Talk:Animal House/Archive 1

Archive 1

School Dispute

It has often been discussed that the school in the film is to some degree supposed to be the University of Tennessee. The most telling evidence of this is the Tennessee state flag displayed opposite the American flag during the hearing scene. It is easily visible beside Gregg and the Dean in several cuts, and in the background while Otter is giving the "american spirit" speech. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.64.159.117 (talk) 01:36, 4 November 2007 (UTC) "To add to this, the setting and style of the classroom, with the different floor levels raising the seats heading to the back of the room and the chalkboard at the lowest level in the front, is very similar to classrooms in the Glocker Business and Administration Building at the University of Tennessee. The ceiling and A/C ducts are also of similar fashion. The only major difference is the color of the classroom. In the movie, the classroom is green in different shades with the trim being the darkest. The last time I was in the building, it was more white and brown. But since the movie was filmed in 1978 and I last entered the building in 2004, I have no doubt the classrooms have had several coats of paint since then. Also, not long after my last encounter with "Glocker", aside from one side of the original side facing Hodges Library, the rest of the building has been demolished and rebuilt making it much larger than the original building. "Glocker" is still in the same style on the outside but much more modern on the inside. To my knowledge, it is on it's last leg of renovations and should be open for use by this fall(2009) or is already in use."-submitted by Tyler Tallent, Tennessee alumnus '05 Additionally there is some debate that the origin of plot comes from McMaster University (Mac)in Hamilton Ontario. The residence in question is Whidden Hall (spelling might be off) and looks much like a residence presented at the beginning of the movie. Further support comes from the fact that Ivan Reitman producer of Animal House is an alumnus of McMaster. Want futher proof, then watch the movie in slow motion, specifically the toga party where the two fish bowls imbeaded in the wall are displayed. You will see the red letters "MAC" across the wall. 209.226.137.106 (talk) skyzend

Interesting speculation, but the only ideas that really matter are the ones which we can cite. Where's the justification for the film being set in Pennsylvania? I'm removing unless somebody can provide a citation. SixFourThree (talk) 21:27, 16 September 2008 (UTC)SixFourThree

The Original Animal House.

Behold, all you aging frat boys who loved “Animal House,” like me: despite what’s described on the “Animal House” website about Chris Miller and his days at Dartmouth; despite what Miller - one of the film’s writers - “remembers” about his college days, and unrelated stuff he describes and later publishes in his book, “The Real Animal House (2006),” there’s a genuine influence for “Animal House” that must finally be acknowledged. What I’m saying is, during the years I was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity at the University of Missouri, a full 10 years before the movie came out (in 1978), we experienced the actual events depicted in “Animal House,” the movie, co-written by Miller and Harold Ramis – who, according to at least one brother who saw him there - actually saw this stuff take place at our house and our parties.

Ramis, a co-writer (and later very successful director), graduated Washington University, St. Louis, in 1966. He was a ZBT and had many friends at the very active ZBT house over at Missouri University, in Columbia, less than 2 hours away. (The website claims he based some of the pranks in the movie on his experiences at Wash U; there’s no way this is possible, in fact it’s laughable. WU was a suburban St. Louis school for serious students). As a Kappa Sigma at Mizzou, with many brothers from St. Louis, we had a lot of friends who were Zeebs (and Sammies, the other primary Jewish fraternity), as we used to call them, and would actually party with them on occasion. Great partiers, too, just like us.

I graduated Mizzou in 1968; I was told years later that Ramis would visit the Kappa Sig house back then, and our weekend parties, when he would come to Columbia. And while I can’t personally attest to this, he must have. Here is what he saw, or would have seen – and these are all true, way-back-then events that I can attest to, because I was there, and saw all of them:

Toga Party. 15 years before the movie came out. We held ours at the Mizzou Motel the week before school started every year, where we crammed 25-some actives, and various disposable dates into a single room, all wrapped up in various sheets. Togas. Our “toga/toga/toga” chant traditionally ended with most of the togas on the floor. A couple of honorary pledges were always invited to these Toga Parties, held the weekend before school started. This is how I was introduced to the real Kappa Sig fraternity as a pledge: knock on the Mizzou Motel door, it opens, we walk in. First thing I see, a brother is screwing his date on the only bed in the room (under their togas). Round the corner into the kitchen, and there’s another brother, stirring his drink with his Johnson. Seriously.

The Roadhouse, the one where some of the Delts stop on their road trip to hear Otis Day and the Knights: ours was called the Paradise Club, and it’s a 4-mile road trip back down old Highway 40 from the Kappa Sigma house in Columbia. Totally black, just like the movie’s roadhouse. We’d go out there to hear fabulous music; sometimes Ike and Tina Turner (who owned a piece of the club), would come over from St. Louis, and the ribald Doug Clark and the Hot Nuts (“Roly Poly tickle my Hole-y”), another all black band. One night we were in there and the electricity shuts down and all hell breaks lose. Flying beer bottles, smashed chairs, utter mayhem. And us white boys felt the need to leave the brothers to their own bidness, so Hoss, one of our big dude frat brothers, leads a charge through one of the walls and out of there! The Paradise Club is the roadhouse.

“My man Otis.” Ours was Winston Rose (and the Aftones), a black R&B band who played many weekends at another black club in the middle of downtown Columbia, below street level. Jim’s Rib Station. It was actually laid out just like the club in the movie, bar on the right, bandstand on the left, dance floor crammed in the middle, and populated by many large, downtown dudes. And every so often a couple of us white brothers would descend the stairs down into what was then a very alien world. The first night I was ever there was my freshman year, as a dorm rat (I pledged the summer before my sophomore year). We went in there and ordered champagne cocktails or some shit and started interactin’ with the bro’s, not the brothers, the bro’s. And pretty soon here come’s Jim his ownself, and suggests we leave, now, with emphasis on NOW – just like the dudes in the movie do - and then escorts us all the way down the street to our car, just in case. This night, we took our dates out with us.

D Day’s motorcycle up the stairs. Terry Ranahan, who now practices law in California, wheeled his Triumph bike all the way up the front stairs into the frat house one night, just like D Day did. I was there, I saw it. Terry was chasing our housedog, Heidi, around the backyard; she was a St. Bernard, and she was terrified. She runs into the downstairs dining room to get way – and Ranahan follows her in. The look of absolute terror and surprise on her face was unforgettable. Then he rams his bike up the front stairs and all the way to the presidential suite - where I’m actually studying (I was GM, illegally, nine months after being activated). I dutifully threaten him with a fine, and he guides his bike down the back stairs, jumps it off the back steps between two parked cars and lands it in the gravel parking lot, where he does a couple of doughnuts, spraying gravel around on everyone's cars.

Years later they rip up the old carpeting off the front stairs to replace it, and Terry's tire marks are still there! This is a true story; you cannot make this shit up.

Mazola parties. A major fantasy. But we talked about it all the time: the brothers, a bunch of fun-loving dates, a big plastic sheet spread out on the chapter room floor, and multiple bottles of Mazola Oil. Get naked. Pour! And mix it up. Repeat. Didn’t actually happen in my frat lifetime. But we all dreamed about it. And I was reminded of it in “Animal House” when Otter is shopping with Dean Wormer’s wife in the super market, and the first thing he reaches for … is Mazola Oil! A great tribute.

