Bronze Age Babies: Discuss: Animal House

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Discuss: Animal House

12 comments:

Edo Bosnar said...: I admit I still like this movie, despite the fact that some of the humor in it can be quite juvenile at times. Last time I watched it again was about 2 years ago, and I laughed through most of it. I still guffaw at the scene when Belushi smashes up the guitar of that guy singing that atrocious love song.
However, one negative consequence of the movie was the boost it gave to fratboy 'culture' in the U.S., even though I think it was intended to rather mercilessly skewer the Greek system at American universities.; July 12, 2012 at 8:46 AM
dbutler16 said...: I happened to watch this for the first time since college, probably about a year ago. Unfortunately, it did not age well for me. Maybe I'm just getting old, but I did find the humor too juvenile, and just not all that funny. Sorry, folks. I know it's probably a blaspheme.; July 12, 2012 at 8:58 AM
vancouver mark said...: Honestly, I didn't even like it at the time.
"Blues Brothers," on the other hand, was a great movie.; July 12, 2012 at 9:06 AM
david_b said...: I still enjoy 'Animal House' for several reasons..

The concept was fresh at the time, although I know some aspects haven't aged well. Remember, this was THE FIRST comedic film of it's genre, using nearly all fresh faces, using proper classical type music, rather than 'comedic incidental music'.. It made future movies like Meatballs, Blues Brothers, Caddyshack (and a lot of terrible 80s movies..) attractive to studios. It found an untapped niche.

It's also fun to see some really good actors who are still around today when they were still in their 20s. This was Tim Matheson's first big role, since the Lucy Ball/Henry Fonda movie in '68. Geez, wasn't Karen Allen young..? Hulce of course went on to do Amadeus, etc.. Also kept Otis’s band in business around campuses for many decades.

I was part of the frat biz in college finishing my business degree, but being primarily a 'commuter school', you didn't see a lot of 'frat houses' around.

I especially enjoy the E! Channel retrospects and other extras on the DVD delving into all the backstory of making the film, which was quite interesting, perhaps more so than the movie itself at times.. The approval for the film took several painful months, the studios were turning down Landis left and right, until finally Donald Sutherland decided to come in as the only 'big star'.. Belushi was 'a name' from SNL, but definitely not considered 'bankable' as of yet. Behind the scenes, the Delta actors actually went to a bar before filming and getting the **crap** kicked out of 'em in real life. Too funny. During the filming schedule, they actually kept the Delta actors away from the stuffy frat guys, to help generate ill-feelings on the set. Very effective. There was a fair amount of adlibbing as well from the cast, which was how loose the project was with Landis at the helm.

As for the movie itself, of course it was a low-brow outing. That was its intention. The only aspect of it I don't think much of is the language. I actually enjoyed the 'television' version of it, with the words beeped out. I'm just not a fan of vulgarity. Period. So even in this seemingly tame film, it still doesn't add much to the humor for me.

I consider it one of the more influential films of our generation, and still a darn funny one. C'mon, seeing Bluto's speech here, and him slipping/falling when they smuggled the dead horse into the Dean’s office...?? It's pure magic.; July 12, 2012 at 11:06 AM
Doug said...: Thanks, David!

I don't mind my humor in a sophomoric vein. I didn't realize our crowd was so stodgy! :) ...and I say that affectionately and totally good-naturedly.

Doug; July 12, 2012 at 8:54 PM
Karen said...: I can watch this movie anytime. Still makes me laugh. And I love seeing Belushi in his prime.; July 12, 2012 at 10:56 PM
humanbelly said...: I took a date (first date w/ this girl, in fact) to see it in high school. . . but somehow I had in my head that it was a film version of Orwell's "Animal Farm", and was completely unprepared for the film that we actually saw. . .

I was a bit of a goober, to say the least. . .

HB; July 13, 2012 at 6:04 AM
Edo Bosnar said...: Gosh, I hope I'm not encompassed by Doug's 'stodgy' description because I characterized the humor as (at times) juvenile. Lest anyone think I'm one of those effete types who likes movies with subtitles, I'll just say that I also love "Kentucky Fried Movie" and it's 'sequel,' "Amazon Women on the Moon," and the Airplane movies (any time my wife and I watch those, we joke about our 'drinking problem' for the next few days - stopping just short of splashing beverages over ourselves).
Karen, re: Belushi in his prime - sadly, he never really did get the opportunity to pass his prime, did he? But I know what you mean, I like pretty much every one of his movies, including the less well known "Continental Divide" and the universally panned "1941."; July 13, 2012 at 6:57 AM
Doug said...: Edo and all --

My comment was delivered with all the love and adoration due the BAB community. We love the sense of debate and at times playfulness. No hard feelings taken nor intended at all.

Best,

Doug; July 13, 2012 at 8:16 AM
Edo Bosnar said...: Doug, if it didn't come out (maybe I should have used some kind of emoticon), my 'heated' response was written with tongue placed firmly in cheek...; July 13, 2012 at 9:21 AM
Doug said...: We're all good -- no worries at all.

Doug; July 13, 2012 at 9:25 AM
humanbelly said...: Might I toss in that "1941" has one of the BEST MOVIE OVERTURE/MARCHES EVER!!!! I'm pretty much a John Williams fan, regardless, but that's simply one of his best compositional romps, and naturally it's all-but-unknown because of the failure of the film (which I, too, thought was a hoot when I saw it in the theater a million years ago... I may have enjoyed it more than Animal House, in fact. . . )

HB; July 13, 2012 at 12:05 PM

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