The Movie: Determined to get Brazil made, Gilliam needed something substantial to back him up when he pitched the dark corporate totalitarian fantasy. So he and Michael Palin dreamt up this crazy family fantasy.

It’s got plenty of darkness (see below), but it’s also truly funny and rewarding, loaded down with great characters brought to life.

Terry’s Trials: The actual production went okay, but the troubles began when Gilliam was forced to confront the realities of test screenings.

“The only big battle I was having was over the ending. The idea of a children's film where the parents blow up was not possible. And we had a screening in Fresno, California, one of the NRG screenings where they hand out the cards that you fill in.

“It gives the audience the chance to have power over the filmmaker, and they really grasp that power! But something was wrong with the print — it was either the Dolby print or it wasn't a Dolby print but it went through the wrong sound system — and so the first third of the film sounded like mmphfhphm mfhbmle thfmphfl mpthmfswmem — people were leaving.

“Now on the questionnaire — and this is stuff that every filmmaker has to go through, dealing with these statistics that come at the end — when the audience votes, one of the questions is, 'What is your favourite part of the film?' And one of the answers was, 'The End.'

I took the cards home and it was clear that because of this terrible sound system and so many people leaving, the part they liked best about the film was the end — it was over, is what they meant.

“But when you saw the statistics the next day, the part that was most loved about the film was the end — which was the parents blowing up! And so I won and got the parents blowing up.”