Pissing off the porch. The Kappa Sig annex was a dump of a rented house outside Columbia; several of the senior brothers rented it for … study hall. It was fronted by a railed porch. It was a zoo, especially on weekends. We honored the tradition of those who came before us by regularly pissing off this heralded platform – just like Belushi’s doing in the movie’s opening scene. It was also at this annex that Brother Charles (Hoot) Gibson rigged a hole in the bathroom window from out on the porch, at … knee level. Shameless, and you had to stand guard when your own date was in there, if you cared. Great shots. At least we didn’t have to climb a ladder, like Bluto did at the Tri Delt house.

Food fights. The real deal. Once a year, minimum, in our dining room. And who cared? Pledges had to clean in up. And we could hose off upstairs, in the showers. Once the housemother even got nailed.

Dickenson College. In “Animal House” it’s an all-girls school near Faber. In Columbia, Missouri, it’s Stephens College, a quasi-notorious all-girls school attended by privileged young women from around the country. We called them Stephens’s dollies, and they were. The Kappa Sigs, whose brothers included numerous football varsity jocks, miscellaneous face men and all around dweebs and Blutos, would actually cruise Stephens Friday afternoons for dates, pile them into their cars and take them out to the Kappa Sig annex house, out on West Broadway, and … rock.

Your date’s dead. A classic at the Kappa Sig house. One example: one of the brothers (Gary Hilmer, the Lip) was worried about a blind date he was set up with at Stephens College, one of the two all-girls schools in Columbia(!), so he sends over a fellow brother to check her out first, with the instructions to tell her he’s just been in a tragic car wreck if she shows up ugly. She did, and he did. Just like Otter did at Dickinson College – except they reversed the gag in the movie.

Spook trains. As rush chairman, I myself followed a long fraternity tradition by ushering undesireable rushees into a back room, all together, where one of our brothers would engage them in the theory of the slide rule or something. Another time I showed them a room upstairs, where we had a pledge lying face down on the top bunk. On the springs. Butt naked. Face down. Got it? Didn’t see this last bit in the movie. Funny thing, we used to call these rushees “geeks.” Little did we know that one day they would rule the world.

And without fail we would introduce ourselves to incoming rushees as Neil Downaneater, Michael Hunt or Dick Hurtz – this last one a name you’ll see written on the blackboard in the student court scene in the movie.

Our Niedermeyer was, well, I won’t name him. But he was already a Vietnam Vet and back in the house, fully armed and dangerous. Once he shot a harpoon gun through his room wall, just missing a pledge’s head in the next room over. He used to fire his semi-automatic off the back fire escape, into the night air, “just to clear his head,” he would say. Then he re-upped, and would send photos of dead Viet Cong back to the house.

Annual Kappa Sig tradition: Keg party in the chapter room, followed by an exodus over to the Pi Phi sorority house, where we raised our beers, sang our “You didn’t win the skit Pi Beta Phi” song at the top of our lungs, and emptied our bladders on their lawn in their honor, en masse. Two of my pledge brothers were locals, from Columbia. One of them dated an underaged girl from local Hickman High, a Kewpie – just like Tom Hulce’s Clorette. Ours was the daughter of Dan Devine – Mizzou’s head football coach.

This one wasn’t ours – but it happened at the KA house while we were in school. They had a drop dead gorgeous, 40-something housemother. Drove a Corvette convertible. Beautiful. The KA’s had some hunks, including Mizzou’s back-up quarterback. Yep, he did, just like Otter and the Dean’s wife.

Double Secret Probation. The entire three years I was in the house (I pledged my sophomore year), we were either on social or scholastic probation, or both. We called our Dean “Black Jack” for some reason, and had to visit him often. We were under constant threat of being closed down. One of my pledge brothers (now working for dear old Mizzou!), recently had a business meeting with an alumni who was in the Dean of Students’ office back then. Chris tells him he’s from the Kappa Sig house of that era. His response: “Oh my God, we had to create new probations for you guys!”

My first duty as house president was to deliver a check to the SAE house because one of the brothers had thrown a boulder through their front window, drunk, and then sat down to wait for them to come out. The SAE’s were arguably the quintessential privileged white bread anti-frat Omega Theta’s epitomized in the movie. They were the first guys I ever saw that wore Khakis, with razor pressed creases, and Weejuns and no socks. The “OmegaTheta Pi’s,” and their squeaky-clean president, Marmalard – and his girlfriend Mandy – are carbon copies of the SAE’s at Mizzou back then.

The Delta Tau Chi’s in the movie get thrown off campus for 3 reasons: 1 – don’t remember; 2 – serving illegal alcoholic beverages to freshman pledges (Duh, who didn’t?); 3 – providing illicit “diet pills” to brothers (what they didn’t say was why: they kept you awake when you had to cram; our brother David Glenn had a regular business selling prescription Dexatrim pills to all of us during finals week, year in and year out. Dex. They could seriously fuck you up, and did).

Road trips were a long-standing tradition at Mizzou, even for dormies. Why? It was “illegal” to drink in the house (and definitely illegal in the dorm). So, you got some old guy to buy you a case of beer some Sunday afternoon, and off you went, a carload out to Clinkscales Road. The Delts took a road trip, too, and wrecked Flounder’s car in the process.

“I’m a zit.” Did it, seriously. Did it. Said it. In 1966. Mashed potatoes. And ketchup. Just like Belushi’s Bluto did. And I wasn’t the only one.

You cannot make this stuff up. And I’m not.

True, factual stories, every one of them. And every one of them in “Animal House,” one way or the other. Coincidences? I don’t think so. True greatness like this does not come by accident. It has to be earned. And believe me, there are many, many more stories, some of which will remain untold except at Kappa Sig reunions.

You’ll see on the Animal House website that their first choice for filming location was Missouri University, in Columbia, “College Town USA” (ended up shot at the University of Oregon; MU turned them down). No wonder. Why the hell else would they want to go out to the middle of nowhere to shoot “Animal House?” Because that’s were the real one was.

©Tim Arnold Grand Master Kappa Sigma, 1968 University of Missouri Possible20@aol.com www.possible20.com

Nice OR essay. Got a citation? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 21:03, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Misspelled "fanciful".--Reedmalloy (talk) 05:53, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

Hidden Joke

There is a scene when the guys are on the roadtrip to Emily Dickinson University, and go to the Dexter Lake Club, when Pinto asks his date, "What's your major?" she replies, "Primitive cultures," and the shot quickly pans to Otis singing "Oooh mao mao," into the mic.

