History Film / Jabberwocky

** On top of that, everyone in the entire film treats Dennis horribly. He's pissed on more than once, frequently blamed for things going wrong when he's innocent (or even the one that resolved the wrongdoing), and the only people who treat him with anything resembling kindness are Fishfinger (but only when he thinks he can scam Dennis), Wat Dabbley (mainly because he's in no position to do anything to Dennis, but even he suggests cutting off Dennis's foot) and the Princess (who has mistaken him for a prince in disguise and won't be told otherwise). One can only imagine how Dennis's life will go once the Princess realizes he isn't what she believes.:

* ButtMonkey: Almost absolutely nothing goes right for Dennis, and if something does, it's usually by accident, and it is sure to be followed quickly by something that nullifies any brief happiness he may feel. Even his "happy ending" is pyrrhic: [[spoiler: He kills the Jabberwocky (by accident, naturally) and goes back to the kingdom a hero, only to be forced to wed the princess, whom he doesn't know and isn't attracted to, and loses his "love" Griselda.]] Of course, even if he had gotten what he wanted, that quickly would have soured as well, since Griselda shows only annoyance toward him until he becomes a hero. The final sound effect, accompanying his ride off into the sunset, is that of a prison door being slammed.

* ButtMonkey: Almost absolutely nothing goes right for Dennis, and if something does, it's usually by accident, and it is sure to be followed quickly by something that nullifies any brief happiness he may feel. Even his "happy ending" is pyrrhic: [[Spoiler: He kills the Jabberwocky (by accident, naturally) and goes back to the kingdom a hero, only to be forced to wed the princess, whom he doesn't know and isn't attracted to, and loses his "love" Griselda.]] Of course, even if he had gotten what he wanted, that quickly would have soured as well, since Griselda shows only annoyance toward him until he becomes a hero. The final sound effect, accompanying his ride off into the sunset, is that of a prison door being slammed.

* CruelTwistEnding: PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler: Dennis kills the Jabberwock, is hailed as a hero, and is married to the princess by the king as a reward for his actions, none of these being what he actually ''wanted''. He's lead past a weeping Griselda on the way to his marriage, is forced to go through with it at spearpoint, and the last shot is of him staring out of the back of his carriage with his new wife looking scared and utterly miserable.]]

When the film was first released, it was promoted in some territories as ''Monty Python's Jabberwocky'', due to the fact its director and star were both, at the time, best known for their work with the Creator/MontyPython troupe, not helped by a prominent comedic use of TheDungAges much lik in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''. Gilliam did not support this, and such promotions were short-lived. However, the film is occasionally still found listed in some Monty Python filmographies.

''Jabberwocky'' is a 1977 British fantasy film co-written and directed by Creator/TerryGilliam.

When the film was first released, it was promoted in some territories as ''Monty Python's Jabberwocky'', due to the fact its director and star were both, at the time, best known for their work with the Creator/MontyPython troupe. Gilliam did not support this, and such promotions were short-lived. However, the film is occasionally still found listed in some Monty Python filmographies.

* AccidentalHero: Dennis ends up [[spoiler: killing the Jabberwocky]] by inadvertently stabbing it through the head while trying to hide.

* CoversAlwaysLie: The Jabberwocky in the movie bears little resemblance to the one on the cover.
* CruelTwistEnding: PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler: Dennis kills the Jabberwocky, is hailed as a hero, and is married to the princess by the king as a reward for his actions, none of these being what he actually ''wanted''. He's lead past a weeping Griselda on the way to his marriage, is forced to go through with it at spearpoint, and the last shot is of him staring out of the back of his carriage with his new wife looking scared and utterly miserable.]]

* TooDumbToLive: When the king discovers that his land is threatened by the Jabberwocky, he holds a contest to find the strongest knight in the land, by having all the knights ''battle each other to the death.'' Simply putting all his knights together into a single army, with all of them alive, apparently just wasn't done back then.

* BlackKnight: The city merchants hire one to ambush the king's champion, and winds up fighting the monster himself.
* BloodyHilarious: The jousting scene. We never see the impact of the combatants, only the royal box and its inhabitants (the King, his chancellor, and the princess) getting increasingly splattered with gore.

