70 Fun Facts About Animal House

What is the name of the fictional school where Animal House is set?

Faber's motto, seen on the founder's statue, is 'Knowledge Is Good'.

What is the name of the Delta fraternity's rival house?

Landis insisted the film needed good guys and bad guys, so a villainous fraternity was added.

Who directed Animal House?

He got the job on the strength of The Kentucky Fried Movie; Richard Lester and Bob Rafelson had been approached first.

Who plays Bluto Blutarsky?

He was paid only $35,000 up front, but got a bonus once the film became a hit.

In what year is Animal House set?

The writers saw it as 'the last innocent year' before the Kennedy assassination.

What special status does Dean Wormer put the Deltas on?

He tells the Omegas he needs only one more misdemeanor to revoke Delta's charter.

What fraternity nicknames are freshmen Larry Kroger and Kent Dorfman given?

'Pinto' was screenwriter Chris Miller's own nickname at his Dartmouth fraternity.

Which Omega is the pompous ROTC cadet commander?

The epilogue says his own troops killed him in Vietnam, a gag revisited in Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Which future star made his film debut as Omega pledge Chip Diller?

The role did not make him famous; he went back to waiting tables and soap operas before Diner and Footloose.

Who plays Eric 'Otter' Stratton?

He was the most experienced of the young cast, having acted since he was 13.

Which actress plays Katy, Boon's exasperated girlfriend, in her film debut?

Three years later she was Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Which pot-smoking English professor does Donald Sutherland play?

Sutherland took a flat fee instead of two percent of the gross, a choice he reckoned cost him about $14 million.

Roughly how much did Donald Sutherland estimate taking a flat fee instead of 'points' cost him?

His two days of work at $25,000 still made him the highest-paid actor on the film.

Which real campus served as the filming location for Faber?

Missouri had said yes, then withdrew after its president read the script.

Why did the president of the host campus agree to let the film shoot there?

He allowed his own office to be used as Dean Wormer's, but insisted 'Oregon' never be mentioned.

How much did the filmmakers pay the college to use its campus?

The whole film cost only $3 million and Landis had no trailer or office during the shoot.

What was Animal House's production budget?

It went on to earn more than $141 million, making it the highest-grossing comedy of its time.

Which film finally overtook Animal House as the highest-grossing comedy?

Fittingly, Ghostbusters was also written by Harold Ramis and produced by Ivan Reitman.

Which humor magazine produced Animal House as its first film?

Its stories by Chris Miller about his Dartmouth fraternity inspired the plot.

Chris Miller's fraternity stories that inspired the film were based on his time at which school?

His 2006 memoir The Real Animal House recounts hijinks too risque for the film.

Harold Ramis drew on his own membership in which fraternity at Washington University in St. Louis?

He wrote Bluto specifically for Belushi, whom he knew from Second City.

What was Ramis and Kenney's early Animal House treatment, putting Charles Manson in a high school, called?

Publisher Matty Simmons hated it, so they moved the setting to an Ivy League-style college.

Which SNL star was the original choice for Otter but chose Foul Play instead?

Landis says he subtly discouraged Chase by describing the cast as an 'ensemble'.

The character D-Day was based on which Saturday Night Live cast member?

Aykroyd, a motorcycle enthusiast, was offered the part but stayed with SNL; Bruce McGill got his breakthrough.

How did Bluto's actor juggle Animal House with his weekly TV sketch show?

His wife Judy rented a house in Eugene to keep him away from alcohol and drugs.

Which singer did Landis meet as a backup in case Belushi turned down Bluto?

Landis and Belushi settled on Bluto as a cross between Harpo Marx and the Cookie Monster.

Landis and Belushi described Bluto as a cross between which two characters?

Belushi credited his Albanian grandmother, who spoke little English, for teaching him to communicate without words.

Which Dragnet star turned down the role of Dean Wormer?

John Vernon got the part after Landis liked him in The Outlaw Josey Wales.

Who plays Dean Wormer?

He reprised the role in the short-lived TV spin-off Delta House.

Bluto's fate in the epilogue is to become what?

He also marries Mandy Pepperidge; Otter is the gynecologist and Hoover the public defender.

According to the epilogue, Pinto grew up to become what?

Babs became the tour guide and Flounder the sensitivity trainer.

What kind of vehicle do the Deltas hide inside a cake-shaped float for the homecoming parade?

The parade scene was shot on Main Street in Cottage Grove, twenty miles south of Eugene.

Which band performs at the toga party?

Actor DeWayne Jessie later bought the rights to the name and toured with a real band.

What was unusual about how the cafeteria food fight was filmed?

Flounder catching the groceries in the supermarket was likewise a single take.

Which comedian's approval helped keep Animal House's Dexter Lake Club scene despite racism worries?

Black extras had to be bused in from Portland because so few lived around Eugene.

Who composed the film's original score?

Landis asked him to score it as if it were serious; he adapted the Faber College Theme from Brahms.

The film's college theme was adapted from a piece by which composer?

