All of the Pythons are crazy, but Terry Gilliam is just out of this world. Some of the stuff he's come up with in his Monty Python animation (let alone in his films) is impossibly bizarre. If you're a fan of Gilliam's cutout animation, then this disc will make you one very happy fan.

As with the rest of these A&E Personal Best releases, you only get about an hour of material so if you're looking for more Python then you'll have to pick up one of the collected sets, like the 16-ton Megaset.When you first pop in the disc you'll be greeted by a floating Terry Gilliam head, illuminated by a small light. He lets you in on a little secret, "It was all mine. An all-cartoon show. Glorious color, beautiful music, great ideas. This was long before South Park... but no, no, no, they destroyed my dream."He then goes on to imply that originally, Monty Python's Flying Circus was supposed to be an all animated series, with some short live-action segments to help stitch things together. He's joking of course, and it's nice how on all of these A&E releases the DVD people have let the Pythons have fun with themselves.Before South Park made it hip, Terry Giliam made it funny. Cutout animation leads to a very strange, surreal form of storytelling that is especially strong when it comes to comedy. Strange though it may be, if done properly you can get some great results.The thing that stuck out the most while I was watching these crazy skits was how imaginative it all is. If you've ever seen any of Gilliam's films, like Brazil, you'll not at all be surprised to learn that he started out with this stuff.There are forty-five animated bits found on this disc, (big breath), they are: Opening Titles (Third Series), Conrad Poohs and His Dancing Teeth, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, Catching a Bus, The Killer Cars, The Killer Cats, Securicor Ambulances, Ltd., Venus Dancing, Fish Slapping Dance and Nazi Fish, Royal Navy Advert, "Sit Up" Sequence, Garden of Hands, Crelm Toothpaste, Charles Fatless, Purchase-a-Past, We're Being Watched, Searching a Prisoner, Cemetery, Apology for Repetition, Sexual Athletes, Jack and the Beanstalk, Five Frogs Curse, The Prince with the Black Spot, Powder My Nose, Charwoman, Reconstructing an Elephant, Baby Carriage, And Now-Music, Acme Toilets, Lovely Weather, Eggs Diamond, Hands Up, The Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things, Flying European Monarchs, Shaving, Cartoon Religions Ltd., Full Frontal Nudity, Caterpillar/Metamorphosis, No-time Toulouse, Bad For Your Eye, The House-hunters, Gay Boys in Bondage, 2001 and Opening Titles (Fourth Series).Gilliam is constantly playing with perspective and always throwing in paradigm shifts. You think you see a man with a bright white smile, but suddenly he starts playing music through his teeth. A frog with a man's head will eat a buzzing watch, as if it were a fly, then his head will be pulled back to reveal a baked pie. I suppose it makes sense that this was so popular in the late '60s and early '70s, those were some crazy times. Or so I'm told.While all of this stuff is fun in small doses, its humor does start to wane after half an hour or so. Since there is no real story to guide you through the main feature, and since it's all a bunch of disjointed skits, don't be surprised if you start to get a tad bored after a while.Cutout animation fans, and fans of Gilliams work, will find some of his best stuff on here. But for everyone else, the goofiness proves to be a bit too much to take in one sitting. Even so, if you're looking for a mind-bending trip that doesn't involve psychedelic drugs, this journey into Terry Gilliam's brain is one hell of a trip.