 Python refused to show Universal Studios a film script, figuring, as  Eric Idle (qv) said, "If we couldnt work out how to make a Monty  Python film, they couldnt tell us." Instead they showed them a  poem, which was a summary of the film, and a budget projection. "And  to their credit," says Idle, "they paid for the film on that." Idle  recites the poem on the DVD version of the movie.