Still an All-Time classic! Before the American Pie films, Superbad, Old School, the Porky’s films, and a slew of other so-called “gross-out” comedies, there was Animal House…..the king of them all. I have always had a slight bias towards this movie in that it was filmed in my hometown of Eugene, Oregon. The fictional college in the film, Faber College, is actually the University of Oregon. The movie was filmed in 1977 and at the time that filming was to begin, the film only had one recognizable “star”, John Belushi from Saturday Night Live.
The film studio did not know if John Belushi would be able to carry a film with a cast of virtual unknowns, especially after Chevy Chase, who was supposed to have played “Otter”, dropped out to do the film “Foul Play” instead. The producers hired veteran actor Donald Sutherland to appear in a couple of scenes and were able to convince the studio that the film now had enough true “stars” that it would be successful. The cast of unknowns that made up the rival Delta’s and Omega’s have all gone to successful careers in Hollywood, but to most of them, Animal House was there first experience in a Hollywood Film. We all know about John Belushi’s life being cut short and there is little doubt he would have been a huge star for decades after SNL and Animal House.
The “unknown” actor that has arguably gone on to the most success since the film is actor Kevin Bacon who portrayed one of the Omega Frat boys. He has gone on to a long and very successful film career since Animal House. Tim Matheson (Otter) went on to a successful acting and directing career. Peter Riegert (Boon) also is a successful television and film actor. Bruce McGill (D-Day) is a very successful character actor in television and films. Thomas Hulce (Pinto) went on to an Oscar Nomination for “Amadeus”. Karen Allen (Katy) went on to “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and numerous other films. James Widdoes (Hoover) is now a successful television director. Stephen Furst (Flounder) went on to “St. Elsewhere” and is a television and film veteran. And the list goes on……. The production company for the film was very fortunate in that the Delta House depicted in the film had indeed previously been used as a Frat House and just happened to be right next door to a pristine mansion that was currently housing another Fraternity, thus they were able to film the Delta and Omega houses as being right next door to each other, which they were in real life. The Delta House itself was torn down in 1986 and is now the site of a small medical clinic. There is a boulder in front of the clinic which has a plaque denoting the site as the original site of the Delta House. The Omega house is still standing next door and is still being used a Frat House for the University of Oregon. This little film started a lot of crazes in Colleges around the Country. After Animal House, Toga Parties and Food Fights were common on college campuses, as I witnessed personally when I went to college in the mid 1980′s in Oregon. Also, who can even hear the word “probation” without thinking of “Double Secret Probation” without smiling? This classic comedy gem will live on for ages and will still be as funny 100 years from now as it is today.