* DolledUpInstallment: It was released in some areas as ''Creator/MontyPython's Jabberwocky'', despite half of the group having no involvement.
** Although Neil Innes, sometimes called the seventh Python, does appear.

* FunnyBackgroundEvent: while the princess is fawning over Dennis, thinking he's a prince come to rescue her, an actual prince tries to climb up to her tower, only to fall to his death as soon as he gets to the top

* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: The abhorrent Fishfingers loathe Dennis until he gains fame and fortune from defeating the monster. Before he can marry the family daughter Griselda however, he is carted away by an adoring princess as an unwanted "reward", much to the Fishfinger's dismay.]]
* NothingIsScarier: The title monster is never seen [[spoiler: until the very end]].

* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: One of the king's heralds doesn't use overly complicated words, but does use something like 20 words when 5 would suffice. [[spoiler: The king eventually has him summarily executed out of pure annoyance.]]
* SkewedPriorities. Mild-mannered Dennis allows himself to be sent off to defeat the monster [[spoiler: and succeeds, winning the hand of the beautiful princess who adores him]], but he does it all for the love of ugly, greedy, unpleasant Griselda who is barely aware that he exists [[spoiler: and who only notices him when it's too late]].

* VisualPun: The knight selected as the King's champion [[spoiler: who is killed by the Black Knight before he can fight the Jabberwock]] has a red fish on his helmet. In other words, he's the Knight of the RedHerring.

* BloodyHilarious: The jousting scene. We never see the impact of the combatants, only the royal box and its inhabitants (the King, his chancellor and the princess) getting increasingly splattered with gore.

* {{Fanservice}}: When the princess first sets eyes on Dennis she's being given a bath, and rather than cover herself up she steps out of the bath, ignoring her panicking ladies-in-waiting, and walks right over to Dennis telling him how long she's waited for a handsome prince like him.

* {{Jerkass}}: Griselda, Mr. Fishfinger and the merchants most definitely fit this trope.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: The abhorrent Fishfingers loathe Dennis, until he gains fame and fortune from defeating the monster. Before he can marry the family daughter Griselda however, he is carted away by an adoring princess as an unwanted "reward", much to the Fishfinger's dismay.]]

* WellDoneSonGuy: Dennis' dad takes the opportunity of being on his deathbed to tell Dennis how much he despises him.

* NothingIsScarier: The title monster is never seen [[spoiler: until the very end]]

Set in TheMiddleAges, the film stars Creator/MichaelPalin as a young cooper who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father. The name is taken from the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" in Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/ThroughTheLookingGlass''.

''Jabberwocky'' is a 1977 British fantasy film co-written and directed by Creator/TerryGilliam. It stars Creator/MichaelPalin as a young cooper who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father. The name is taken from the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" in Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/ThroughTheLookingGlass''.

[[quoteright:326:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1962368173d796de330a2be62087ea4f.jpg]]
'''''Jabberwocky''''' is a 1977 British fantasy film co-written and directed by Creator/TerryGilliam. It stars Creator/MichaelPalin as a young cooper who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father. The name is taken from the nonsense poem "Jabberwocky" in Creator/LewisCarroll's ''Literature/ThroughTheLookingGlass''.

* BlackComedy: Mild-mannered Dennis allows himself to be sent off to defeat the monster [[spoiler: and succeeds, winning the hand of the beautiful princess who adores him]], but he does it all for the love of ugly, greedy, unpleasant Griselda who is barely aware that he exists [[spoiler: and who only notices him when it's too late]]. Well, it's a Terry Gilliam film.

* NothingIsScarier: the monster is never seen [[spoiler: until the very end]]

* TooDumbToLive: When the king discovers that his land is threatened by the Jabberwock, he holds a contest to find the strongest knight in the land, by having all the knights ''battle each other to the death.'' Simply putting all his knights together into a single army, with all of them alive, apparently just wasn't done back then.

* {{Jerkass}}: Griselda, Mr. Fishfinger, the merchants

* {{Fanservice}}: When the princess first sets eyes on Dennis she's being given a bath, and her reaction is to stand up in the bath and throw wide her arms to receive him.

[[redirect:Literature/{{Jabberwocky}}]]