National Lampoon’s Animal House
What is the main theme of Animal House?
Who wrote the screenplay for Animal House?
Where was Animal House filmed?
What were the budget and the box-office earnings of Animal House?
What impact did Animal House have on National Lampoon?
National Lampoon’s Animal House, 1978 comedy film about a rebellious fraternity’s 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 films premised on young people challenging authority, such as Porky’s and Police Academy. Notably, it marked the film debut of actor Kevin Bacon.
Background and inspiration
Animal House was the first feature film produced by the American humor magazine National Lampoon, in association with Universal Pictures. Doug Kenney, who had cofounded the magazine, wrote the screenplay with Chris Miller, a writer for National Lampoon, and Harold Ramis, a writer, actor, and future director who had featured in the magazine’s live stage production The National Lampoon Show. John Belushi, the lead in 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 the National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody, a fake yearbook published by the magazine in 1974; they would feature in Animal House as well. Miller, who had attended Dartmouth College, based Delta Tau Chi, the fraternity in the movie, on his own fraternity, Alpha Delta.
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The trio of screenwriters set Animal House in 1962, the year before U.S. Pres. John F. Kennedy’s assassination. The movie’s final scene is set on November 21, 1963—the day before he was 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.
Casting and production
The initial cast list for the movie included the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live actors Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, 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 as Tom Hulce (later known for his titular role in the critically acclaimed film Amadeus), Tim Matheson (later known for his work on the TV drama The West Wing), Peter Riegert, Stephen Furst, Mark Metcalf, and Bruce McGill. Moreover, Animal House marked the film debut of Karen Allen (best known for her role in the Indiana Jones franchise) and Bacon.
John Landis was chosen to direct the movie on the basis of his farcical film The Kentucky Fried Movie. Landis was friends with the established actor Donald Sutherland and signed him to play the supporting role of Professor Dave Jennings. Sutherland was offered a choice between a share of the movie’s 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.
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The producers and Landis wanted to shoot the film on an actual college campus, but they were turned down by many schools, including the University of Missouri, because of the nature of the script. The University of Oregon in Eugene eventually agreed to let its campus be used as the movie’s setting, for a fee of $20,000 and an assurance 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 to New York City for Saturday Night Live on weekends. Landis encouraged a rivalry between the actors playing the Deltas and the Omegas, and this dynamic 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 House was released on July 28, 1978, and became the second biggest hit of the year, after Grease. The film was especially popular with college audiences. Belushi’s performance in particular earned acclaim, and he appeared in character as Bluto on the cover of Newsweek magazine, accompanied by the headline “College Humor Comes Back.” Critical reception at the time was mixed, but Animal House is now considered one of the best comedy films of all time.
“It is…the funniest comedy since Mel Brooks made The Producers.” —film critic Roger Ebert
The film grossed $141.6 million at the global box office and won the People’s Choice Award in 1979 for favorite nonmusical motion picture. In 2001 the U.S. Library of Congress selected Animal House to be preserved in the National Film Registry.
The film made National Lampoon very popular in Hollywood, leading to several more movies. A television series based on the film, 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.
Production notes and credits
- Director: John Landis
- Screenplay: Harold Ramis, Doug Kenney, Chris Miller
- Producers: Ivan Reitman, Matty Simmons
- Cinematography: Charles Correll
- Editor: George Folsey, Jr.
- Music: Elmer Bernstein
- Running time: 109 minutes
- Release date: July 28, 1978
- Estimated budget: $3 million
- Box office: $141.6 million
Primary cast
- John Belushi as John (Bluto) Blutarsky
- Karen Allen as Katy
- Tom Hulce as Larry (“Pinto”) Kroger
- Stephen Furst as Kent (“Flounder”) Dorfman
- Peter Riegert as Donald Schoenstein
- Mark Metcalf as Doug Neidermeyer
- Mary Louise Weller as Mandy Pepperidge
- Martha Smith as Barbara Sue (Babs) Jansen
- John Vernon as Dean Vernon Wormer
- James Daughton as Greg Marmalard
- Kevin Bacon as Chip Diller
- Tim Matheson as Eric (“Otter”) Stratton
- Donald Sutherland as Professor Dave Jennings