Cute, and ironic, as there was nothing more primitive in that film than the atmosphere at Delta House. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 00:03, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Leo Strauss

Please stop adding the totally false bit about Leo Strauss and gay orgy toga parties in the trivia section, there is absolutely no reason for it since it isn't even thought to be true in the book used a reference. Even if it WERE a fact, it'd be totally irrelevant to this movie and the article. --GregRog 17:29, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

The quote about Leo Strauss should be looked upon as vandalism. Having checked page 62 of Leo Strauss and the Politics of American Empire, I can now report that the book reads, in relevant part:

...Cornell had been the site of a particularly ugly scandal involving sexual harrassment—of women. These acts had, however, been eclipsed by the persistent rumors of homosexual rites and rituals among the Straussians: of orgiastic toga parties and gay little reenactments of the Symposium. These rumors were enhanced by [Saul] Bellow's Ravelstein. Despite the recurrent rumors—even among Straussians and their sympathizers—I don't believe the toga parties. [emphasis added]

Thus the editor who has been adding the paragraph on Leo Strauss is wrong on several counts. They were rumors, and the book suggests no connection—as in none—to Animal House. I'm sorry, but I cannot believe that adding this paragraph was a good-faith error, since the text of the book by Norton, as we can see by the quoted excerpt above, supports the paragraph not at all. Hydriotaphia 19:53, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

• As one among many who have been in a revert "skirmish" with that one guy, it is clear he won't discuss it, he just keeps adding it back. That adds up to point-of-view pushing, at the very least. Wahkeenah 18:24, 30 January 2006 (UTC)

Also, I'm not sure what Jacrosse's terse edit summary—"This is not vandalism - the toga party is more then enough closely associated with Animal House in the popular consciousness that a connection can be inferred"—means. What "connection" is referred to here? A connection between the Straussians and Animal House? I don't see one; please explain. Or a connection between the Straussians and toga parties? This connection belongs on the toga party article, not here. Again, please stop reverting without discussion. If you continue to do so, I shall request arbitration. Hydriotaphia 06:38, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

• I'm assuming you're directing your warning to the other guy, not me. :) I was thinking that, forgetting the controversial nature of the citation (which is what I assume is the agenda behind his continual pushing of it, despite his denial) it's a little like including a writeup about how filmstock is made, in an article about a specific film; it might be interesting in the article about filmstock, but not about a specific movie. In fact, he put it in the toga article also, where one can debate its factual merits, but at least that's the place for it, if anyplace. As I and others keep saying, and to which he won't respond, it has nothing to do with this movie specifically. Wahkeenah 13:26, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

• Oh yes, I'm talking to Jacrosse, not to you. I completely agree with your comments above. Hydriotaphia 15:38, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

• But is is great and I live with a bunch of Straussians and they do the toga party thing with me, so why not have Animal House take part too?

Right...--GregRog 20:07, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

If you haven't noticed I've surrendered, but please let it stand on the Toga Party page those of you who have been after me there to.--Jacrosse 21:35, 2 February 2006 (UTC)

Dude, this isn't a battle. It's not about "winning" or "surrendering"—it's about making a decent encyclopedia. I hope you'll continue to contribute, but please do it responsibly and defensibly. Hydriotaphia 02:20, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Du-ude, I was just saying so with a little literary license, and I have every intention of remaining a part of the Wikipedia community.--Jacrosse 16:14, 5 February 2006 (UTC)

Jack Daniels

The Bloopers section contains a bullet that states; "So the story goes that Belushi actually chugged the bottle of Jack Daniels, which was actually full oif booze. Doubtful, since it would have killed him. I suspect it was iced tea." This is blatantly POV. Could someone rephrase?

(talk) 09:00, 13 May 2009 (UTC)Better just to delete it entirely, since it's totally nonsensical. --Vonbontee

The original comment in this section was added by an IP address in January of 2006. [1] The section in question was added earlier that same day [2] and was finally removed in December of 2006 [3]. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots 09:13, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

Plot Summary

Are there any plans for someone to put in a proper plot summary? The one that's there only lists the characters and has nothing more. I'd do it myself but it's been too long since I last saw the movie to do it justice.--MythicFox 05:17, 8 February 2006 (UTC)

Done. Clarityfiend 07:24, 23 April 2006 (UTC)

Very well-written, thanks.--MythicFox 09:47, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

It would be nice to have a short plot summary, rather than a scene-for-scene reiteration of the film, complete with character dialogue. I think people confuse writing a plot summary with simply rephrasing the complete screenplay. RichardXXIII (talk) 22:56, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

The plot section needs a serious overhaul...it's gotten to a bloated world for word transcription (and I'm being kind here). It needs to be a little streamlined and less cluttered. Swilliamrex 0310, 26Nov2009 —Preceding undated comment added 09:09, 26 November 2009 (UTC).

As part of a large-scale copyediting/cite-adding, I've extensively trimmed the plot summary so it meets Wikipedia standards. That said, I have done something I have not done for any other movie article: Added several quotes that, I think, are representative of the movie's flavor. Obviously Animal House has numerous memorable quotes, and we can't (and shouldn't!) add them all, but I think the ones I've chosen are the cream of the crop. YLee (talk) 03:18, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Trivia Section

This article is far too long, we need to trim the trivia section. I started with the most unneeded ones. --Liface 23:20, 4 June 2006 (UTC)

Removed some trivia that only has a weak connection to the movie: "After the film's release, the administration of Dartmouth College, in an attempt to clean up the reputation of the Greek system at their school, filed eight charges against one of the fraternities on campus, Phi Kappa Psi, now known as Panarchy [4]. The fraternity eventually won the case." Clarityfiend 06:50, 20 June 2006 (UTC)

Got rid of second hand gossip: "Director John Landis has said that he heard that Animal House is both George W. Bush's and John Kerry's favorite movie. [5]" Wouldn't surprise me if it were true though. Clarityfiend 22:48, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

Another one: *A dying urban legend states that the numbers of the houses in scenes are significant. For example, in the scene where Bluto uses a ladder to look at naked women, the number of the house is 763, which would stand for "GFC" or "Go Fuck Chicks." This idea has not been mentioned by any of the writers." Clarityfiend 16:32, 11 September 2006 (UTC)

Hi. This part: "Things go from bad to worse. "Babs" (Martha Smith) "reveals" to Gregg Marmalard that his girlfriend, Mandy (Mary Louise Weller), and Otter are having an affair. (Babs lies because she wants Gregg for herself.)" isn't true. In the cafeteria scene, when Otter sits next to Mandy and asks her about getting together again, she says "Besides, it wasn't that good." Otter looks incredulous. That would indicate that yes, they had had sex at least once.

