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:

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

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Taglines:

It was the Deltas against the rules... the rules lost!

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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:

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

In the scene where Hoover and Bluto are swearing in the new freshman, the book that Hoover is holding is actually an auto repair manual. According to the Animal House backstory, the fraternity's pledge book had actually been destroyed in a fire three years earlier.

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Goofs

When the band is marching down the alley at the end of the film, the "brick wall" that they all run into repeatedly bounces back and forth as it is touched.

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Quotes

[at the Dexter Lake Club, a Negroes-only bar, with Otis Day and the Knights playing Shama Lama Ding Dong]
Pinto: What are you majoring in?
Brunella: Primitive cultures.

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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.

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Connections

Referenced in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: Episode #9.1 (2010)

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Soundtracks

Theme from A Summer Place (1959)
(uncredited)
Written by Max Steiner
Performed by Percy Faith and His Orchestra

User Reviews

Laughs are on the "House"....

Every successful movie has its myriad clones and imitators, but none of them ever come close to what made the original so good.

That's certainly true of "Animal House".

The laughs are all solid, especially when the main focus is in toppling the stoic pillars of decency and normality with a battle cry of "food fight!".

Pledges Pinto (Hulce) and Flounder (Furst) are good soldiers, making us laugh with their desire to fit in at first then, finally, to succumb to the madness and pillage and destroy with the other Deltas, led by Bluto (Belushi), who waylays all in his path.

No subsequent attempt to cash in on the "Animal House" success has ever made good in toppling the once and future king of the mountain. Who has ever come close to creating a creature as lovably destructive as Bluto Blutarsky? What other college movie's dean ever made Dean Wormer seem like an easygoing, laid-back guy? What college movie scene comes close to the introduction of the Deltas? The toga party? The horse in the Dean's office? The road trip? The final parade? The....

Well, space is limited but you get the idea.

Ten stars, and a crushed-beer-can-on-the-forehead salute to all involved with the subversive garbage that is "Animal House".

More power to you.

And remember, knowledge is good.