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.

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Plot Keywords:

fraternity | smashing a guitar | school expulsion | academic probation | camera shot of feet | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

28 July 1978 (USA)

Also Known As:

Laser Orgy Girls

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

A sequel was planned that would take place during the 1969 Summer of Love and involve the Deltas reuniting for Otter's wedding. But when More American Graffiti (1979) bombed at the box-office, Universal stalled the project. The project was scrapped for good when John Belushi died in 1982.

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Goofs

Many times we hear a bell ring to signal the end of class. There are no end-of-period bells in college.

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Quotes

Gigantic Dude: Do you mind if we dance with your dates?

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Crazy Credits

Four of the listings in the cast are "mean dude," "meaner dude," "meanest dude," and "gigantic dude".

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Connections

Edited into Sex at 24 Frames Per Second (2003)

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Soundtracks

Shama Lama Ding Dong
Written by Mark Davis
Performed by Lloyd Williams (uncredited)
Supervised by Mark Davis

User Reviews

National Lampoon's finest cinematic moment.

Tasteless, politically incorrect and absolutely laugh-out loud hilarious, with a cast that's a Who's Who of later stars, including Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Tim Matheson, Karen Allen, Kevin Bacon, etc.

It's bittersweet watching the brilliance of John Belushi in this, his finest hour. Every twitch of his beady eyes, every jiggle of his mighty beer belly, every line of dialogue delivered with just the right amount of bluster or sneering sarcasm -- this guy was a bona-fide comic genius. He was taken from us far too soon.

Director John Landis orchestrates the escalating hi-jinks with masterful comedic precision, Elmer Bernstein contributes a very funny mock-grandiose score, and veteran character actor John Vernon provides a wonderful arch-villain as the toweringly evil Dean Wormer.

There are almost too many comic highlights; pick your own favorite. My candidates: Bluto's rousing speech about the Germans bombing Pearl Harbor, Pinto's Good & Bad Consciences battling over whether he should take advantage of his passed-out date, and Otter picking up the dean's wife in the supermarket vegetable aisle.

Watch for co-writer Doug Kenney as 'Stork', suspected of brain damage. Another Saturday Night Live alumnus, along with Belushi and Harold Ramis, he died in a hiking accident in Hawaii not too long after the movie's release. Heartfelt thanks to him and Belushi, as well as everyone else involved in this classic, for providing us with so many laughs.