One encounter does not an affair make. Babs implied that their relationship was ongoing when it plainly wasn't. Clarityfiend 22:14, 8 June 2007 (UTC)

various DVD versions

Some mention should be made of the music score changes made in the "Double Secret Probation" DVD.--Mike18xx 01:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

I have the Double Secret Probation edition (Region 1) and the soundtrack music seems fine. Sam Cooke's Wonderful World is in place during the cafeteria sequence, as are the other songs from the original soundtrack. I think for some releases outside North America, the music was changed to some really bland sounding instrumentals. It was horrible; really ruined the mood, especially in the moments leading up to "Food fight!" I know for sure this happened on the Region 3 release, though I'm not sure if it was a Double Secret Probation edition. I've also seen mention of the alternate soundtrack on releases for Region 4. If there's a definitive, reputable source out there that documents these alternate releases, then the reference should be added. -Wisekwai 04:07, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

{{fact}} tagging

This article is littered with with unsourced claims. Anyone have some cites? L0b0t 14:29, 11 October 2006 (UTC)

I've removed a few of the ones where we have no citations, and where I expect we aren't going to. The one about Belushi and the Jack Daniels, for one, has flip-flopped on a few occasions, so I find it useful to just straight-up remove the troublesome passages. SchuminWeb (Talk) 05:31, 22 December 2006 (UTC)

I found an article for this first citation about it being the originator of gross-out comedies. An article on NPR's site mentions briefly that this was probably the case. J.D. 16:34, 27 December 2006 (UTC)

Cultural References

The 'The next day, Homer went to work in a toga' bit isn't from the episode where he goes to college. It's from the one where Marge is telling stories to the kids at the library, and near the end, Homer randomly mentions Animal House.

Partial credit. The episode you named is correct, but Homer's mention of Animal House is far from random. If I remember it correctly, and I do, Marge was telling a story about Mozart which clearly parodied "Amadeus." Homer mentions that the guy in that movie, Tom Hulse, was also in Animal House. —Preceding unsigned comment added by ROG 19 (talk • contribs) 19:51, 12 October 2007 (UTC)

Ironically, his characterization of Mozart was rowdier than his characterization of Pinto. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 00:12, 17 October 2007 (UTC)

Unbelievable - no one has put in the Twisted Sister reference yet. <Tekito> —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.187.181.30 (talk) 02:21, 25 December 2007 (UTC)

Legacy, Baseball

I first heard that clip of Bluto's "pep talk" used as a 9th inning rally cry in the South Atlantic League in the early 1990s. I saw the clip at the Metrodome a couple of months ago. Independently, there are editors saying it's used at Yankee Stadium. There are many internet references. Just Google "animal house" "baseball" "ninth inning" "germans bombed" and you'll find some. Whoever asked for the fact tag, do the research and pick the one (or ones) that you like. Baseball Bugs 01:00, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

I placed the tag, and until we get a reliable source for it (along with the fifteen bazillion other tagged spots), we need to keep the tag. SchuminWeb (Talk) 02:03, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Pop Culture: Double Secret Probation

The article says that Double Secret Probation is part of pop culture. I'm sure that's right, and I've probably used it myself, but the article makes no mention of where it is used outside of Animal House. Anybody want to do some research? superluser_tc 2007 August 24, 01:14 (UTC)

Featured article status

When did this article lose its featured article status? - Throw 19:44, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Did it ever have it? --J.D. 21:37, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I remember a few months ago having it. I remember vividly since seeing it as a featured article is what made me buy the DVD. - Throw 21:56, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

GA Review

GA review (see here for criteria)

1. It is reasonably well written.

   a (prose): b (MoS):

2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.

   a (references): b (citations to reliable sources): c (OR):

3. It is broad in its coverage.

   a (major aspects): b (focused):

4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.

   Fair representation without bias:

5. It is stable.

   No edit wars etc.:

6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.

   a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales): b (appropriate use with suitable captions):

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Though I love the movie and had hoped to pass it, there are far too many problems with the article at the time to allow it to be a Good Article, here are just the biggest concerns

1. The lead needs to conform to WP:LEAD. Specifically, it must summarize every major point/heading made in the body of the article, which it does not even come close to doing. There's barely anything on the plot, production, music, pop culture or the characters, to name a few. The lead should leave the reader with at least a basic understanding of the key points of the article, which it fails almost entirely to do.
2. The plot summary is way too long and detail - I (or rather, my copy of Microsoft word) counted over 1000 words. According to WP:FILM's guidelines, "Plot summaries should be between 400 and 700 words and should not exceed 900 words unless there is a specific reason such as a very complicated plot." As I said, I love this movie, but I wouldn't exactly describe the plot as "very complicated." I suggest cutting down a lot of the detail and flowery language.
3. The referencing of this article is entirely inadequate; entire large sections lack even a single reference. While it would be tedious to list every last one, a general guideline is that, at minimum, every paragraph should have at least one in-line citation. Some of the most noticeable (and this is by no means all-inclusive) are "Origins" (only the first sentence is cited), the second paragraph of "Casting," the first three paragraphs of "Location," most of "Soundtrack and score," most of "Pop culture" and "DVD editions"
4. The prose for the first half is casual, although it could easily be worked with, but after the "Production" section, it starts to become choppy, highlighted by the frequent use of one-two sentence paragraphs. The casual style also seems to make the prose "wander" a bit, and makes me wonder about the "focused" criteria for Good Articles
5. There are some neutrality concerns that could easily be turned into less POV statements. Here are the most obvious examples: "Since the film's initial success, the film has become pop culture treasure" (uncited POV), "The soundtrack is a mix of rock and roll and R&B, mostly of songs that were popular around the approximate time period in which the film is set" (uncited POV and wishy-washy to boot), "Rick Meyerowitz, the illustrator who drew Animal House's iconic poster"

These are just the most pressing concerns and the article would need a serious revamp (especially with the references) before the smaller details would be worth picking out and addressing. For these reasons, I am going fail the article at this time. If you feel that this review is in error, you may take it to Good Article reassessment. Thank you for your work thus far. Cheers, CP 23:20, 28 December 2007 (UTC)

---

No mention that this is a slob comedy

Wow, I thought wiki was good. I look up slob comedy, there is nopage for it. Also, there is no mention on this page that it is. If you need an example to prove slob comedy is a real genera, Porky's is a slob comedy. So can we make a mention in this page and mabye make a page on slob comedies. --Fresh Prince Carlton (talk) 14:24, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

There is an article, it's even mentioned in the intro to this article. Please see Gross-out film. Cheers. L0b0t (talk) 23:24, 19 July 2008 (UTC)

References in pop culture

This section has little to no citations and if kept in as is will prevent this article from getting promoted to GA status. I've moved it here until proper citations can be produced.--J.D. (talk) 16:03, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

Ask For Babs

After the closing credits, a card appears advertising the Universal Studios tour. To correlate with the film, it reads, "When in Hollywood, visit Universal Studios. (Ask for Babs.)" Some later Landis films, such as The Blues Brothers and An American Werewolf in London also carried this tagline in their theatrical releases, partially as an inside joke and reportedly as a tongue-in-cheek promotion for Universal's studio tour and its theme park in Los Angeles. As of 1989, Universal Studios no longer honors the "Ask for Babs" promotion, which was either a discount or a free entry.

Double Secret Probation

In the film, Dean Vernon Wormer tells Inter-Fraternity Council President Greg Marmalard that, since Delta is already on probation, "as of this moment they are on 'double secret probation.'" The expanded release of the original movie on DVD in 2003, was titled the Double Secret Probation Edition. In the Futurama episode "Mars University", Robot House is put on "dodecatuple secret probation" by Dean Vernon (a nod to John Vernon, who played Dean Wormer in the movie). The episode also features several other references to Animal House, including a secret fraternity handshake, "Louie Louie" and "Shout". The infamous ladder scene is also parodied, with the robots climbing to the top of a ladder to watch a sorority member repair her computer.

