Diksha Sundriyal
In Apple TV+’s ‘Time Bandits,’ a 10-year-old history nerd’s dream comes true when he is visited by a group of bandits who travel across time and space and steal things. The story’s protagonist is Kevin, who knows too much about history and bores others with random facts that are informative and exciting to him. His knowledge is not appreciated, let alone cherished, by anyone around him, including his parents, and he struggles to find a crowd of his own. Then, one night, everything changes when he discovers a way to travel across time. The concept of the story would be familiar to those who have watched 1981’s ‘Time Bandits,’ a cult classic in the vein of Monty Python, with which it shares its creators. How does the Apple TV+ series connect to the film? SPOILERS AHEAD
Time Bandits TV Show Remakes the 1981 Movie with a Fresh Twist
1981’s ‘Time Bandits’ was conceived by Terry Gilliam and Michale Palin, who wrote the film together, with Gilliam taking charge as the director. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement saw the film when it was released in theatres and have been its fans ever since. Both multi-hyphenate artists have talked about the influence the movie and the Monty Python universe have had on them and their art. The idea of presenting their own twist to ‘Time Bandits’ was something they’d thought about several times. They loved the idea of being a young boy who gets to travel across time and go on all sorts of adventures, and they wanted to add some of their own adventures to the list.
When the duo finally got the chance to work on the project, they decided to make the TV show its own thing rather than redoing the same concept created by Gilliam and Palin in their film. They wanted to keep the things about the movie that had excited them, focusing on characters and situations that they loved, but they also didn’t want the show to be a copy of the movie because that would defeat the whole point of making it.
One of the major things that Waititi and Clement focused on was the character of Kevin, whom they connected to the most in the movie. They wanted the new audience to feel like their version of Kevin. Getting the right actor for the job was also important because Kevin is the audience’s “in” into the story. He is just as clueless about everything and finds out things as he goes forward. They were glad to find Ka-El Tuck, who personifies the role even off-screen. However, the creators also changed his story to modernize him and fit him into the narrative created for the show.
Clement also noted that much has changed since 1981, especially how history is viewed. He talked about how so much more we have learned in the past few decades, and all these changes make their way into the show as history is presented in a new light. There is also a greater variety to the stories and the places that Kevin and his team of bandits go to, showcasing a wider perspective in the new version.
Terry Gilliam was Not Involved in the Show, But His Influence is Evident
Whenever a cult classic gets a new spin, the fans look towards the creator of the original thing to get the stamp of approval for the latest version. The same is bound to happen for the fans of ‘Time Bandits’ who would have loved to hear about the new series from Terry Gilliam. However, he was not involved in the making of the show. Waititi and Clement revealed they hadn’t met Gilliam and couldn’t discuss the show with him. They also dispelled the rumors that Gilliam had visited the show’s set in New Zealand and stormed off angrily, stating that while they would love to hear his take on the series, they haven’t heard a word from him yet.
While Gilliam couldn’t be brought on board, the creative duo assured the fans they would find his fingerprints all over the story. For Waititi and Clement, Gilliam has been a huge influence in their way of comedy and sense of humor since the beginning of their career. Even as they were working on the show, they were thinking about how to make it “Gilliam-esque or Python-esque.” So, in a way, the original creators of ‘Time Bandits’ helped them create this version of the story. At the end of the day, Waititi and Clement wanted to create something a family could watch together. They didn’t create the show just for children but also for their parents, hoping that everyone gets a “sense of adventure” and the idea of finding family “in the strangest of places” while stroking the fantasy of time travel in the most fun way.
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