This film made John Belushi an overnight star!  

Since its release in 1978, this raunchy romp through college fraternity life in the 1960's has become a cult classic!  John Landis directs this screwball comedy and includes such up and coming stars as Karen Allen, Tim Matheson, John Vernon, Kevin Bacon, Verna Bloom and Donald Sutherland.   
 
The musical score is highlighted by Otis Day and the Knights with their show stopping performance of "Shout."

Karen Allen, John Belushi, Verna Bloom, Cesare Danova, James Daughton, Stephen Furst, Tom Hulce, Tim Matheson, Bruce McGill, Mark Metcalf, DeWayne Jessie, Peter Riegert,  John Vernon, Mary Louise Weller, James Widdoes

• 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).  Harold Ramis, who also 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.
• 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" to be filmed on the University of Oregon campus.  However, he 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.  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).
• Virtually unheard of, "Toga Parties" became all the rage in colleges all over America after the release of this film.  
• John Belushi's wife, Judy Jacklin (now Judith Belushi-Pisano), is an unaccredited extra in several toga party scenes.
• The Delta House actors were brought to the set 5 days before the Omega House actors to get into character, in an intentional effort to cause cliques to form.
• The movie concludes by describing each character's fate. Niedermeyer was "killed in Vietnam by his own troops."  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.  In director John Landis' segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), some soldiers are overheard discussing "fragging Niedermeyer."
• Director 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.
• 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.
• On Delta's fraternity banner, the motto "Ars gratia artis" can be seen. This also appears in the studio logo of MGM.  However, the original house on the University of Oregon campus used for exterior shots of the Delta house is no longer standing as it was a dilapidated house from the 1800's that was torn down in the early 90's. The interior scenes of the Delta house were filmed in a Sigma Nu fraternity. The hole Belushi makes in the wall with the guitar is the only physical damage to the house the movie-makers made during the entire shoot.
• 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.  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). Brian Doyle-Murray and Dan Aykroyd also turned down roles in the film due to prior commitments.  The role of D-Day was written for Dan Aykroyd and based on his motor loving personality.  But this movie did mark the film debut of Kevin Bacon!  So it's all good!
• Before Donald Sutherland was brought on board, John Belushi was the highest-paid actor in the cast at $40,000.  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.
• Although Faber College's location is never mentioned, the Tennessee state flag can be seen in the background in one or two scenes, such as the 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.
• It is likely the unnamed location of Faber College is Pennsylvania, as there are many references to that state in the movie. Flounder's brother is from Harrisburg; Flounder borrows his brother's car only "for a week or so" to bring his girlfriend "up for the weekend" and the car has the yellow-on-blue license plates which were the official Pennsylvania plate colors in the 1960s and '70s; many other vehicles in the movie have the same color plates; they take their road trip to Emily Dickinson College ("I hear Dickinson girls are easy.").
• 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).  Had Belushi been unable to fulfill his commitments to the film, Meat Loaf was to be his replacement.  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 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!"
• In the original script, Flounder and Sissy fell asleep during the toga party; another sign that Flounder wasn't cool.
• 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."

Mistakes:

• 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.
• When Bluto falls from the sorority house, you can see the false ground move when he impacts.
• As Bluto makes his way down the cafeteria line, the feet of a crew member following him are visible in the angled mirror above the food.
• When the "EAT ME" car hits the bleachers, you can see the rope used to pull them down, pulling the bleachers from behind and dragging them for a short time.
• When Bluto grabs the sign which tears to get him down to the street to jump in the convertible at the end, the cable holding him up is visible.
• During the probation hearing the words "Pan Hellenic Disciplinary Council" can be seen written on the chalkboard; Pan Hellenic Council is the organization that governs sororities, not fraternities, which are regulated by Inter Fraternity Council.
• During the riot toward the end when Flounder sneaks up on Neidermeyer to spray him with the bottle of seltzer, Neidermeyer shoots the bottle out of Flounder's hand. There are people running behind Flounder at the time, directly in the path of the bullet, but no one is wounded.
• When the band is marching down the alley at the end of the film, the "brick wall" that they all run into repeatedly bounces back and forth as it is touched.
• When Otter carries Mrs. Wormer to his bed, she is seen kicking off her shoes. When she kicks off the second shoe it lands on the glass table and the sound of shattering glass is heard, yet the table remains intact.
• During the parade scene, when a police car skids to a stop on a side street, in the background you can clearly see a sign on a building, "Cottage Grove Sentinel". That's the name of the newspaper in Cottage Grove, Oregon, where the scene was filmed.
• When Carmine gives his speech at the Homecoming Parade, a man sitting near him is mouthing the words with him.
• When Niedermyer is yelling at Flounder, the boom mike is reflected in his helmet.
• When Otis begins to sing the song "Shout", they zoom in on the big drum in the drum set which is red with gold letters, but during the song the drum set center is now white with green letters.
• When the exam papers being copied by the secretary, the copies are shown being cranked out with a header that says "PSYCHOLOGY 101", yet the questions are clearly for a history exam.
• When Larry and Kent are accepted to Delta House, they are awoken from bed with carbon dioxide extinguishers. The type used are aluminum cylinders which were not manufactured in 1962 and the label suggests they are Amerex extinguishers, but Amerex was founded in 1971.