The smashed guitar

During the toga party, Bluto smashes an acoustic guitar belonging to a folk singer (portrayed by singer/songwriter Stephen Bishop, credited as "Charming Guy with Guitar") who is serenading a group of girls with the folk tune The Riddle Song. Bluto then hands him a splintered piece and says "Sorry." Bishop wrote and performed the "Animal House Theme" and claims to have framed the smashed guitar. One of the girls whom he is serenading is John Belushi's wife Judith.

The hole in the wall caused by the destruction of the guitar was the only damage done to the Sigma Nu fraternity house where the Delta House interiors were filmed. It was not repaired; instead, the hole was framed with an engraved brass tag commemorating the event.

In an episode of 8 Simple Rules, directed by "Hoover" actor James Widdoes, Rory sings while playing his guitar, then Kerry breaks it and says "Sorry!". This sight gag has been imitated on TV several times, memorably by Worf on Star Trek: The Next Generation when he objected to Geordi La Forge's mandolin playing. During the second season of the television show Scrubs, Dr. Perry Cox abruptly ends a song by Colin Hay in the same manner.

Ladder Peeping

The sequence wherein Bluto puts a ladder up to the sorority house window has been recreated at least twice. First, as previously stated, in the Futurama episode "Mars University" when members of Robot House climb a ladder and watch a sorority girl fix her computer. The second time was on an episode of Family Guy. Herbert hops a ladder over in front of Chris's window. He then perfectly recreates the scene by turning around to look at the camera/audience and resumes peeping. He then falls backwards off the ladder.

Twisted Sister

Twisted Sister parodied Neidermeyer's rant in the music video for the glam rock hit We're Not Gonna Take It, with a teenager berated for wearing a Twisted Sister pin on his uniform.

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Near the end of the first segment of the film, which was directed by John Landis, the main character encounters American troops in Vietnam. The American troops are discussing "fragging" Lieutenant Neidermeyer. Rmd1023 (talk) 22:44, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:National Lampoon's Animal House/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Although the latter aspects of the article look pretty good-to-go, some of the issues highlighted in the previous GA attempt have not been rectified and some tweaks are needed.

• Images: all fine, except the filmset one is a pretty huge 2.18MB in size, can it be reduced to a more realistic size please?
• Lead: Fine again, except two brackets which clutter it slightly, the first can be removed by using a comma, the second: "Produced on a small ($2.7 million) budget" can just as easily read "Produced on a small budget of $2.7 million" which flows better.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• Some of the paragraphs in the plot summary are very short, would you consider merging a few?

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• Plot has some very laid-back terms and opinionated wording. Examples: "They meet John "Bluto" Blutarsky (John Belushi), outside taking a leak", which is hardly an appropriate way to describe someone urinating, and what was he urinating against? "trying to kick the Deltas off campus" again is too casual. "triggers a wild food fight" sounds like something from a review, perhaps instead describe the cafeteria becoming engulfed or whatever happened. "and unwisely go to a roadhouse" their actions need describing rather than judging.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:31, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• Also with plot, although the plot has now been cut down to just over 800 words (great), I get the impression that it hasn't been paid close scrutiny - Otis Day and the Knights hasn't been wikilinked, some of the frat terminology goes right over my head, what's a Rush Week when it's at home? I'd suggest taking a long hard look at this section or getting another member of the film project to give it a proof read.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:31, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• The cast list does not follow MOS:FILM, ie "ACTOR as CHARACTER". "(the nickname suggests a sleek player)" Says who? Does it even need saying?

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "At the time, he was a big star thanks to Saturday Night Live and ended up doing the show while shooting the movie, spending Monday through Wednesday making it and then flying back to New York City to do the show on Thursday through Saturday.[3]" I'd sooner this worded more along the lines of him being committed to appear on Saturday Night Live and him spending X days at the film set and X days shooting SNL, particularly the removal of 'big star'.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "who was encouraged by younger, slightly hipper executives" that reads like it's trying to be funny, could you word that more appropriately please? Does the introduction really just hinge around the age gap or had one of these younger executives heard about the project or knew some of the cast or crew?

Fixed. The age gap is relevant so I tweaked it to say that the execs were more receptive to the Lampoon style of humor.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "It was the sad state of the house that probably made it attractive as the chapter house for a degenerate fraternity." Is a source saying that or is it just personal opinion?

Removed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "The soundtrack is a mix of rock and roll and R&B, mostly of songs that were popular around the approximate time period in which the film is set." This was brought up last time, the relevant bit would go better with the start of the original music composer's information.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "but Universal nixed it because the sequel to American Graffiti (More American Graffiti), which had a few hippie-1967 sequences, had not done well. When John Belushi died, the idea died along with him.[24]" I'm not sure 'nixed' is the best term. The 'idea' isn't a living thing so can't 'die', a little rewording please?

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• "Rick Meyerowitz, the illustrator who drew Animal House's iconic poster." is still in there, brought up during previous GAN.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm still reading through the article for now. Someoneanother 17:12, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for these suggestions. I've fixed most and will work on the others soon.--J.D. (talk) 15:24, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

• Link #27 isn't pointing to an article any more.
• There are two #16 links, needs fixing.

These seem OK. As for #27, you have to scroll down the page to 1978 and see that the film is listed.--J.D. (talk) 15:34, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

I need to go over the external links and all the wikilinks again, some wikilinks are pointing at disambiguation pages and the external links need scrutinising again. The article is now on hold, but some other things may pop up in the meantime. Someoneanother 21:22, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

That's some really nice work you're doing, when I get around to it (a little tired right now) I'll check each external and internal link. Just clicked reference #2 and it came up 'not found', but the article is still there in EW, just at a different location (thank god). It's just as well, never seen source cross-referenced 25 times before. 0.0 Someoneanother 01:27, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Phew, checked all internal and external links and they're working fine, you're practically there. There's a couple more things:

• The image issue remains, which I appreciate you already know, but I wanted to draw a line under the above and just look at what's left.

I don't have permission to edit this picture down to a much smaller size so it has been moved to the Discussion page and I can get the owner of it to resize it.--J.D. (talk) 17:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• Some of the external links are already featured in the infobox, it won't stop the article from passing but would you consider this excessive or not?

I removed the official site link but the others (IMDB, AllMovie) are listed as acceptable links under the WikiProject Films Style page so I'll leave 'em there for now.--J.D. (talk) 17:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• Refs #22 and #23 aren't in cite web format, or at least split into title and publisher, hardly a big deal but they look a little bare compared to the others.

Fixed.--J.D. (talk) 17:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

• Is there any reception information available for the soundtrack? I was looking at the 'wikiproject albums - stub' tag and thinking "hmm..". The article can pass without it, but considering how well documented the film is here it seems a shame not to have that info if it's lying around in sources on the net.

