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 Delta House Fraternity, but those roughhousers have other plans for him.

Plot Keywords:

Dean | Parade | College | Homecoming Parade | Fraternity

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

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:

According to actor James Widdoes ("Hoover"), none of the seven principal Delta actors (John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Bruce McGill, or Widdoes himself) had ever belonged to a college fraternity.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When the Lincoln is driving away from the Dexter Lake Club, the license plates are blue and gold California plates - similar to Otter's Vette plates that came out in 1970.

Quotes:

Katy: It must have been some party.
Boon: Unbelievable. A new low. I'm so ashamed.
Katy: I'm almost sorry I missed it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Middleman: The Vampiric Puppet Lamentation (#1.10)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

The Washington Post

Often imitated, never duplicated.

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.