Is this movie inspired by the "Jabberwocky" poem in Lewis Carrolls's book Alice Through the Lokking Glass? It's about a son going off to kill a monster called a "Jabberwocky" because his father tells him to. I had to memorize it as part of a monologue for drama class, and I read the book...
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Yeah I would say it is. Many of the poem's lines make it in but the only thing this movie has in common with the poem's stoyline is well, the jabberwocky.
shareThe short answer is yes. Charles Dodgson (as the credits sneakily call him by his real name), alias Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" provided what one might call the excuse for this movie. Quotes from the poem are sprinkled throughout the movie (watch the puppet theater in particular).
Having said that, the poem is mostly an alibi for Terry Gilliam to present some deep dark social commentary in the guise of pythonesque humor. Other than the monster itself, the storyline doesn't have much in common with the original poem. In the poem, the monster is basically the crowning challenge of the hero's quest, whereas in the movie, the monster seems to be just the most obvious external manifestation (and arguably scapegoat) of a deeper cancer, that of thriving on the misfortune of others. It is in this sense that "Jabberwocky" can justly be said to be much darker than "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."
I caught the credits thanking him; did not know the connection. Thanks
shareYes, the words are made up. No, this poem is not nonsense. Carroll invented definitions for all the words he created. Check out The Annotated Alice by Martin Gardner, it elaborates on the meanings on the words.
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