I looked and there really isn't. I did add a couple more citations as it was kinda lacking in that department.--J.D. (talk) 17:53, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

That's it. Someoneanother 16:56, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

You've approached the task with vim and been very cooperative, which is appreciated, resulting in a culturally significant film being a Good Article. Thank you and congratulations, Animal House has passed. Someoneanother 18:25, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

Animal House picture

I am moving the picture of the Delta house here until it can be properly resized. Right now it is way too large and I don't have access to edit it down in size so I'm placing it here until that can happen.--Captain Mustard (talk) 17:41, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

The front of the house set used for exterior shots, located in Universal Studios Hollywood in June 1985.

The actual house, in Eugene, Oregon, was demolished. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:36, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Animal House Games

I've been noticing some games based upon the movie. http://gifts.barnesandnoble.com/Toys-games/Animal-House-Trivia-Board-Game/e/700304004031/ Here is a link, should they be mentioned on the page? [6] --I'm Nonpartisan (talk) 03:31, 5 January 2009 (UTC)

issues with pluralism

the issues of pluralism and white male matriarchy in the film need to be addressed —Preceding unsigned comment added by Grimblorski (talk • contribs) 19:04, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

"White Male Matriarchy"? Vott Der Fick? Jon Jonasson (talk) 04:57, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

It's about the early 60s, when there was plenty of that kind of thing around. Other than the "male matriarchy" part. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 05:37, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Marmalard and Otter

When I rewrote the plot a few months ago, I wrote that Marmalard was falsely told by one of the two sorority girls (Mandy or Babs; whichever one wasn't his girlfriend, but wanted to be) that Otter was sleeping with his girlfriend. Another editor changed it, saying that Otter really did sleep with the girl. Now it's been changed back by a third editor, Sbrasel. I don't have the film in front of me; was my original description correct?

PS - Sbrasel, thanks for fixing the part about the mayor's wife and the toga party; I don't know how that error stuck around for so long. While she did crash the party in the sense neither Otter nor anyone else really expected her to come, Otter did indeed invite her at the supermarket. YLee (talk) 23:56, 17 July 2010 (UTC)

Apparently he slept with her once. When Otter tries to get back together with Mandy, she says, "Don't flatter yourself. It wasn't that great."[http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/a/animal-house-script-transcript-belushi.html] Clarityfiend (talk) 03:02, 18 July 2010 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Animal House. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20060908200137/http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041215/COMMENTARY/41215001/1023 to http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20041215/COMMENTARY/41215001/1023

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true or failed to let others know (documentation at {{Sourcecheck}}).

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 07:41, 14 October 2016 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 6 external links on Animal House. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Corrected formatting/usage for http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20041215%2FCOMMENTARY%2F41215001%2F1023
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070926212344/http://www.tv.com/co-ed-fever/show/6343/episode_listings.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs%3Bepisodes to http://www.tv.com/co-ed-fever/show/6343/episode_listings.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs%3Bepisodes
• Added {{dead link}} tag to http://www.tv.com/brothers-and-sisters-1979/show/7997/episode_listings.html?om_act=convert&om_clk=tabssh&tag=tabs%3Bepisodes
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131211055550/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/180097-David-Yazbek-Replaces-Barenaked-Ladies-as-Songwriter-of-Animal-House-Musical to http://www.playbill.com/news/article/180097-David-Yazbek-Replaces-Barenaked-Ladies-as-Songwriter-of-Animal-House-Musical
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20120701001032/http://www.playbill.com/news/article/160372-Toga-Party-on-Broadway-Animal-House-Being-Made-Into-Stage-Musical to http://playbill.com/news/article/160372-Toga-Party-on-Broadway-Animal-House-Being-Made-Into-Stage-Musical
• Added archive http://www.webcitation.org/5jSAXyBRR?url=http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/laughs100.pdf?docID=252 to http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/laughs100.pdf?docID=252
• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20110325203055/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_4_41/ai_n27484171/ to http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FCR/is_4_41/ai_n27484171/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 04:50, 30 April 2017 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Animal House. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070911212130/http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/archives/ to http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/archives/

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 06:53, 27 July 2017 (UTC)

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Animal House. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100701173433/http://www.film.com/features/story/10-best-movies-of-1978/14955431 to http://www.film.com/features/story/10-best-movies-of-1978/14955431

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 22:09, 5 December 2017 (UTC)

Clorette's Age

Where in the movie is Clorette's age stated to be 13? According to my mom, you needed to be 16 to work in a shopping center in the 1960's, so she would need to be at least 16. 173.180.92.85 (talk) 04:00, 3 April 2011 (UTC)

She specifies it herself at a later point in the film ("I'm only thirteen!") - just before being dumped outside her house in a shopping trolley. woops - it's much later than that; at the climax (no pun intended) of the toga party. a_man_alone (talk) 16:32, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

It's a joke. This small dialog demonstrates what is the problem with this whole article, GA or not. It takes itself way too seriously. This article is like watching an American comedy dubbed in a foreign language with English subtitles. You can't recognize the original for what it was.--Reedmalloy (talk) 06:04, 24 November 2011 (UTC)

"Drug use" double standard

The article mentions that the Donald Southerland character "tries to turn his students on to left-wing politics and drug use". This is inappropriate for two reasons. First, the entire film is about wanton drug use --the blatant abuse of alcohol in just about every fashion you can think of. Second, the phrase "drug use" could be interpreted incorrectly out of context. It might mean heroin or meth to someone unfamiliar with the film, while the drug in question is simply cannabis and the message completely innocent.71.112.41.87 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 03:40, 9 April 2011 (UTC).

Update. What I meant above was: simply replace the broad term "drug use" with the specific term (for what is actually seen in the film) "cannabis" or "cannabis use".71.112.41.87 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:05, 13 April 2011 (UTC).

I'm a zit

Recently someone replaced the substance Belushi spit out to start the food fight. A cream puff was the original, replaced by mashed potatoes. I had always assumed it was a scoop of cottage cheese. Debate on. Trackinfo (talk) 11:55, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure it was hard-boiled eggs. If you get real desperate to find the right answer, though, watch the movie. :) ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 11:58, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Hmmm, not eggs. Probably mashed potatoes. It's in this clip.[7] ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 12:04, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Its not in the clip you mentioned. That was Belushi eating Niedermeyer's golf ball that landed in the soup. Later in the scene is this, which I found courtesy of your link, Bugs. There are two possibilities, a round ball that seems to be on all the hamburger plates . . . why would that be mashed potatoes? The other ball that he clearly selects is cottage cheese in a bowl, with a peach next to it. He takes whatever he puts into his mouth from outside the camera shot, so we really don't know what he put in his mouth. Plus movie making single camera reality is it might have nothing to do with what was on the plate and was a prepared substance for the effect, in the shot that was taken probably as much as an hour later. Trackinfo (talk) 21:10, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Banned user
The following discussion has been closed. Please do not modify it.
WP:NOTAFORM!74.163.16.52 (talk) 20:30, 4 April 2012 (UTC) We are not using this as a forum. This is discussing the accuracy of the content of the article and edits that have been made in the article. Trackinfo (talk) 20:54, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Replace mashed potatoes with food: anything else appears to be WP:OR. Edit! Edit! Edit!Clarityfiend (talk) 21:28, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

