Quotes
 Flounder: You guys playing cards? Katy: Boon, I think I`m in love with a retard.
Boon: Is he bigger than me?
Otter: Let me give you a hint. She`s got a couple of major-league yabbos.
Boon: Beverly!
Otter: No. But you`re getting warmer. Here`s another: "Oh God, Oh God, OH GOD!"
Boon: Marlene! Don`t tell me you`re gonna pork Marlene Desmond!
Otter: Pork?
Boon: You`re gonna hump her brains out, aren`t you?
Otter: Boon, I anticipate a deeply religious experience.
Babs: Greg, honey, is it supposed to be this soft?
Otter: Flounder, I am appointing you pledge representative to the social committee.
Flounder: Gee Otter, thanks. What do I have to do?
Otter: It means you have to drive us to the Food King.
Bluto: Grab a brew. Don`t cost nothin`.
Otter: Mrs. Wormer, I`m so glad you could come.
Marion Wormer: Cut the crap. Give me a drink.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Greg, what is the worst fraternity on this campus?
Greg Marmalard: Well that would be hard to say, sir. They`re each outstanding in their own way.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Cut the horseshit, son. I`ve got their disciplinary files right here. Who dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the swim meet? Who delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner? Every Halloween, the trees are filled with underwear. Every spring, the toilets explode.
Greg Marmalard: You`re talking about Delta, sir.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Of course I`m talking about Delta, you TWERP!
Bluto: See if you can guess what I am now.
[puts cottage cheese ball in his mouth and hits his cheeks with his fists and spits it out]
Bluto: I`m a zit. Get it?
Hoover: We`re in trouble. I just checked with the guys at the Jewish house and they said that every one of our answers on the Psych test was wrong.
Boon: Every one?
[looks at Bluto and D-Day]
Boon: Those assholes must have stolen the wrong fucking exam!
Dean Vernon Wormer: The time has come for someone to put his foot down. And that foot is me.
[Clorette has just passed out]
Larry`s evil conscience: Fuck her. Fuck her brains out. Suck her tits, squeeze her buns. You know she wants it.
Larry`s good conscience: For shame! Lawrence, I`m surprised at you!
Larry`s evil conscience: Aw, don`t listen to that jack-off. Look at those gazongas. You`ll never get a better chance.
Larry`s good conscience: If you lay one finger on that poor sweet helpless girl, you`ll despise yourself forever... I`m proud of you, Lawrence.
Larry`s evil conscience: You homo.
Bluto: They took the bar! The whole fucking bar!
Dean Vernon Wormer: Mr. Kroger: two C`s, two D`s and an F. That`s a 1.2. Congratulations, Kroger. You`re at the top of the Delta pledge class. Mr. Dorfman?
Flounder: Hello!
Dean Vernon Wormer: Zero point two... Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Mr. Hoover, president of Delta house? One point six; four C`s and an F. A fine example you set! Daniel Simpson Day... HAS no grade point average. All courses incomplete. Mr. Blu - MR. BLUTARSKY... ZERO POINT ZERO.
Meaner dude: If I was in your shoes, I`d be...
Boon: Leaving! What a good idea.
D-Day: War`s over, man. Wormer dropped the big one.
Bluto: Over? Did you say "over"? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Hell no!
Otter: Germans?
Boon: Forget it, he`s rolling.
Bluto: And it ain`t over now. `Cause when the goin` gets tough...
[thinks hard]
Bluto: the tough get goin`! Who`s with me? Let`s go!
[runs out, alone; then returns]
Bluto: What the fuck happened to the Delta I used to know? Where`s the spirit? Where`s the guts, huh? This could be the greatest night of our lives, but you`re gonna let it be the worst. "Ooh, we`re afraid to go with you Bluto, we might get in trouble." Well just kiss my ass from now on! Not me! I`m not gonna take this. Wormer, he`s a dead man! Marmalard, dead! Niedermeyer...
Otter: Dead! Bluto`s right. Psychotic, but absolutely right. We gotta take these bastards. Now we could do it with conventional weapons that could take years and cost millions of lives. No, I think we have to go all out. I think that this situation absolutely requires a really futile and stupid gesture be done on somebody`s part.
Bluto: We`re just the guys to do it.
D-Day: Let`s do it.
Bluto: *Let’s do it*!
