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.Written by
John Vogel <jlvogel@comcast.net>
The list of names on the blackboard includes their graduation year. John Blutarsky's is listed as "'60, '61, '62, '63." See more »
Goofs
When Boon and Otter are looking down on the ROTC group on the field, Boon removes the golf bag from his shoulder, selects a club, and hands the bag to Otter. Following a quick cutaway shot to the field, the very next shot of Boon shows the bag back on his shoulder. See more »
Quotes
Bluto:
Hey! What's all this laying around shit?
Stork:
What the hell are we supposed to do, ya moron?
D-Day:
[to Bluto]
War's over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto:
What? Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter:
[to Boon]
Germans?
Boon:
Forget it, he's rolling.
Bluto:
And it ain't over now. 'Cause when the goin' gets tough...
[thinks hard of something to say]
Bluto:
The tough get goin'! Who's with me? Let's go!
[Bluto runs out, alone; then returns]
[...] See more »
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. See more »
Alternate Versions
Television versions aired on TNT and TBS delete, among others:
The scenes where Jennings and the students smoke pot. The scene is cut just after Jennings locks the door and smiles.
After Clorette DePasto falls over and reveals the tissue paper in her bra, the entire scene, with the angel, the devil, and the shots of half naked Clorette on the bed are cut out. It immediately jumps to her being ridden home in the shopping cart.
You'll have to excuse me and some of the other proponents of 'National Lampoon's Animal House' if we seem a little defensive about the movie. That's because it's often not recognized as the superior comedy classic that it is. Instead, too often it is lumped in with the multitude of inferior films that it inspired, which is totally unfair.
Some of the conventional wisdom about 'Animal House' is absolutely right, though. John Belushi does give a bravura performance that is reminiscent of the great comics before him like Chaplin, Keaton (Buster, not Michael), the Marx Brothers, etc., and he does it with a wonderful economy of words. His character of "Bluto" Blutarsky is often emulated and imitated but many times the persons doing so have no idea what it was that made him and his performance so great.
Tim Matheson as "Otter" and his other frat house buddies were also prototypes that were much imitated too, and again often without success. Otter was the quintessential smooth talker, always working an angle on everybody, especially the ladies. When a woman tells him that his lovemaking wasn't that great, he cocks his head, points a finger at himself and mouths the words, "not great?" in mock disbelief. Before Tom Hanks got "Big" he made a career out of playing this character. Also John Vernon set a standard for straight men with his portrayal of the beleaguered Dean Wormer, plagued by his "zoo fraternity."
Not all of the movie's humor aims low, by any means; some of it is quite sophisticated. (Yes, you read it right.) The screenwriters and director John Landis did a great job evoking Kennedy-era America and they found a lot to laugh at. This comedy is an unqualified classic by the simplest definition-- it makes you laugh, long and loud.
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You'll have to excuse me and some of the other proponents of 'National Lampoon's Animal House' if we seem a little defensive about the movie. That's because it's often not recognized as the superior comedy classic that it is. Instead, too often it is lumped in with the multitude of inferior films that it inspired, which is totally unfair.
Some of the conventional wisdom about 'Animal House' is absolutely right, though. John Belushi does give a bravura performance that is reminiscent of the great comics before him like Chaplin, Keaton (Buster, not Michael), the Marx Brothers, etc., and he does it with a wonderful economy of words. His character of "Bluto" Blutarsky is often emulated and imitated but many times the persons doing so have no idea what it was that made him and his performance so great.
Tim Matheson as "Otter" and his other frat house buddies were also prototypes that were much imitated too, and again often without success. Otter was the quintessential smooth talker, always working an angle on everybody, especially the ladies. When a woman tells him that his lovemaking wasn't that great, he cocks his head, points a finger at himself and mouths the words, "not great?" in mock disbelief. Before Tom Hanks got "Big" he made a career out of playing this character. Also John Vernon set a standard for straight men with his portrayal of the beleaguered Dean Wormer, plagued by his "zoo fraternity."
Not all of the movie's humor aims low, by any means; some of it is quite sophisticated. (Yes, you read it right.) The screenwriters and director John Landis did a great job evoking Kennedy-era America and they found a lot to laugh at. This comedy is an unqualified classic by the simplest definition-- it makes you laugh, long and loud.