Animal House (1978)

Director:

John Landis

Writers:

Harold Ramis (written by) &
Douglas Kenney (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 July 1978 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

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

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Dean | Parade | College | Homecoming Parade | Fraternity

Awards:

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

Also Known As:

National Lampoon's Animal House (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

109 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Todd-AO)

Certification:

Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 (1979) (cut) | Canada:13+ (Quebec) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:14A (Manitoba) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) (re-rating) (2003) | Canada:18+ (Quebec) (original rating) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) (original rating) | Canada:R (Nova Scotia) (original rating) | Finland:K-16 (1993) (uncut) | USA:R (Certificate #25253) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Argentina:13 (re-rating) | West Germany:18 | South Korea:18 | Australia:M | Iceland:L | Ireland:18 | Italy:VM14 | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R | West Germany:12 (re-rating) | UK:AA (original rating)

Filming Locations:

729 East 11th Street, Eugene, Oregon, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

The interior scenes of the Delta house were filmed in a Sigma Nu fraternity. The exterior of the Delta house was a dilapidated house from the 1800's that was torn down in the early 90's. The sorority house's exterior is the real exterior of the Sigma Nu house that was used for the interior scenes.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: At the start of the road trip Otter refers to being "In like Flint". The phrase "in like Flynn" (a reference to the actor Errol Flynn) had been around for about 20 years prior to the movie's time period, and would likely have been known to Otter. But the line as spoken sounds like "In like Flint". "In Like Flint" was a movie, starring James Coburn, that was released in 1967, 5 years after the movie's events, and its title was a reference to the older phrase. Many people nowadays are familiar with the latter phrase and not the original, so this was probably a dialogue mistake.

Quotes:

Flounder: May I have ten thousand marbles, please?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Stupids (1996)

Soundtrack:

Shout

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.