thomas Schuhly acted like a prima donna refusing to sign forms and refusing to get along with the English crew and the complex relationship between the UK crew and the Italian crew. The film went over budget so much that Columbia didn't put much money into the marketing campaign and it flopped. Eric Idle called it "A truly horrible experience and even remembering it is a bit of a nightmare."

* TroubledProduction: Big time. The film went overbudget, the plane that had the costumes and prop were stuck in an airport in another country due to a custom strike, a lot of the animals for the film died and had to be replaced, Producer Thomas Schuhly acted like a prima donna refusing to sign form and refusing to get along with the English crew and the complex relationship between the UK crew and the Italian crew. The film went over budget so much that Columbia didn't put much money into the marketing campaign and it flopped.

* [[ScrewedByTheNetwork Screwed by the Studio]]: The film received virtually no pre-launch publicity and appalling distribution.