Ah, September.  Time to get back to school, to buckle down, to get serious.  Which means... it's time for Animal House trivia!
 
Animal House was conceived by three writers who attended McMaster (Ontario) University, Washington University and Dartmouth.  Originally titled "Laser Orgy Girls," it was a story about Charles Manson's high school days, until the studio requested it take place at a college.  The film was to be shot at the University of Missouri, but the school's President refused to allow it once he read the screenplay.  The script was then sent to the University of Oregon, who approved the shooting without reading it; they had previously turned down the shooting of "The Graduate" and didn't want to miss a second chance at fame. 

The studio wanted proven comedians Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray in key roles, but all were unavailable; John Belushi (who if unavailable would have been replaced by rocker Meat Loaf) was flown weekly from New York to Eugene, which together with his legendary partying gave him his ragged appearance.  None of the actors cast in the key Delta House roles were actual members of fraternities.  They were brought on set five days before their Omega House rivals, so they could bond and devise ways to pester the Omegas.  They all visited a local throwback barbershop and asked for "60's haircuts."  They attended an actual Oregon SAE frat party and were so annoying a brawl ensued; when he arrived later, Belushi had to be restrained from exacting revenge.

It was the first movie for Kevin Bacon and Karen Allen.  The only "known" actor was Donald Sutherland, who took a $70M paycheck instead of a share of the receipts, which would have earned him over $10MM.

All the actors were asked if they had special talents: "D-Day" could play classical music on his Adam's Apple and "Hoover" could juggle, both of which are in the final film.  Belushi's cafeteria performance was improvised and was recorded on the first take.  When he becomes the "exploding zit," the other actors' reaction to having potatoes shot in their faces is real.  On the other hand, Belushi had to smash 18 bottles over his head to cheer up "Flounder," because Flounder kept laughing.  The school name and mascot, "Faber Mongols," is a brand of pencil.  The opening music theme is stolen from Brahms; "Otter" whistles Prokofiev continually.  Delta's fraternity motto, "Ars gratia artis," is actually the motto of MGM; the fraternity courtroom features the Tennessee state flag.  The only scene not shot on location is the final parade, which was shot on the same back lot as Back to the Future.

The film was shot for under $3MM in 28 days.  More money was spent on promoting the film than actually producing it.  It quickly became the top-selling comedy of all time, earning about $150MM in theater receipts.  Bravo recently named it the best comedy of all time.

All of which is a reminder, if your kids are whining, "I hate school, I hate my teachers," just smile.  And quietly think to yourself, "Toga, toga, toga..."

You can read previous installments of the quick Sliver in our online archive. Just go here: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs015/1103023679528/archive/1103033975377.html