Animal House (1978)

At a 1962 college, Dean Vernon Wormer is determined to expel the entire Delta Tau Chi Fraternity, but those trouble-makers have other plans for him.

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney,

Stars:

John Belushi, Karen Allen, Tom Hulce

2 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Hulce	...	Larry Kroger (as Thomas Hulce)
Stephen Furst	...	Kent Dorfman
Mark Metcalf	...	Doug Neidermeyer
Mary Louise Weller	...	Mandy Pepperidge
Martha Smith	...	Babs Jansen
James Daughton	...	Greg Marmalard
Kevin Bacon	...	Chip Diller
John Belushi	...	John Blutarsky
Douglas Kenney	...	Stork
Chris Miller	...	Hardbar (as Christian Miller)
Bruce Bonnheim	...	B.B.
Karen Allen	...	Katy
James Widdoes	...	Robert Hoover
Tim Matheson	...	Eric Stratton
Peter Riegert	...	Donald Schoenstein

Storyline

Faber College has one frat house so disreputable it will take anyone. It has a second one full of white, anglo-saxon, rich young men who are so sanctimonious no one can stand them except Dean Wormer. The dean enlists the help of the second frat to get the boys of Delta House off campus. The dean's plan comes into play just before the homecoming parade to end all parades for all time.

---

Plot Keywords:

camera shot of feet | stockinged feet in face | college | parade | homecoming parade | 

---

Taglines:

We got to do something...You know what we are gonna do ? Toga party !

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

28 July 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Animal House

Filming Locations:

729 East 11th Street, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$141,600,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Oregon Film Factory, Stage III Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Todd-AO)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The Delta House actors partied together every night, but Director John Landis kept John Belushi separated from them by lodging him and his wife, Judith Belushi-Pisano in a house miles from the set. Belushi was a notorious partyer, and Landis wanted him to remain sober throughout the shoot. Belushi did host a few parties at the house, but stayed clean because he saw the film as a great career opportunity.

---

Goofs

When Larry and Kent are accepted to Delta House, they are awoken from bed with carbon dioxide extinguishers. The type used are aluminum cylinders which were not manufactured in 1962 and the label suggests they are Amerex extinguishers, Amerex was founded in 1971.

---

Quotes

Boon: [Niedermyer is abusing Flounder in ROTC] Vicious mother, isn't he?
Otter: He can't do that to our pledges!
Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.

---

Crazy Credits

At the very end of the credits there is an advertisement: "While in Hollywood, visit Universal Studios." The phrase "(Ask for Babs.)" is below that.

---

Connections

Referenced in Orange Is the New Black: Ching Chong Chang (2015)

---

Soundtracks

Animal House
Composed and Performed by Stephen Bishop
Supervised by Kenny Vance

User Reviews

This one gets a 4.0 for sure!

John Landis's directorial debut, and John Belushi's first starring role make this screw-ball comedy about college life in the early 60's a must-see. I saw this picture for the first time when it was released to theaters and laughed my buns off; it still holds up today, almost 30 years later.

Every actor in the show gives a bravura performance, with stand-out debuts by the likes of Thomas Hulce, Tim Matheson, Karen Allen, Bruce Davidson, and others. In addition, there's a sense throughout the picture that we all knew these guys at one time or another in our lives. Shoot, I think I may have BEEN one or two of these guys at some point in my life. Of course, the picture revolves around Belushi's terrifically over-the-top Bluto Blutarsky; but you simply can't ignore characters like Boone, Otter, Niedermeyer, Gregg Marmalade, and my personal favorite, D-Day.

The writing on this picture is really far better than the loosely-structured plot first indicates. Each character is introduced neatly at their entrance; and, by extension, the other characters are set up by the entrances of their surrounding characters. For instance, when we first meet Belushi's character, he's holding a schooner of beer in one hand and drunkenly taking a leak on the Delta Tau Chi lawn. Right away, we know what the rest of these guys are going to be like. Then, when D-Day makes his entrance, driving his hawg through the front door and up the stairs to play the William Tell Overture on his throat before pulling a beer out of his jacket and popping the top, our fears are confirmed. Meanwhile, we get to meet the uptight, repressed, and mildly facsist other frat through similar vignettes. Kevin Bacon is particularly hilarious in his initiation ("Thank you, sir! May I have another?").

John Landis made his debut with this picture, and what a debut it was! His camera follows each of the characters and events at near breakneck speed, giving the audience little time to recover from one laugh before getting slapped in the head with another. Lots of natural lighting, and sharp, steady pacing with smooth transitions keep the story moving. Refreshingly, the film doesn't rely on over-the-top special effects to hold our attention. Then again, is there really any place for SFX in a picture like this?

The whole picture is one long laugh, from beginning to end. If you're a college grad, you'll forget what it was really like to have to work hard, study, and generally bust your tail to graduate. If you haven't yet gone to college, this picture will give you all the wrong ideas. On the other hand, you've gotta see this one, if for no other reason than to learn all the right (and wrong) things to do at a college party.