Monty Python’s Flying Circus – “How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away”

Original Air Date: October 19, 1969

Directed by: Terry Gilliam (animated segments)

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains spoilers for this episode!

Synopsis: Various scenes in this episode include a courtroom drama, a bicycle repair man superhero and a stolen news reader.

Cartoon Cat: Included in the animated pieces is the classic, The Killer Cars, in which automobiles take to pouncing on straggling pedestrians in order to cut down on their growing numbers. The narrator (John Cleese) states, “But the days of the Killer Cars were numbered, thanks to the miracle of atomic mutation.” A giant Siamese cat suddenly walks into the scene, towering over the buildings.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat entering city
Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat entering city

The cat walks into the center of town and scares the cars away. “Oh thank you, you’ve saved our city!” one grateful person (Terry Jones) states. “But at what cost?” the narrator adds as the cat proceeds to scarf down an entire building.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat entering city
Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat eating building

The cat is then jumped upon and killed by a giant hand.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat attacked by hand

What makes this segment particularly funny is it appears that Gilliam used a photograph of a Siamese cat hanging from something, similar to the classic “Hang in there, Baby!” posters from that time period.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away - animated giant Siamese cat entering city animated gif

Final Mewsings: Cats don’t need to be giant-sized to do whatever they want.

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