Flounder: May I have ten thousand marbles, please?
[the Deltas have been expelled]
Bluto: Christ. Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well join the fucking Peace Corps.
[None of his literature students are paying attention]
Jennings: Don`t write this down, but I find Milton probably as boring as you find Milton. Mrs. Milton found him boring too. He`s a little bit long-winded, he doesn`t translate very well into our generation, and his jokes are terrible.
[Bell rings, students rise to leave]
Jennings: But that doesn`t relieve you of your responsibility for this material. Now I`m waiting for reports from some of you... Listen, I`m not joking. This is my job!
[Handed his first joint]
Pinto: I won`t go schizo, will I?
Jennings: It`s a distinct possibility.
[after Delta house is closed]
Doug Neidermeyer: How does it feel to be an independent, Schoenstein?
Boon: How does it feel to be an asshole, Neidermeyer?
[Flounder has just fired a blank cartridge near Neidermeyer`s horse, and the horse has dropped dead]
Bluto: Holy shit!
D-Day: There were blanks in that gun!
Flounder: I didn`t even point the gun at him!
Bluto: Holy shit!
[D-Day checks the gun]
D-Day: There WERE blanks in that gun!
Flounder: Maybe he had a heart attack.
Bluto: Holy shit!
Flounder: I can`t believe I threw up in front of Dean Wormer.
Boon: Face it, Kent. You threw up *on* Dean Wormer.
Hoover: They confiscated everything, even the stuff we didn`t steal!
Pinto: I was thinking, maybe we could get some beer.
Clorette De Pasto: Nah, not tonight. Besides, you might get lucky without it.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Well, well, well. Looks like somebody forgot there`s a rule against alcoholic beverages in fraternities on probation!
Otter: What a tool.
Dean Vernon Wormer: I didn`t get that, son, what was that?
Otter: Uh, I said, "What a shame that a few bad apples have to spoil a good time for everyone by breaking the rules."
Dean Vernon Wormer: Put a sock in it, boy, or else you`ll be outta here like shit through a goose.
Clorette De Pasto: Dad! Mom, Dad, this is Larry Kroger. The boy who molested me last month. We have to get married.
Otter: Point of parliamentary procedure!
Hoover: Don`t screw around, they`re serious this time!
Otter: Take it easy, I`m pre-law.
Boon: I thought you were pre-med.
Otter: What`s the difference?
[Addressing the room]
Otter: Ladies and gentlemen, I`ll be brief. The issue here is not whether we broke a few rules, or took a few liberties with our female party guests - we did.
[winks at Dean Wormer]
Otter: But you can`t hold a whole fraternity responsible for the behavior of a few, sick twisted individuals. For if you do, then shouldn`t we blame the whole fraternity system? And if the whole fraternity system is guilty, then isn`t this an indictment of our educational institutions in general? I put it to you, Greg - isn`t this an indictment of our entire American society? Well, you can do whatever you want to us, but we`re not going to sit here and listen to you badmouth the United States of America. Gentlemen!
[Leads the Deltas out of the hearing, all humming the Star-Spangled Banner]
Otter: Mandy, Mandy Pepperidge. I haven`t seen you since we...
Mandy Pepperidge: Go away!
Otter: I`m sorry, I can only stay a minute. Can I buy you some lunch? Oh, you got your lunch. Well, how about some milk? Got your milk too. Can I just massage your thighs while you eat?
Mandy Pepperidge: Do I have to leave?
Otter: Is this any way to treat an intimate friend?
Boon: I want you to fix Pinto up, but it`s got to be a very special girl.
Pinto: Look, you don`t have to...
Boon: Now, she should be good-looking, but we`re willing to trade looks for a certain... morally casual attitude.
Katy: You mean you want someone he can screw on the first date.
Boon: Well put. You see, Pinto`s never been laid.
Pinto: Hey!
Boon: What`d I say?
Boon: Where are you going? We just got here.
Katy: No, Boon, you just got here. I`ve been downstairs for an hour entertaining some kid from Pig`s Knuckle, Arkansas.
Boon: Umm - maybe we could drive up to your folks` place this weekend.
Katy: Oh, fabulous. My car filled with your beer buddies going up to empty my parents` liquor cabinet. It`s too depressing to think about.
Boon: No! Just gonna be you and me. And Otter and another girl.
Katy: Is this really what you`re gonna do for the rest of your life?
Boon: What do you mean?
Katy: I mean hanging around with a bunch of animals getting drunk every weekend.
Boon: No! After I graduate, I`m gonna get drunk every night.
Boon: It`s not gonna be an orgy! It`s a toga party.
Katy: Honestly, Boon, you`re twenty-one years old. In six months you`re going to graduate, and tomorrow night you`re going to wrap yourself in a bed sheet and pour grain alcohol all over your head. It`s cute, but I think I`ll pass this time.
Boon: Want me to go alone?
Katy: Baby, I don`t want you to go at all.
Boon: It`s a *fraternity* party, I`m in the fraternity. How can I miss it?
Katy: I`ll write you a note. I`ll say you`re too well to attend.
Bluto: TOGA! TOGA!
D-Day: Hey, quit your blubberin`. When I get through with this baby you won`t even recognize it.
Otter: Flounder, you can`t spend your whole life worrying about your mistakes! You fucked up - you trusted us! Hey, make the best of it! Maybe we can help.
Flounder: [crying] That`s easy for you to say! What am I going to tell Fred?
Otter: I`ll tell you what. We`ll tell Fred you were doing a great job taking care of his car, but you parked it out back last night and in the morning, it was gone. We report it to the police, your brother`s insurance company buys him a new car. D-Day takes care of the wreck.
Flounder: Will that work?
Otter: Hey, it`s gotta work better than the truth.
Bluto: [thrusting six-pack into Flounder`s hands] My advice to you is to start drinking heavily.
Otter: Better listen to him, Flounder, he`s in pre-med.
D-Day: [firing up blow-torch] There you go now, just leave everything to me.
Hoover: Kent is a legacy, Otter. His brother was a `59, Fred Dorfman.
Flounder: He said legacies usually get asked to pledge automatically.
Otter: Oh, well, usually. Unless the pledge in question turns out to be a real closet-case.
Otter, Boon: Like Fred.
D-Day: We have an old saying in Delta House: don`t get mad, get even.
Jennings: Teaching is just a way to pay the bills until I finish my novel.
Boon: How long you been workin` on it?
Jennings: Four and a half years.
Pinto: It must be very good.
Jennings: It`s a piece of shit. Would anyone like to smoke some pot?
Neidermeyer: You`re all worthless and weak! Now drop and give me twenty!
Mayor Carmine De Pasto: If you want this year`s homecoming parade in my town, you have to pay for it.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Carmine, I don`t think it`s right that you should extort money from the college.
Mayor Carmine De Pasto: Look, these parades you throw are very expensive. You using my police, my sanitation people, and my Oldsmobiles free of charge. So, if you mention extortion again, I`ll have your legs broken.
Chip: [being spanked as part of Omega`s initiation] Thank you, sir! May I have another?
Marion Wormer: You can take your thumb out of my ass any time now, Carmine.
Dean Vernon Wormer: Put Neidermeyer on it. He`s a sneaky little shit just like you.
Hoover: Will you tell those assholes to shut up?
Boon: Hey! Shut up you assholes!
Babs: [Meeting Larry and Kent for the first time] A wimp and a blimp!
Dean Vernon Wormer: I hate those guys.
D-Day: Ramming speed!
[Dean Wormer`s plotting to get rid of Delta House]
Greg Marmalard: But Delta`s already on probation.
Dean Vernon Wormer: They are? Well, as of this moment, they`re on DOUBLE SECRET PROBATION!
Otter: Ah, she broke our date.
Boon: Washing her hair?
Otter: Dead mother.
[at the Dexter Lake Club, a Negroes-only bar, with Otis Day and the Knights playing Shama Lama Ding Dong]
Pinto: What are you majoring in?
Brunella: Primitive cultures.
Bluto: Food fight!
[Otter and Mrs. Wormer are in the supermarket vegetable section]
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Mine`s bigger.
[Marion looks questioningly at him]
Eric `Otter` Stratton: My cucumber. It`s bigger. I think vegetables can be very sensuous, don`t you?
Marion Wormer: No, vegetables are sensual. People are sensuous.
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Right. Sensual. That`s what I meant. My name`s Eric Stratton. People call me Otter.
Marion Wormer: My name`s Marion. People call me Mrs. Wormer.
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Oh, we have a Dean Wormer at Faber.
Marion Wormer: How interesting. I have a husband named Dean Wormer at Faber. Still want to show me your cucumber?
Eric `Otter` Stratton: You guys up for a toga party?
John `Bluto` Blutarsky: Toga! Toga!
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Ah, I think they like the idea, Hoov.
Greg Marmalard: Come outta there, you bastards!
Eric `Otter` Stratton: [in falsetto] Who is it?
Greg Marmalard: You know damn well who it is.
Eric `Otter` Stratton: I`m sorry. You`ll have to come back later. I`m doing the dishes.
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Greg, look at my thumb.
[Gregg looks at Otter`s thumb. Otter punches Gregg in the face]
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Gee, you`re dumb.
Doug Neidermeyer: And most recently of all, a "Roman Toga Party" was held from which we have received more than two dozen reports of individual acts of perversion SO profound and disgusting that decorum prohibits listing them here.
Charming guy with guitar: I gave my love a cherry / That had no stone / I gave my love a chicken / That had no bones / I gave my love a story / That had no end / I gave my...
Bluto: [grabs the guitar and smashes it against the wall] Sorry.
Mean dude: Do you mind if we dance with your dates?
Babs: That boy is a P-I-G pig.
Bluto: [after chugging a whole bottle of Jack without a pause for air] Thanks. I needed that.
[chucks the bottle behind him, which shatters on the hood of the car behind him]
Eric `Otter` Stratton: Sophomore dies in kiln explosion? Oh My God! I just talked to her last week... She was going to make a pot for me.
Dean Vernon Wormer: [after seeing Bluto pops out of a car in a pirate costume]
Dean Vernon Wormer: Oh my God.
Boon: I gotta work on my game.
Otter: No, no, no, don`t think of it as work. The whole point is just to enjoy yourself.
Dean Vernon Wormer: [about Delta`s grade point average] IT STINKS! It`s the lowest on campus. It`s the lowest in Faber history!
Pinto: Before we go any further, there`s something I have to tell you. I lied to you. I`ve never done this before.
Clorette De Pasto: You`ve never made out with a girl before?
Pinto: No. No, I mean, I`ve never done what I think we`re gonna do in a minute. I sort of did once, but i was drunk...
Clorette De Pasto: That`s okay, Larry. Neither have I. And besides, I lied to you, too.
Pinto: Oh, yeah? What about?
Clorette De Pasto: I`m only 13.
Bluto: Kroger, your Delta Tau Chi name is Pinto.
Pinto: Why "Pinto"?
Bluto: [belches] Why not?
Mandy Pepperidge: [Bluto has joined Mandy, Otter, Greg, Chip and Babs at their lunch table and is consuming his food with somewhat sloppy gusto] Greg, can`t you...
Otter: No, it`s okay, just keep your hands and feet away from his mouth.
Hoover: Hey are you guys coming down?
[Boon and Otter look at Hoover]
Hoover: There happen to be 50 people downstairs waiting to try and get into this fraternity. Otter, you are the rush chairman. I think you should be present at the rush party.
Otter: [as Boon, Otter, Flounder, Pinto and their dates enter the Negro bar, the music and dancing pauses and all the patrons turn to look at them] We... are gonna die.
Pinto: Boon, we`re the only white people here.
[the music and dancing resumes]
Boon: [Niedermyer is abusing Flounder in ROTC] Vicious mother, isn`t he?
Otter: He can`t do that to our pledges!
Boon: Only we can do that to our pledges.
Boon: [At the bar in the Negro roadhouse, Boon turns to face the band] Otis, my man!
[Otis pauses singing for a second and peers incredulously at Boon]
Flounder: What is my Delta Tau Chi name?
Bluto: Dorfman, I`ve thought long and hard about this. Your Delta Tau Chi name is... Flounder.
Flounder: Flounder?
Trivia
Co-writer Chris Miller based the National Lampoon short stories that gave rise to the film on his experiences in the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity at Dartmouth (from which he graduated in 1962).
The movie was set to be filmed at the University of Missouri until the president of the school read the script and refused permission. It was filmed at and around the University of Oregon in Eugene instead.
