Monty Python star credits imagination to childhood in Minnesota

Terry Gilliam, the unseen animator in "Monty Python's Flying Circus," the co-director of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," and the director of other movies including "Time Bandits," "Brazil," "The Fisher King" and "12 Monkeys," says the inspiration for his imagination and storytelling comes from a childhood growing up in Minneapolis.

His latest film is "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," notable even before its release for being the last screen appearance of the late Heath Ledger.

Interviewed last week by David Bianculli on National Public Radio's "Fresh Air," he was asked, "Why does storytelling have such power to you?"

"I just think it's from my youth, being a kid, growing up in the countryside of Minneapolis and - with only radio," he said. "And there were all these great radio shows that were storytelling, and I think the first books I read were Grimm's fairy tales."

There's more on Gilliam at his homepage, on Internet Movie Database and on Wikipedia.

And here's some classic scenes form "The Holy Grail." First, the witch village; then the French taunter: