Jabberwocky stars Michael Palin as Dennis, a cooper's apprentice, who is forced through clumsy, often slapstick misfortunes to hunt a terrible dragon after the death of his father.

[2] The film is Gilliam's solo directorial debut, after he co-directed Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Terry Jones in 1975.

Mr. Cooper, senior, despises his son for valuing profit over craftsmanship, and when his illness becomes terminal, he publicly disinherits Dennis in an abuse-ridden deathbed speech.

Dennis decides to travel to the kingdom's capital city, establish a new career, and then return to marry his love, a local woman named Griselda Fishfinger who doesn't reciprocate his affection.

None of the overburdened local craftsmen will listen to Dennis' suggestions for "improving efficiency", and he struggles to find work or food.

The joust grows increasingly bloody, and Passelewe, King Bruno's chamberlain, worries that all the knights will end up killed or incapacitated.

Ethel wants to stay in the city and pursue his affair with the tavern keeper's wife, so he bullies Dennis into taking his place as squire.

In order to continue profiting from the crisis the city merchants hire another warrior, the Black Knight, who rides to the monster's lair and assassinates Red Herring.

Dennis accidentally slays it when it impales itself on a sword he was holding while cowering, and then cuts off the monster's head, brings it to the king, and is credited for the exploit.

King Bruno the Questionable keeps his word, and Dennis is given half the kingdom, married to the Princess, and swept off to his honeymoon and an uncertain fate.

The film is close in setting and comic style to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, on which Gilliam had co-directed.

The top merchants in the town profit handsomely from fear of the Jabberwock and are reluctant to help the King end the crisis.

By the end of the film Dennis gets everything a fairy tale hero would want (recognition for killing the beast, the princess' hand in marriage and half of the kingdom) by accident.

[7] Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote the film a positive review, describing it as "the most marvelously demented British comedy to come along since Monty Python and The Holy Grail, to which Jabberwocky is a sort of stepson.