The President of the University of Oregon only allowed this movie to be filmed on that campus because he decided he did not know how to read screenplays. In 1967 he had received the screenplay for a movie but had denied it permission to film there. That movie was The Graduate (1967) and he liked that movie so much that he decided he didn`t want to miss another opportunity, so he allowed Animal House (1978) to be filmed on the University of Oregon campus. But he insisted that the college`s name not be listed in the film`s credits.
The movie concludes by describing each character`s fate. Niedermeyer was "killed in Vietnam by his own troops." In director John Landis` segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), some soldiers are overheard discussing "fragging Niedermeyer."
The bass player in the band Otis Day and the Knights is then-unknown bluesman Robert Cray. Cray was instrumental in getting the musicians together that appeared as the band.
Babs becomes a tour guide at Universal Studios. The credits for this and other John Landis films contain an advertisement for a tour at Universal Studios. The ad says, "Ask for Babs." As of 1989, Universal Studios no longer honors the "Ask for Babs" promotion, which was either a discount or a free entry.
Before Donald Sutherland was brought on board, John Belushi was the highest-paid actor in the cast at $40,000.
On Delta`s fraternity banner, the motto "Ars gratia artis" can be seen. This also appears in the studio logo of MGM.
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# Virtually unheard of, "Toga Parties" became all the rage in colleges all over America after the release of this film.
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# Donald Sutherland was so convinced of the movie`s lack of potential, that, when offered a percent of the gross or an upfront payment of $40,000, he took the upfront payment. Had he taken the gross percentage he would have been worth an additional $30-40 million.
John Belushi`s wife, Judy Jacklin (now Judith Belushi-Pisano), is an uncredited extra in several toga party scenes.
The original house on the University of Oregon campus used for exterior shots of the Delta house is no longer standing.
The interior scenes of the Delta house were filmed in a Sigma Nu fraternity. The exterior of the Delta house was a dilapidated house from the 1800`s that was torn down in the early 90`s. The sorority house`s exterior is the real exterior of the Sigma Nu house that was used for the interior scenes.
John Landis had a budget of only $2.5 million, so to cut costs the movie was shot almost entirely on the U of O campus, including the court scene and scenes in the dean`s office (the exceptions being the road trip and the parade, which were filmed near Cottage Grove, Oregon).
Chevy Chase, Bill Murray, Brian Doyle-Murray, and Dan Aykroyd all turned down roles in the film due to prior commitments.
The University of Oregon reluctantly allowed its campus to be used and gave the crew 30 days to complete filming. This meant that the cast and crew faced six-day work weeks and completed shooting with only two days to spare.
Although the film takes place in Pennsylvania, a Tennessee flag is shown in the courtroom. This is because the set decorator was unable to find a large enough Pennsylvania flag for the scene, and the blue Oregon state flag wouldn`t work because it had "State of Oregon" text on the upper part. So the set decorator used the most generic flag he could find, which turned out to be the Tennessee state flag.
Director John Landis has stated that his original choices for the roles of Boon and Otter were Bill Murray and Chevy Chase. Neither could be signed on for the movie because of scheduling conflicts.
Film debut of Kevin Bacon.
John Belushi was flying between Eugene, Oregon and New York City twice a week in order to finish the movie, and rehearse/film for "Saturday Night Live" (1975).
The role of D-Day was written for Dan Aykroyd and based on his motor loving personality.
Principal photography was completed in 28 days.
John Belushi wanted his character to go with the others on the road trip but director John Landis refused, arguing that his character was best used sparingly.
One bit that was written in the original script but never filmed included a parade bust that was destroyed at the climax of film. The bust was of John F. Kennedy, the US President in 1962, and the gag was Kennedy`s head was punctured in the same way the real Kennedy would be shot the next year. Landis cut the idea because he felt the tone of the gag was wrong.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of this film, a parade was held down Hollywood Blvd. featuring not only cast and crew members, but recreations of parade floats used in the movie.
The Faber College football team is called the Mongols. Faber Mongols are a brand of pencil.
The full name of the Delta House changes during the movie. When the movers are taking out the contents of the frat house the name is Delta Tau Chi. Earlier in the movie it is Delta Chi Tau.
The noble brass theme heard when the Faber campus is first shown is an excerpt from Johannes Brahms` "Academic Festival Overture". This melody is based on a German student drinking song called "We have built a stately house".