It is in the clip, but it's toward the end, just before the food fight starts. And Clarity has a point: If it's not totally clear from the film what the food is, best to leave it unsaid. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:19, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

At about the 2 minute mark of the clip, he picks up a small bowl with a round white food in it which is garnished with a lime slice and a lettuce slice. Seems like cottage cheese. At the 3 minute mark, he picks up a round white scoop of something and puts it in his mouth and plays out the "zit" scene. The youtube is not conclusive, though, as it's a dark print. I'll have to check my DVD. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:30, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

It's a scoop of mashed potatoes. He had a couple of them, each on a paper plate also containing a burger. In fact, some of the stuff he picked up (including the cottage cheese) is not on his tray when he gets to the table. A bit of a continuity mistake. Either that, or he had eaten it already. That boy was a P-I-... well, you know. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 23:45, 4 April 2012 (UTC)

Missing music listing

There is a rock song playing when Larry/Pinto and Kent/Flounder (before they pledge) walk into the Delta house rush party. The song is not on the soundtrack, is not listed in the additional music on the Wikipedia page, is not in the end credits, and is not on IMDb. Maybe someone can shed light on it? The only lyrics I could make out were, "If you can't talk your way out of this/ You better learn how to fight." It starts playing when Bluto (Belushi) opens the door to the Delta house for the first time about six minutes into the movie, and plays through the introduction between Pinto and D-Day. Thoughts anyone? -Occulthand (talk) 11:12, 1 March 2013 (UTC)

Requested move

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved to Animal House. Callanecc (talk • contribs • logs) 09:15, 9 December 2013 (UTC)

---

National Lampoon's Animal House → Animal House – WP:UCN --Relisted. Steel1943 (talk) 06:54, 6 November 2013 (UTC) 184.5.178.60 (talk) 20:17, 26 October 2013 (UTC)

• Support, not only WP:UCN, but also WP:PRIMARYTOPIC (Animal House already redirects to this article) and recognizability, naturalness, and concision. I think it's a tie on precision and consistency. --B2C 00:29, 27 October 2013 (UTC)
• Support the shorter, unambiguous title; this is what everyone thinks of when you say "Animal House". 168.12.253.66 (talk) 18:33, 27 October 2013 (UTC)
• Oppose. Is the longer form not its usual name? I've never seen it referred to without "National Lampoon's" on the front. -- Necrothesp (talk) 13:43, 28 October 2013 (UTC)
• Support, mostly per B2C. Has anyone ever said, "Hey, let's go watch National Lampoon's Animal House"? Compare to The Butler (not Lee Daniels' The Butler) or Why Did I Get Married? (not Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married?). --BDD (talk) 18:22, 29 October 2013 (UTC)
  • Comment. Maybe this is a US vs UK thing then. In the UK the "National Lampoon" bit is almost always included (although the extension wouldn't be included in the other films you mention). Although it's rarely shown here. I don't think the series is anywhere near so popular as it seems to be in its home country. -- Necrothesp (talk) 11:51, 30 October 2013 (UTC)
• (weak) Oppose - "Animal House" is fine as a redirect. The current title is consistent with National Lampoon's Vacation and the Vacation film series, as well as National Lampoon's Van Wilder. There is a List of National Lampoon films. I don't know why other topics named "Animal House" are not as significant as the film, but we hope for one challenging topic someday. Scrapping "National Lampoon" out of the title would require other titles to scrap the same phrase out. George Ho (talk) 22:37, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Consistency is the only good argument I can see for the current name. Van Wilder is the same situation. Van Wilder already redirects there and is surely the common name for the film. But NL's Vacation isn't the primary topic for vacation, so it gets WP:NATURAL disambiguation, which would probably be preferable to Vacation (film). Consistency over preciseness, however, would give us titles like Virginia (state) or Nebraska (U.S. state) simply because Georgia and Washington need disambiguation.

Furthermore, not all National Lampoon films have that name in the title, such as Favorite Deadly Sins and Loaded Weapon 1. --BDD (talk) 22:54, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

(edit conflict)The current title is "fine" is barely an argument, much less a strong one. It doesn't even address WP:UCN. National Lampoon's Vacation requires disambiguation (in this case we chose natural disambiguation over parenthetic) because of a conflict with other uses of Vacation. Regarding National Lampoon's Van Wilder, see WP:OTHERSTUFF (this is another good candidate for a move, per WP:UCN). --B2C 22:58, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

You know that I'm sick of people using WP:AADD (essay for deletion discussions), particularly OTHERSTUFF, in requested moves, like this. Why not creating shortcuts for Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid on discussion pages and its section, so you don't have to go through trouble proving your point? Back on topic, I get your point on consistency, but what about National Lampoon's Class Reunion? Well, "Van Wilder" is less ambiguous than "Animal House", but... I don't know. None of others at Animal House (disambiguation) seems challenging. And what about National Lampoon's European Vacation and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation then? --George Ho (talk) 00:27, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

• Support move as proposed. IMDB uses this title, which is more concise, and which has a pretty authoritative source for its legitimacy. - WPGA2345 - ☛ 06:41, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
• Oppose - Sorry, Wikipedia is about accuracy. The title on the movie is National Lampoon's Animal House. Its consistent with their other movies like National Lampoon's Vacation. The redirect serves the purpose to get the general public to the article. After that, starting with the proper title, they might actually learn something . . . Trackinfo (talk) 07:53, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
• Support per WP:CONCISE: "The overriding theme of conciseness is the balancing of brevity with sufficient information to identify the topic in a way that will be recognizable to the average person actively searching for that topic." I also think that National Lampoon's Van Wilder should be moved to Van Wilder for the same reason. I find National Lampoon's Vacation sufficient because of what B2C said about disambiguation being necessary in that case and natural disambiguation being chosen over parenthetic. Erik (talk | contribs) 18:06, 6 November 2013 (UTC)
• Oppose: As far as I am aware the film's name is National Lampoon's Animal House, I'm not a fan of revisionist titles, much like how Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope should be Star Wars (1977 film). Course this is in teh UK, I don't know who Animal House was released in the USA. Darkwarriorblake (talk) 20:36, 9 November 2013 (UTC)
• Support, this is clearly the common name. "Animal House" film returns 18,700 hits on Google Books compared to 7960 for "National Lampoon's Animal House"; this suggests that more than twice as many sources eschew "National Lampoon's" as use it. this book by film scholar William Paul published by Columbia calls it "Animal House (1978; aka National Lampoon's Animal House)", and there are plenty of other high quality sources that use the shorter name.[8][9][10]--Cúchullain ^t/c 16:20, 14 November 2013 (UTC)

  To boost the case for Animal House being the common name, this is a making-of book with the title, Fat, Drunk, & Stupid: The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House. Erik (talk | contribs) 19:41, 15 November 2013 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Principal photography

