National Lampoonās Animal House, 1978Ā comedyĀ filmĀ about a rebelliousĀ fraternityās antics on a college campus in the 1960s. The movie was a box-office success and has become a cult classic. It influenced several other filmsĀ premisedĀ on young people challenging authority, such asĀ PorkyāsĀ andĀ Police Academy. Notably, it marked the film debut of actorĀ Kevin Bacon.
Animal HouseĀ was the first feature film produced by the American humor magazineĀ National Lampoon, in association withĀ Universal Pictures.Ā Doug Kenney, who had cofounded the magazine, wrote the screenplay with Chris Miller, a writer forĀ National Lampoon, andĀ Harold Ramis, a writer, actor, and future director who had featured in the magazineās live stage productionĀ The National Lampoon Show.Ā John Belushi, the lead inĀ Animal House, was also a cast member in the show.
The screenwriters based the story on their own college fraternity experiences. Kenney had already created the characters of Mandy Pepperidge, Larry Kroger, and Vernon Wormer in theĀ National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody, a fake yearbook published by the magazine in 1974; they would feature inĀ Animal HouseĀ as well. Miller, who hadĀ attendedĀ Dartmouth College, based Delta Tau Chi, the fraternity in the movie, on his own fraternity, Alpha Delta.
The trio of screenwriters setĀ Animal HouseĀ in 1962, the year before U.S. Pres.Ā John F. Kennedyās assassination. The movieās final scene is set on November 21, 1963āthe day before he wasĀ assassinated.
Plot
The film features two freshmen, Larry Kroger and Kent Dorfman, looking to join a fraternity at the fictional Faber College. Rejected by the reputable Omega Theta Pi (Omegas) house, they join the chaotic Delta Tau Chi (Deltas) fraternity next door. The Deltas, who include John (Bluto) Blutarsky (played by Belushi), are underachievers who constantly rebel against the establishment. The film continues with the college dean, Vernon Wormer, conspiring with the Omegas to expel the Deltas and have their charter revoked. The Deltas continue to flout rules with their wild antics, culminating in the havoc they wreak at the annual homecoming parade.
The initial cast list for the movie included the sketch comedy showĀ Saturday Night LiveĀ actorsĀ Chevy Chase,Ā Bill Murray,Ā Dan Aykroyd, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Belushi; only Belushi would be part of the final cast. Most of the cast featured then unknown actors, such asĀ Tom HulceĀ (later known for his titular role in the critically acclaimed filmĀ Amadeus), Tim Matheson (later known for his work on the TV dramaĀ The West Wing), Peter Riegert, Stephen Furst, Mark Metcalf, and Bruce McGill. Moreover,Ā Animal HouseĀ marked the filmĀ debutĀ ofĀ Karen AllenĀ (best known for her role in theĀ Indiana JonesĀ franchise) and Bacon.
John LandisĀ was chosen to direct the movie on the basis of his farcical filmĀ The Kentucky Fried Movie. Landis was friends with the established actorĀ Donald SutherlandĀ and signed him to play the supporting role of Professor Dave Jennings. Sutherland was offered a choice between a share of the movieās profits and a flat fee. He chose the flat fee, because he did not expect the movie to do well, but he later publicly regretted his decision. Universal Pictures agreed to distribute the movie after Sutherland came on board, and it gave the producers Ivan Reitman and Matty Simmons a modest budget of $3 million.
The producers and Landis wanted to shoot the film on an actual college campus, but they were turned down by many schools, including theĀ University of Missouri, because of the nature of the script. TheĀ University of OregonĀ inĀ EugeneĀ eventually agreed to let its campus be used as the movieās setting, for a fee of $20,000 and anĀ assuranceĀ that the university itself would not be named in the movie. Filming took place in fall 1977, using two real fraternity houses in Eugene and 200 locals as extras. Belushi spent three days of each week on set before returning toĀ New York CityĀ forĀ Saturday Night LiveĀ on weekends. Landis encouraged a rivalry between the actors playing the Deltas and the Omegas, and thisĀ dynamicĀ translated onto the screen. The famous food fight scene in the school cafeteria was filmed in one shot, in which the actors actually threw food at one another.
Reception and legacy
Animal HouseĀ was released on July 28, 1978, and became the second biggest hit of the year, afterĀ Grease. The film was especially popular with college audiences. Belushiās performance in particular earned acclaim, and he appeared in character as Bluto on the cover ofĀ NewsweekĀ magazine, accompanied by the headline āCollege Humor Comes Back.ā Critical reception at the time was mixed, butĀ Animal HouseĀ is now considered one of the best comedy films of all time.
The film grossed $141.6 million at the global box office and won the Peopleās Choice Award in 1979 for favorite nonmusical motion picture. In 2001 the U.S.Ā Library of CongressĀ selectedĀ Animal HouseĀ to be preserved in theĀ National Film Registry.
The film madeĀ National LampoonĀ very popular inĀ Hollywood, leading to several more movies. AĀ televisionĀ series based on the film,Ā Delta House, was produced by ABC in 1979. Though it featured several of the performers from the motion picture, including John Vernon and Furst, it failed to capture the iconoclastic feel of the film and was canceled after one season of 13 episodes.