Continuity Goofs:

• During the lecture on Milton, the handwriting for the word "Satan" on the chalkboard changes from scene to scene. In the classroom, Jennings writes "Satan" on the boards very sloppily. When we next see it, "Satan" is written very neatly and much smaller. The T also changes position.
• The letters on the balcony change from "DXT" to "DTX" and back again while the house is being gutted by the authorities.
• Beth's brooch moves from side to side in the Dexter Lake club.
• After Katie asks Boon about the previous night's Toga party, and she tells him she's busy that night, Otter puts his left hand on Boon's left shoulder. In the next shot, his right arm's on Boon's right shoulder.
• Position of food on Bluto's tray in cafeteria changes, then changes back (especially the bananas).
• In a long shot of the make-out scene at the football stadium, the field has artificial turf. In close-ups, it's grass (Astroturf was not invented until 1965).
• While Niedermeyer is belittling Flounder, Boon selects a club and hands the golf bag to Otter. Cuts back to the "you all are worthless and weak..." speech, Boon hands the golf bag to Otter again.
• When Pinto arrives at the Delta house and gets a beer, his grip on the mug constantly changes from using the handle or just holding the mug.
• When Boon and Otter are looking down on the ROTC group on the field, Boon takes the golf clubs off his shoulder, selects a club, cut to the field, cut back to Boon and Otter, the clubs are back on his shoulder.
• When Bluto is on the ladder at the sorority house he first appears at the window on the left. Then (without moving) he appears at the window on the right.
•  Mandy comes into room on the left and then moves to the right Bluto moves (hops) the ladder to the right.
• At the parade mayhem, Bluto slides down from the rooftop to the street, tearing up the "Welcome Alumni" banner in the process. In a later scene, the banner is whole again.
• When Otter is talking to Mrs. Wormer in the grocery store, the price signs change.
• In the parade scene the letter "A" on the SIGMA float is knocked off by a fire hydrant but it reappears in the following segment.
• When Otter is making out with the coed in the car he removes her bra, but as she dives into the neighboring car she is wearing it again.
• At the toga party, Bluto already has mustard all over his toga in the shot right before he empties the jar on himself. In the shot just before he dumps the mustard on himself, the toga is clean.
• When the mayor and Dean Wormer are discussing the costs of the parade, the mayor mentions use of his three Oldsmobiles, but the white convertible that the mayor and Dean Wormer ride up in is a Buick, a 1961 LeSabre or Electra. The second red convertible in the parade is a Cadillac. The first red convertible in the parade might be a 1961 or 1962 Olds Cutlass, but looks more like a 1962 Buick Skylark.
• During the performance of "Shout", the first wide screen of the people dancing when Otis Day sings "A little bit softer now", you can see Bluto on the left hand side of the screen. In the next wide screen shot, you can see the flowers of his dance partner (who was always next to him) on the right hand side of the screen, meaning the two jumped across the room in about 5 seconds.
• When Pinto is in bed with the girl, she passes out as she is taking her bra off. As she falls over, the toilet paper in her bra hangs over Pinto's hands. The next shot when you see Pinto, the paper is in a ball.
• When Flounder and Sissy are going in to the toga party, she takes his arm with her bare hand, but when they get to the door, she is wearing gloves.
• When Bluto chugs the bottle of whiskey, he spills some on his sweater - in the next shot, his sweater is dry.
• In the food fight scene, all of the ROTC soldiers and Greg Marmalard fall on Neidermeyer when they are chasing Bluto. You clearly see Marmalard get up off of him and continue the chase. But, the next scene, you see the soldiers and Marmalard just getting up off of Neidermeyer.
• In the ROTC scene, after Otter hit's Niedermeyer's horse with a golf ball, the horse rears on its hind legs. When Otter hits his next ball at Niedermeyer's helmet, the horse is shown in a long view perfectly still.
• When Niedermeyer closes the door on Flounder at the Omega house they show a close up of him with the stairway in the background. Two red dressed girls are coming down the stairs. A second later the stairway is empty and then the girls start down the stairs again.

Anachronisms: 

• When the Lincoln is driving away from the Dexter Lake Club, the license plates are blue and gold California plates - similar to Otter's Vette plates that came out in 1970.
• When Stratton pulls into the motel parking lot, there is a pale yellow Plymouth Volare or Dodge Aspen station wagon parked in the lot. Chrysler didn't introduce the Aspen/Volare until 1975.
• The car that Flounder borrowed from his brother is a 1964 Lincoln Sedan whose body style was not introduced in 1962.
• During the check out scene at the Food King, there is an old style pushbutton cash register in front of the teen age girl cashier, but from a different angle looking toward Boon, you can clearly see an electronic computerized NCR style cash register which would not be found in a supermarket in 1962, which is the year the movie is set in.
• Many of the parade watchers wearing late 70's hairstyles and/or clothing.
  The movie takes place in 1962, but Astroturf was not invented until 1965.
  When Katy is walking through the kitchen with her bare behind showing, she passes a refrigerator with a US Bicentennial sticker on the door. The Bicentennial wasn't until 1976.
• Stratton's Vette have what appear to be blue California plates. California did not introduce blue plates till 1970. (Best view is when they enter the first party.)
• In the homecoming parade there is a float showing President Kennedy and the word "Camelot". The use of this word dates from an interview Jackie Kennedy gave Theodore H. White days after Kennedy's assassination in which she revealed that the President listened to the music from the Broadway musical "Camelot" before he went to sleep. The movie occurs before his death and uses a word not associated with the president at that time.
• In the parade sequence near the end of the movie, there is a mid-'70s model Chevrolet pickup truck in the background.
• In the Food King scene where Flounder is catching groceries tossed by Otter, items on the shelf have UPC symbols, which were not used until 1973. Also, there is Low-Calorie Nestea on the shelf (not available in 1962), and the product prices are too high for 1962.

Trivia & Goofs above courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.