It comes from the Academic Festival Overture, and has been noted for resembling the Bosnian national anthem.

How long was the original cut of Animal House?

More than an hour was dropped, including a Landis cameo as a dishwasher who tries to stop Bluto eating.

Where was the first preview screening of Animal House held?

The crowd loved it, four months before national release.

Which real building served as the exterior of the Deltas' fraternity?

It was demolished in 1986; a bronze plaque on a boulder now marks the site.

What did Universal do to promote the film on college campuses?

One party at the University of Maryland drew about 2,000 people.

In what year was Animal House added to the National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress deemed it 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'.

Where did Bluto's line 'Toga! Toga!' rank on AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes?

The film itself is number 36 on AFI's list of the funniest American movies.

What was the title of the 1979 ABC sitcom spun off from the film?

ABC cancelled it after 13 episodes amid fights over content.

Which future star made her acting debut as 'The Bombshell' in the TV spin-off?

She appeared in every episode except the pilot and called it a foot in the door.

In the TV spin-off, which new character carries on Bluto's tradition while Bluto is in the Army?

Josh Mostel played him; Belushi did not return.

Twisted Sister cast Mark Metcalf (Neidermeyer) as the villain in videos for which two songs?

He echoes Neidermeyer's 'worthless and weak' dressing-down of Flounder.

What song from the toga party scene is played at every Oregon Ducks home football game?

The whole stadium sings along between the third and fourth quarters at Autzen Stadium.

What was Landis's earlier film that convinced Universal he could direct Animal House?

Both films are credited with launching the gross-out comedy genre.

Belushi and Landis reunited two years later on which musical comedy?

It was one of the most expensive films of its day at almost $30 million.

How old was Bluto's actor when he died in 1982?

He died at the Chateau Marmont after being injected with a mixture of heroin and cocaine.

Belushi grew up in which Chicago suburb?

He met his future wife Judith Jacklin at Wheaton Central High School.

What ancestry did Belushi's parents share?

He attended the Albanian Orthodox Church growing up.

The motorcycle-up-the-stairs scene was inspired by Belushi's antics at which school?

Bruce McGill performed the stunt as D-Day.

Which Animal House cast member later played Vice President John Hoynes on The West Wing?

The role earned him two Emmy nominations.

Peter Riegert, who plays Boon, later starred as oil executive Mac MacIntyre in which 1983 film?

Harold Ramis originally wrote Boon for himself but Landis thought he looked too old.

Which Animal House alumnus was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for Amadeus?

He played Mozart in the 1984 film after playing Pinto here.

Which 1970s Universal executive hated the idea but was won over by younger colleagues Sean Daniel and Thom Mount?

Mount had discovered the treatment while going through projects left by a fired executive.

Bruce McGill and James Widdoes were hurt in a real brawl during filming after what?

Widdoes lost several teeth after throwing a cup of beer at the players.

The 'Faber College Theme' drew late-2000s attention for its purported resemblance to which country's national anthem?

Elmer Bernstein, a Landis family friend since John's childhood, adapted the tune from Brahms and was asked to score the comedy as if it were serious.

Which critic gave Animal House four stars and put it on his ten-best list of 1978, a first for a Lampoon film?

He called it 'anarchic, messy, and filled with energy'; Time's Frank Rich judged its 'hilarious highs' worth the 'puerile lows'.

Roughly how much did Universal spend promoting Animal House on college campuses?

A Maryland toga party drew about 2,000 people, and Wisconsin students aimed for 10,000 and a Guinness record.

Where did Animal House rank on the AFI's 2000 list of 100 Years...100 Laughs?

Bravo went further, placing it first on its 100 Funniest Movies, and Empire named it among the 500 greatest films in 2008.

In how many New York theaters did Animal House open before expanding to 500?

It grossed $120.1 million domestically on first release, seventh among 1970s films, though overseas rentals were only about $9 million.

In the 2003 'Double Secret Probation' DVD mockumentary, what office had Bluto risen to?

With Belushi dead, the update was delivered as a voiceover over the White House's north portico.

Animal House was one of Universal's first two HD DVD/DVD combo discs in 2006, alongside which film?

The format was dropped in 2008 when Universal switched to Blu-ray, on which the film arrived in July 2011.

In Landis's Twilight Zone: The Movie, a soldier in Vietnam says the men shouldn't have shot whom?

The epilogue had already revealed Neidermeyer was killed by his own troops in Vietnam.

In Twisted Sister's 'I Wanna Rock' video, which Animal House actor plays the principal Metcalf crawls in to?

Furst reprises Flounder's line 'Oh boy, is this great!'; singer Dee Snider has called the film one of his favourites.

Who replaced Barenaked Ladies as composer of the planned Animal House stage musical announced in 2012?

Casey Nicholaw was billed to direct, with Michael Mitnick reported to be writing.

Chris Miller's 2006 memoir The Real Animal House recounts his time in which Dartmouth fraternity?

It includes hijinks judged too risqué for the film; Ramis, by contrast, drew on Zeta Beta Tau at Washington University.