In the Student Court scene, a list of Delta Tau Chi members is written on the blackboard. Writer Chris Miller`s name is one of those visible on the list. Other names include "Dick Hertz" and "Duane Wayne".
The list of names on the blackboard includes their graduation year (e.g., "Gregg Marmalard `63"). John Blutarsky`s is listed "`60, `61, `62, `63".
Chevy Chase was originally asked to play the role of Eric Stratton. The role went to Tim Matheson instead, who later starred with Chase in Fletch (1985).
The original script called for Flounder (Stephen Furst) to be admitted to the fraternity only if he told one of Larry Kroger`s (Tom Hulce) secrets. Flounder blurted out, "He`s got spots on his weenie!" Later, during the naming of the pledges, when Larry asks why his Delta name is Pinto, the entire fraternity drunkenly yells, "`Cause you got a spotted dong!"
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# The front of the Deathmobile has the statue`s head of Emil Faber (the school`s founder) mounted as a hood ornament.
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# In the original script, Flounder and Sissy fell asleep during the toga party; another sign that Flounder wasn`t cool.
Verna Bloom mentioned that her scene with Dean Wormer where she is drunk and he is on the phone with the mayor, was completely improvised as John Landis was not happy with the lines the scene had.
Meat Loaf was the second choice for Bluto in case John Belushi dropped out of his role.
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# To get the role of Neidermeyer, Mark Metcalf lied about his ability to ride horses. After he got the role, he immediately took equestrian classes.
The toga party band`s real name is Carl Holmes and The Commanders
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# John Landis sacrificed his heavy beard and much of his hair to appear in the film as a cafeteria dishwasher who catches Bluto mooching and tries, unsuccessfully, to stop him. The scene was filmed, but despite his personal sacrifices, Landis eventually also sacrificed the scene.
The original script called for a scene of competitive projectile vomiting ("booting") in the Delta House basement. Flounder was going to fail at this repeatedly. Later, after throwing up on Dean Wormer when he`s told he`s flunked out, Boon congratulates Flounder on his technique.
Stacy Grooman, Flounder`s girlfriend Sissy, was actually a student at the University of Oregon at the time the movie was filmed.
Named the #1 comedy on Bravo`s "Funniest 100 Comedies."
The movie`s line "Toga! Toga!" was voted as the #82 movie quote by the American Film Institute (out of 100).
Premiere voted this movie as one of "The 50 Greatest Comedies Of All Time" in 2006.
Niedermeyer`s line "You`re all worthless and weak, now drop and give me twenty!" was used in the Twisted Sister song "We`re Not Gonna Take It" (Mark Metcalf appears in the video). Furthermore, the music video for Twisted Sister`s “I Wanna Rock” features a high school student, clearly based on Flounder, being ridiculed by a teacher (Mark Metcalf again). At the video`s conclusion, the principal (played by Stephen Furst) sprays Metcalf in the face with seltzer water.
The characters of Stork and Hardbar were created to give Doug Kenney and Chris Miller a reason to be on set, and had come from different portions of a deleted character named Mountain. Hardbar was named after a real frat brother of Miller`s who masturbated excessively.
Karen Allen`s first movie.
More money was spent on advertising and promotion for the film than the film itself.
The Delta House actors were brought to the set five days before the Omega House actors to get into character, in an intentional effort to cause cliques to form. Barry Levinson would use this tactic years later with the principal cast of Diner (1982).
The hole John Belushi makes in the wall with the guitar is the only physical damage to the house the movie-makers made during the entire shoot. Instead of repairing it, the fraternity placed a frame around the hole with an engraved brass tag around the hole commemorating it.
Jack Webb and Kim Novak were the original choices to play the roles of Dean and Mrs. Wormer
`Harold Ramis (I)`, who co-wrote the film, based some of the pranks on his college experiences at Washington University in St. Louis, specifically when Otter and Boone are hitting golf balls at the ROTC.
# Spawned a short-lived ABC television series, "Delta House" (1979); also "Brothers and Sisters" (1979) on NBC and "Co-ed Fever" (1979) on CBS, which was canceled after only one episode.
The tune that Otter whistles throughout the movie is the main theme ("Peter`s Theme") from Sergei Prokofiev`s "Peter and the Wolf".
