THE MONTY PYTHON T-SHIRTS
by Hans ten Cate
Sunday, 22 September 1996

Readers interested in Cornerstone's products should be aware that they also offer a collection of Monty Python t-shirts. Cornerstone obtained a license to produce Python T-shirts in the summer of 1994 and had originally intended to form a separate company called Premiere Apparel for the purpose of producing the shirts. Promotional Python shirts with the name Premiere Apparel were printed for the British Film Institute's tribute to Python held in Los Angeles in October 1994. The shirts are now available directly from Cornerstone. Choose from five different designs:

• Mr. Gumby - Appropriate for letting your friends know when your brain hurts
• Walking Silly on Purpose - formerly a John Cleese/Ministry of Silly Walks shirt, it now features Michael Palin walking silly... on purpose.
• Dead Parrot - complete with dead parrot and the many colorful phrases to indicate that it has definitely snuffed it
• Dinsdale - everyone's favorite: Spiny Norman the hedgehog, which also appears as a chest crest on several of the other shirts
• Lumberjack - "I'm a Lumberjack and I'm Okay" and now everyone knows it.

Interestingly, these are not all of the same designs that Cornerstone had when they began selling the Monty Python t-shirts. Although based on Cornerstone's original foil chase-cards, some of the designs were changed after Cornerstone switched printing companies. More importantly, John Cleese specifically requested that the original "Ministry of Silly Walks" t-shirt (which showed John in his usual silly goose-stepping gait) be changed to feature something other than himself. As most fans know, John Cleese is none-too-pleased about his Silly Walks reputation and has for years tried to avoid having to do silly walks for his fans. So Cornerstone created the "Walking Silly on Purpose" design, which features Michael Palin, as a replacement.

For more information, visit Cornerstone's Monty Python T-Shirt web page. [website no longer available - 16 April 2002]