The final paragraph of the Principal photography section seems poorly written in comparison to the rest of the article. It also has no citations. I'd clean it up, but I'm not sure it is even true or belongs here without references. So I'm suggesting someone who knows the topic better either provide sources or possibly remove the paragraph if it is incorrect. 68.110.104.114 (talk) 12:18, 9 May 2015 (UTC)

Assessment comment

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Animal House/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

Article requirements: Y A relatively complete infobox Y Cover art in the infobox Y A lead section giving an overview of the album At least one section of informative prose other than lead A track listing (for "start" class), containing track lengths & composers (for "B" class) A list of personnel (specific band members (for "start" class), guest musicians and technical (for "B" class) Categorisation at least by artist and year

Last edited at 09:15, 9 December 2013 (UTC). Substituted at 07:51, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Cast list details

The cast list needs to be trimmed to remove a lot of POV character details. Most of that stuff is trivial, and the details about what became of them later is just unnecessary. If there are no objections, I will do it this week. ---The Old Jacobite_{The '45} 17:08, 12 February 2017 (UTC)

yeah - its pretty crazy. Someone seems to have inserted plot sketches into each person. You could basically delete everything but the actor's name, the character he plays, and who that character is in the movie such as

Tim Matheson as Eric "Otter" Stratton, Delta's Rush Chairman.

Even that might be too much. Ckruschke (talk) 15:22, 14 February 2017 (UTC)Ckruschke

Agreed. The details about what happened to them later might be relevant, but I don't think they're necessary. ---The Old Jacobite_{The '45} 16:42, 14 February 2017 (UTC)

Precursors and legacy

I'm unsure of how this film references the Kent State shootings, which occurred nearly a decade after Animal House is set. Is it Niedermeier taking aim at Flounder during the parade? PurpleChez (talk) 17:19, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Yeah, I find that claim dubious. The linked source for that claim does not work, either. ---The Old Jacobite_{The '45} 17:43, 23 February 2017 (UTC)

Figures about Box office in infobox ??

I did not make $141.6 million at the box office. These figures are for USA only. This is Wikipedia in English, not US Wikipedia. Ezzex

We use the figures that are available to us, even if they are US-only. Do not delete the information again. ---The Old Jacobite_{The '45} 14:36, 27 June 2018 (UTC)

This is wrong. Show me when this decision was made ?--Ezzex (talk) 16:12, 27 June 2018 (UTC)

No, it is not wrong, there is a lot of precedent for it. Fell free to ask at the Film Project. ---The Old Jacobite_{The '45} 20:36, 27 June 2018 (UTC)

teen sex comedy

Yes, some of the characters would be in their teens, and the film does include brief nudity and implies some sexual encounters, but I think that beginning the article by summarizing the film as a teen sex comedy really misses the mark. PurpleChez (talk) 00:56, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

I agree. Sex comedy states it is "motivated by sexual situations and love affairs", but those aren't the primary motivators IMO. I also disagree with the teen part. Pinto and Flounder are presumably teens, but the others are older. Bluto's been there for seven years. Clarityfiend (talk) 08:50, 17 June 2020 (UTC)

Box office gross - ranking

In the last few days, there have been a couple of edits and reverts of paragraph 4 of the opening section. It currently says "making it the highest grossing comedy film of its time.[3][4]". A new citation was just added that justifies the current text. (Citation 3). Meanwhile, citation 4 (which I added a few days back) has this as the second highest grossing comedy of all time. At my request, the other editor (Bob3458) added the citation to back up their view, and indeed it does that. The two citations are in actual conflict. I believe the current text is a correct reading of citation 3 (which says it is based on variety data, although I have been unable to find a current Variety list). Meanwhile my citation refers to boxofficemojo's list, and shows Blazing Saddles (1974) as the highest rated comedy of the time. Both citations claim to be using inflation-adjusted data, so that is not the issue. My preferred text would be "one of the highest grossing comedy films of its time", which matches the boxofficemojo numbers that are online now. But the other citation also seems like a very reasonable source.

What do folks think? Can anyone find the variety data that underlies citation (3)? Or have opinions on the relative reliability of these two sources?

Martyn Lovell (talk) 03:21, 14 February 2019 (UTC)

Mention of criticism removed

I nearly reverted this edit on sight, but instead I let it go for a while and decided to get a thought or two from someone here. I think what was removed can be described as a criticism by someone who objects to the subject matter and believes the humor is in poor taste. The sourced statement does have a point, as indeed the film contains some examples that could be considered rape humor:

• Pinto's make-out session with the mayor's underage daughter (though they do not have sex, potential statutory rape, if they had)
• Otter boastfully admitting to "taking a few liberties with our female guests" to the Dean (perhaps implying date rape)
• Bluto abducting Mandy at the end, and it is immediately revealed they later become married (bride kidnapping)
• Otter posing as the fiancé of a deceased college student to get dates (borderline rape by deception)

That last one reminds me of a scene from another film of the same genre Revenge of the Nerds. It is a more blatant example of rape-by-deception. The WP article has a section devoted to the controversy surrounding the scene. It is well sourced and much better presented in my opinion. It even has quotes from the director and writer about it. It is clear in that case there is some controversy and outrage over the scene and the section is appropriate in its coverage.

So if there is controversy over the scenes in Animal House should we restore what we had and expand on it to maybe get it closer to the quality of the Revenge of the Nerds section? If there isn't enough good sources to do that, then should we leave out the mention, as it's really just a criticism of the movie and not necessarily indicative of controversy? --DB1729 (talk) 04:47, 23 May 2021 (UTC)

FWIW, I almost deleted that section when I first read it assuming it was more "cancel culture" nonsense, but after reading it I felt it was an honest article that should stay. To your narrative above, I agree with most of the points - in fact Pinto does sleep with the Mayor's daughter as the pair explains to the mayor at the end that she is pregnant so it would be considered statutory rape. However, calling Bluto driving off with Mandy is a stretch to be called Bride Kidnapping. They are shown just minutes later embracing in the car and their marriage would obviously be much later. That being said, I think the section should be restored - if for nothing else as a counterpoint to the popularity of the film - but should be in a section entitled "Criticisms" because controversy implies something that is being talked about and IMO one article does not make that. As far as expansion, I think that this shouldn't be something that is forced. Putting in a criticisms section will allow this to happen organically. Ckruschke (talk) 15:35, 28 May 2021 (UTC)Ckruschke

@Ckruschke: Thanks for the response. Points taken. Yeah, the unnecessarily detailed examples I included, based on recent limited clip viewings and vague memories of the full movie, opened myself up to errors and disagreements. I should have left those out and worded it differently.

Restoring it to a new section would be fine with me. Should it instead be titled "Later criticisms"? Should it be a subsection of Precursors and legacy, or Critical reception, or a main section on its own? --DB1729 (talk) 18:42, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

It's sourced, so why not. There's also this 2010 Vulture article, though it requires a subscription to read it. Clarityfiend (talk) 21:46, 28 May 2021 (UTC)

@DB1729: - I'm essentially good with whatever you want to do as I think we are of the same mind. Ckruschke (talk) 16:37, 30 May 2021 (UTC)

Done. --DB1729 (talk) 16:55, 30 May 2021 (UTC)