The dead coed is named Fawn Leibowitz. Fawn was a character used in ‘National Lampoon`s 1964 High School Yearbook’.
Professor Jennings bites an apple while lecturing about good and evil in John Milton`s "Paradise Lost". This is a deliberate gag reference to Eve`s eating fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, a key event in "Paradise Lost" (and referenced too perhaps by the statue pedestal motto seen in the opening titles: "Knowledge is Good"). Jennings` students miss the gag - as seems most Animal House (1978) viewers.
During interviews conducted for the 30th anniversary of this film, Karen Allen revealed some interesting trivia about her nude scene. Director John Landis wanted her to bare her bottom in the film and she was very reluctant to do so. Donald Sutherland stepped in and offered to bare his as well. Allen said "I thought he was so sweet to do that, so I sort of let go of my objections and said, `Okay, if Donald Sutherland is going to bare his bottom, by golly, I`ll bare mine too!`"
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# Harold Ramis wrote the part of Boon for himself to play, but John Landis felt Ramis was too old. Ramis was so disappointed he refused to accept a smaller part Landis offered him. (Ramis was 32, Peter Riegert was 29.)
Mark Metcalf originally auditioned for the part of Otter.
Producer Matty Simmons, founder of the National Lampoon, contributed one line to the script: Bluto`s "Seven years of college down the drain!"
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# A scene featuring Otter driving a girl (played by location scout Katherine Wilson) to the Rainbow Motel on Old Mill Road is seen briefly in the original trailer but was deleted from the film.
The actors who played the Deltas harassed the actors who played the Omegas off-screen as well to keep up the feelings of animosity between their characters. Mark Metcalf changed his hotel room to the one above Bruce McGill`s where the Delta actors partied every night so his anger at their noise would help him get into character.
To prepare for their roles, the actors playing the Deltas went to a real frat party at the University of Oregon`s SAE house (except Belushi who was working on "SNL" that night). The real fraternity members did not like the actors being there and a brawl ensued. When John Belushi returned to the set and heard about the fight, he had to be physically restrained from seeking revenge.
Chris Miller based the character of Pinto on himself. Dean Wormer was based on Richard Nixon and Miller`s Dean at Dartmouth.
After the first day`s shooting of the homecoming parade, there was a heavy rain that night. The next day, the production crew rented a field-burning tractor that shot flames across the width of the street to dry it.
All of John Belushi`s behavior in the cafeteria was improvised. He was not told to pile all the food on his tray and when he did the director urged the camera operator to "stay with him." The infamous "zit scene" was also improvised. The reaction from the cast is genuine.
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# Originally, Harold Ramis and Doug Kenney`s idea was titled "Laser Orgy Girls", a comedy about Charles Manson as a high school student. Producer Matty Simmons suggested that the setting be changed to college and the content to be toned down. Ramis also incorporated ideas from an earlier treatment he wrote titled "Freshman Year" based on his experiences in college.
Ivan Reitman wanted to direct but the studio wanted a more experienced director. Richard Lester and Bob Rafelson were approached before Landis was hired.
The scene in which Bluto smashes a bottle over his head to cheer Flounder up took 18 takes because Furst kept laughing.
The Delta actors partied together every night but John Landis kept John Belushi away from them by having him stay in a house miles away with his wife, Judy. Belushi was a notorious partier and Landis wanted him to stay clean throughout the shoot. Belushi did host a few parties at the house but stayed clean because he saw the film as a great opportunity for him.
According to actor James Widdoes ("Hoover"), none of the seven principal Delta actors (John Belushi, Tim Matheson, Peter Riegert, Tom Hulce, Stephen Furst, Bruce McGill, or Widdoes himself) had ever belonged to a college fraternity.
# In the final climax of interrupting the parade, this whole sequence was brought to the Universal back lot. At the time this section of the back lot had been used several times over. However, the section of road the parade ends up at is the same section that Robert Zemeckis used for the clock tower sequence in _Back To The Future (1985)_. Every angle of this street is used, but never once do you see the front of the clock tower set. The only time you do see the tower is from the back end.
Niedermayer`s horse, Trooper, was portrayed by Junior, who subsequently appeared in The Black Stallion (1979) as the horse Napoleon.
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Karen Allen
(as Katy)
with Peter Riegert
(as Donald 'Boon' Schoenstein)
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