Eric Idle Movies

Airplane stars Robert Hays and Leslie Nielsen are reunited in this animated fairytale about a bratty prince who learns a lesson about wishes. After carelessly handling some magical nuts, the prince turns everyone in the kingdom into toys. Now it's up the young prince to stop the nasty Mouseking before he claims the kingdom as his own. The Nutcracker and the Mouseking also features the voices of Fred Willard and Eric Idle. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide

Originally titled The Soul Patrol, the made-for-cable The Scream Team was loosely based on a Disney internet game. After the death of their grandfather, young Ian and Claire Carlyle (Mark Rendall, Kat Dennings) discover that the tiny New England home town is something of a halfway house for restless ghosts, who cannot enter Heaven until they have redeemed themselves on Earth. Among the spectral clients of the "Soul Retrieval Center" are Coffin Ed (Eric Idle), a disgraced Revolutionary War soldier, and self-described "beautiful bossy ghost" Maria (Kathy Najimy). Naturally, the Carlyle kids end up as reluctant "case workers" for these and other rueful wraiths. Filmed in Ontario, The Scream Team was first telecast over the Disney Channel on October 4, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this direct-to-video sequel to Don Bluth's 1982 animated adventure The Secret of NIMH, Timmy (voice of Ralph Macchio) is the son of two courageous mice who helped save the day for the animals of Thorn Valley. While the wise Nicodemus has predicted that Timmy will some day be a great hero -- and his father expects nothing less -- the mouse is at once anxious to prove his courage and worried if he can live up to the expectations of others. Timmy's opportunity finally comes when his friend Jenny (Hynden Walch) asks him to help her find her parents, who may have been kidnapped by the nefarious human scientists of the National Institute of Mental Health. The voice cast for The Secret of NIMH II: Timmy to the Rescue includes Eric Idle, Harvey Korman, Doris Roberts, and William H. Macy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

First, a little background: in 1955, the Director's Guild of America created the pseudonym Alan Smithee, which film directors are allowed to use if they feel their work has been tampered with to such a degree that they no longer want the credit. (For example, if you look at the credits of the expanded and heavily narrated TV version of Dune, you'll notice the director is not listed as David Lynch, but as Alan Smithee.) An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn is a comedy about a film editor (played by Eric Idle) who finally gets his big break -- he's given the opportunity to direct a big-budget action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg, and Jackie Chan. But filming does not go well (the budget eventually balloons to 200 million dollars) and the producer, James Edmunds (Ryan O'Neal), tampers with the final cut of the film. As a result, the hapless neophyte director doesn't want his name to appear on the credits. But his real name is Alan Smithee, so what's he supposed to do? In a stunning example of art imitating life, director Arthur Hiller was supposedly unhappy with the interference of screenwriter and producer Joe Eszterhas on this project and chose to remove his name from the credits -- so An Alan Smithee Film carries the directorial credit of none other than Alan Smithee. Rappers Coolio and Chuck D appear as the filmmaking Brothers Brothers; Chuck D also contributed to the film's score. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Former Monty Python members Terry Jones, Eric Idle, John Cleese, and Michael Palin were reunited by director Jones for this live-action adaptation of the 1908 children's fantasy classic by Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932). The actors have only slight physical changes to suggest animal characteristics, plus tails protruding from their Edwardian-style costumes. In pre-WW I England, fascist Weasels prowl the countryside, forcing modest Mole (Steve Coogan) from his underground home after the Weasels acquire the meadow from wealthy, waddling Mr. Toad (Jones). Toad's inheritance is leaking away because of his fascination with the recently invented motorcar. After Mole takes shelter with refined Rat (Idle), the two set out for Toad's cavernous mansion. Toad crashes into another vehicle, but unfortunately, his attorney (Cleese) has nothing nice to say in Toad's defense. Toad's behavior in court prompts the judge (Stephen Fry) to give him a century-long jail sentence. Rat and Mole plan to spring Toad with the help of the hibernating Badger (Nicol Williamson), but Toad simultaneously puts his own escape plan into motion. Back at Toad Hall, the Weasels construct a dog-food factory and intend to destroy the main house by blowing it up-so the threatened animals make plans to retake Toad Hall.

Crew members who worked on past Python films include James Acheson (production/costume design) and John Du Prez (original music and songs). Lawrence Van Gelder (New York Times) reviewed, "The Wind in the Willows, brimming with verbal and visual wit and imagination, driven by high adventure, reveling in English eccentricity, enlivened by bursts of song, unafraid of ideas and filled with color and splendid performances, exposes most other movies intended to attract children as out-and-out pap." This film should not be confused with the 1996 animated adaptation which also has Michael Palin in the cast. Filmed at Burnham Beeches (in Buckinghamshire, England). Other earlier versions: the second half of Disney's animated The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (1949); live-action by the Minneapolis Children's Theatre (1983); stop-motion animation for British TV (1983); 1982 stop-motion animation by John Semper (Spider-Man); and Rankin-Bass animation for U.S. TV (1987). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

This 56-minute video celebrates 25 years' worth of inspired lunacy from Britain's Monty Python's Flying Circus. Loyal Pythonites John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam are interviewed, offering surprisingly sobersided insight as to what made their zany aggregation tick. Highlights include vintage clips from the Monty Python TV series, as well as vignettes from the group's theatrical features and concert appearances. As a bonus, we are treated to rare vignettes never before shown on American television. If you've never been exposed to such classic routines as "Dead Parrot", "Lumberjack" and "Department of Silly Walks", don't pass up this opportunity. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

This is a retrospective of the British comedy troupe on their 20th anniversary. Hosted by comedian Steve Martin, many of the group's most famous routines are showcased. Included are such gems as the Spam diner, the lingerie-clad lumberjacks, and the officials from the Ministry of Silly Walks. ~ Brian Gusse, All Movie Guide

Robert Browning's cautionary poem The Pied Piper of Hamelin is vividly brought to the 21-inch screen by director Nicholas Meyer. Monty Python regular Eric Idle stars as the enigmatic Piper, who agrees for a price to rid the town of Hamelin of its rat population. When the corrupt city elders refuse to pay the Piper, he makes the town's children dance to a strange, alluring tune, resulting in anguish and grief for the selfish adults. Though peppered with comedy relief, wise-guy dialogue and contemporary attitudes, this 60-minute, taped installment of Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre is a lucid, faithful recreation of the original. Parents of very young kids, beware: this one might induce a few unsettling dreams. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Peter Noone of "Herman's Hermits" fame and Eric Idle of "Monty Python" renown appear in this episode as British rock-and-rollers London and Derek. In desperate need of a tax shelter, the two musicians propose marriage to a pair of gullible American girls--namely, Laverne (Penny Marshall) and Shriley (Cindy Williams). Unfortunately, the path to true love is muddied up considerably when the girls unwittingly consume some "hash brownies." This is the series' only drug-related episode, and as such is frequently removed from local syndication packages. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide