Editing Animal House (section)

==Production==
===Development===
''Animal House'' was the first film produced by ''[[National Lampoon (magazine)|National Lampoon]]'', the most popular humor magazine on college campuses in the mid-1970s.<ref name="Peterson">{{cite news | last = Peterson | first = Molly | title = ''National Lampoon's Animal House'' | work = [[National Public Radio]] | date = July 29, 2002 | url = https://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/animalhouse/ | access-date = February 1, 2010 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100128032723/http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/animalhouse/ | archive-date = January 28, 2010 | url-status = dead | df = mdy-all }}</ref> The periodical specialized in satirizing politics and popular culture. Many of the magazine's writers were recent college graduates, hence its appeal to students all over the country. [[Doug Kenney]] was a ''Lampoon'' writer and the magazine's first editor-in-chief. He graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1969 and had a college experience closer to the Omegas in the film (he had been president of the university's elite [[Spee Club (Harvard)|Spee Club]]).<ref name="Peterson"/> Kenney was responsible for the first appearances of three characters that appeared in the film: Larry Kroger, Mandy Pepperidge, and Vernon Wormer. They made their debut in 1973's ''[[National Lampoon 1964 High School Yearbook Parody|National Lampoon's High School Yearbook]]'', a satire of a Middle America 1964 high school yearbook. Kroger's and Pepperidge's characters in the yearbook were effectively the same as their characters in the movie, whereas Vernon Wormer was a P.E. and civics teacher as well as an athletic coach in the yearbook.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

However, Kenney felt that fellow ''Lampoon'' writer [[Chris Miller (writer)|Chris Miller]] was the magazine's expert on the college experience.<ref name="Peterson"/> Faced with an impending deadline, Miller submitted a chapter from his then-abandoned memoirs entitled ''The Night of the Seven Fires'' about pledging experiences from his fraternity days in Alpha Delta (associated with the national [[Alpha Delta Phi]] during Miller's undergraduate years; the fraternity subsequently disassociated itself from the national organization and is now called Alpha Delta) at [[Dartmouth College]], in [[Hanover, New Hampshire]]. The antics of his fellow fraternities, coupled with experiences like that of a road trip to the University of Wisconsin–Madison and its Delta Chi fraternity, became the inspiration for the Delta Tau Chis of ''Animal House'', and many characters in the film (and their nicknames) were based on Miller's fraternity brothers.<ref name="Peterson"/> Filmmaker [[Ivan Reitman]] had just finished producing [[David Cronenberg]]'s first film, ''[[Shivers (1975 film)|Shivers]]'', and called the magazine's publisher [[Matty Simmons]] about making movies under the ''Lampoon'' banner.<ref name="Nashawaty">{{cite magazine |last=Nashawaty |first=Chris |title=Building ''Animal House'' |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=July 29, 2002 |url=https://ew.com/article/1998/10/09/animal-house-behind-scenes/ |access-date=December 4, 2021 |archive-date=February 8, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070208133807/http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,285149,00.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Reitman had put together ''[[The National Lampoon Show]]'' in New York City featuring several future ''Saturday Night Live'' cast members, including John Belushi. When most of the ''Lampoon'' group moved on to ''SNL'' except for [[Harold Ramis]], Reitman approached him with an idea to make a film together using some skits from the ''Lampoon Show''.<ref name="Nashawaty"/>
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Addition: Please see the Von Summer story with images of Chris Miller and the actual Dartmouth Crew.  http://www.bergen.com/Animal_House_Recalling_Alex_von_Summers_college_days_at_Dartmouths_famed_Alpha_Delta_frat.html
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===Screenplay===
Kenney met ''Lampoon'' writer Ramis at the suggestion of Simmons. Ramis drew from his own fraternity experiences as a member of [[Zeta Beta Tau]] fraternity at [[Washington University in St. Louis]] and was working on a film treatment about college called "First Year", but the magazine's editors were not happy with it.<ref name="Peterson"/> The famous scene of Bruce McGill as D-Day riding a motorcycle up the stairs of the fraternity house was inspired by Belushi's antics while a student at the [[University of Wisconsin–Whitewater]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=February 25, 2015|title=Famous people of Whitewater|url=https://royalpurplenews.com/16112/lifestyle/famous-people-of-whitewater/|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Royal Purple|archive-date=May 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170509004437/http://royalpurplenews.com/16112/lifestyle/famous-people-of-whitewater/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kenney and Ramis started working on a new film treatment together, positing [[Charles Manson]] in a high school, calling it ''Laser Orgy Girls''.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Simmons was cool to this idea so they changed the setting to a "[[Northeastern United States|northeastern]] college&nbsp;... Ivy League kind of school".<ref name="insidestory"/> Kenney was a fan of Miller's fraternity stories and suggested using them as a basis for a movie. Kenney, Miller, and Ramis began brainstorming ideas.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> They saw the film's 1962 setting as "the last innocent year&nbsp;... of America", and the homecoming parade that ends the film as occurring on November 21, 1963, the day before [[John F. Kennedy assassination|President Kennedy's assassination]];<ref name="insidestory"/> 1962 was also notable for being the year 1973 film ''[[American Graffiti]]'' was set in.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/thats-not-all-folks-a-brief-history-of-the-movie-epilogue-150943790.html|title=That's NOT All, Folks! A Brief History of the Movie Epilogue|publisher=Yahoo Movies|date=December 1, 2016|accessdate=September 7, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://thedissolve.com/features/movie-of-the-week/468-keynote-american-graffiti-and-george-lucas-nostalg/|title=Keynote: American Graffiti and George Lucas' nostalgia for nostalgia|first=Matt|last=Singer|publisher=The Dissolve|date=March 18, 2014|accessdate=September 7, 2024}}</ref> They agreed that Belushi should star in it and Ramis wrote the part of Bluto specifically for the comedian,{{r|neumer2003}} having been friends with him while at Chicago's [[The Second City]].<ref name="Schwartz">{{cite news |last=Schwartz |first=Tony |title=College Humor Comes Back |work=Newsweek |page=88 |date=October 23, 1978}}</ref>

Ramis, Miller, and Kenney were all new to screenwriting,<ref name="insidestory"/>{{r|neumer2003}} so their film treatment ran to 110 pages, where most treatments average 15 pages. Reitman and Simmons pitched it to every Hollywood studio. Simmons met with [[Ned Tanen]], an executive at Universal Pictures. He was encouraged by younger executives [[Sean Daniel]] and [[Thom Mount]] who were more receptive to the Lampoon type of humor;<ref name="Peterson"/> Mount had discovered the "Seven Fires" film treatment as Tanen's assistant while investigating projects left by a fired studio executive.{{r|neumer2003}} Tanen hated the idea. Ramis remembers, "We went further than I think Universal expected or wanted. I think they were shocked and appalled. Chris' fraternity had virtually been a vomiting cult. And we had a lot of scenes that were almost orgies of vomit&nbsp;... We didn't back off anything".<ref name="Nashawaty"/> The writers eventually created nine drafts of the screenplay, and the studio gradually became more receptive to the project, especially Mount, who championed it.<ref name="Medjuck">{{cite news |last=Medjuck |first=Joe |title=The Further Adventures of Ivan Reitman |work=Take One |date=July 1978}}</ref> The studio green-lighted the film and set the budget at a modest $3 million.<ref name="Peterson"/> Simmons remembers, "They just figured, 'Screw it, it's a silly little movie, and we'll make a couple of bucks if we're lucky—let them do whatever they want.'{{-"}}<ref name="Nashawaty"/>

===Casting===
Initially, Reitman had wanted to direct but had made only one film, ''[[Cannibal Girls]]'', for $5,000.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> The film's producers approached [[Richard Lester]] and [[Bob Rafelson]] before hiring [[John Landis]], who got the director job based on his work on ''[[Kentucky Fried Movie]]''.<ref name="Medjuck"/> That film's script and continuity supervisor was the girlfriend of Sean Daniel, an assistant to Mount. Daniel saw Landis's movie and recommended him. Landis then met with Mount, Reitman, and Simmons and got the job.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Landis remembered, "When I was given the script, it was the funniest thing I had ever read up to that time. But it was really offensive. There was a great deal of projectile vomiting and rape and all these things".<ref name="Olson">{{cite news |last=Olson |first=Eric |title=Director, John Landis: The Dean Speaks |work=Digital Movie Talk |date=October 23, 1978}}</ref> Landis claims his big contribution to the film was that there "had to be good guys and bad guys. There can't just be bad guys, so there became a good fraternity and bad fraternity".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2014/film/news/john-landis-on-harold-ramis-he-was-very-angry-not-to-be-cast-in-animal-house-1201119152/|title=John Landis on Harold Ramis: He Was Very Angry Not to Be Cast in 'Animal House'|last1=Cheney|first1=Alexandra|date=February 25, 2014|website=Variety|language=en|access-date=2019-01-08|archive-date=January 31, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010444/https://variety.com/2014/film/news/john-landis-on-harold-ramis-he-was-very-angry-not-to-be-cast-in-animal-house-1201119152/|url-status=live}}</ref> There was also early friction between Landis and the writers because the director was a high-school dropout from Hollywood and they were all college graduates from the East Coast. Ramis recalled, "He sort of referred immediately to ''Animal House'' as 'my movie.' We'd been living with it for two years and we hated that".<ref name="Nashawaty"/> According to Landis, he drew inspiration from classic Hollywood comedies featuring the likes of [[Buster Keaton]], [[Harold Lloyd]], and the [[Marx Brothers]].<ref name="Mitchell03"/>

The initial cast was to feature [[Chevy Chase]] as Otter, [[Bill Murray]] as Boon, [[Brian Doyle-Murray]] as Hoover, [[Dan Aykroyd]] as D-Day, and [[John Belushi]] as Bluto, but only Belushi was interested. Chase turned the film down in favor of  ''[[Foul Play (1978 film)|Foul Play]]'';<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Landis, who wanted to cast unknown<ref name="insidestory"/> dramatic actors{{r|neumer2003}}<ref name="Nashawaty"/> such as Bacon and Allen (the first film for both) instead of famous comedians,<ref name="Nashawaty"/> takes credit for subtly discouraging Chase by describing the cast as an "[[Ensemble cast|ensemble]]".<ref name="insidestory"/> Landis has also stated that he was not interested in directing a "''Saturday Night Live'' movie" and that unknowns would be the better choice. The character of D-Day was based on Aykroyd, a motorcycle aficionado. Aykroyd was offered the part, but he was already committed to ''Saturday Night Live''; according to Landis, the show's producer [[Lorne Michaels]] threatened to fire Aykroyd from the show's cast if he took the role of D-Day,<ref name="Medjuck"/> which ultimately went to Bruce McGill and provided him with his breakthrough role.<ref name=TCM>{{cite web|url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/127329%7C203511/Bruce-Mcgill#biography|title=Biography for Bruce McGill|website=Turner Classic Movies|access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref> In August 2018, Aykroyd explained that although Michaels permitted him to do ''Animal House'', he ultimately chose to stay behind on ''Saturday Night Live'' so as not to leave Michaels understaffed.<ref name=yahoo>{{cite web|url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/john-landis-directed-aretha-franklin-225003690.html |title=Dan Aykroyd Says Lorne Michaels Didn't Keep Him From Playing D-Day In 'Animal House': 'Blues Brothers' Update|author=Mike Fleming, Jr.|website=[[Yahoo]] |date=August 23, 2018 |access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref><ref name=cinemablend>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2456579/no-snls-lorne-michaels-didnt-stop-dan-aykroyd-from-joining-animal-house|title=No, SNL's Lorne Michaels Didn't Stop Dan Aykroyd From Joining Animal House|author=Conner Schwerdtfeger|website=CinemaBlend|date=August 29, 2018 |access-date=February 11, 2023}}</ref> Belushi, who had worked on ''[[The National Lampoon Radio Hour]]'' before ''Saturday Night Live'',<ref name="insidestory"/> was also busy with SNL, but spent Monday through Wednesday making the film and then flew back to New York to do the show on Thursday through Saturday.<ref name="Schwartz"/> Ramis originally wrote the role of Boon for himself, but Landis felt that he looked too old for the part and Peter Riegert was cast instead. Landis offered Ramis a smaller part, but he declined. Landis met with [[Jack Webb]] to play Dean Wormer and [[Kim Novak]] to play his wife; at the time, Webb reportedly turned down the role because of concerns over his clean-cut ''[[Dragnet (franchise)|Dragnet]]'' image, but later said he did not find the script funny. Ultimately, [[John Vernon]] was cast as Wormer after Landis saw him in ''[[The Outlaw Josey Wales]]''.{{r|neumer2003}}

Belushi initially received only $35,000 for ''Animal House'', but was paid a bonus after the film became a hit.<ref name="Schwartz"/> Landis also met with [[Meat Loaf]] in case Belushi turned down the role of Bluto. Landis worked with Belushi on his character, who "hardly had any dialogue";<ref name="insidestory"/><ref name="Ebert"/> they decided that Bluto was a cross between [[Harpo Marx]] and the [[Cookie Monster]].<ref name="insidestory"/><ref name=chfanml>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tq1VAAAAIBAJ&pg=6448%2C506185 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |last=Wyant |first=Dan |title=The 'chief animal' |date=December 2, 1977 |page=1B |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010444/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tq1VAAAAIBAJ&pg=6448%2C506185 |url-status=live }}</ref> Belushi said he developed his ability to communicate without talking because his [[Albanians|Albanian]] grandmother spoke little English.<ref name="Lights">{{cite episode|series=[[20/20 (American TV program)|20/20]]|title=Lights, Camera, Summer|network=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]|date=May 23, 2018}}</ref>

Belushi was considered a supporting actor and Universal wanted another star.{{r|neumer2003}} Landis had been a crew member on ''[[Kelly's Heroes]]'' and had become friends with actor [[Donald Sutherland]], sometimes babysitting his son [[Kiefer Sutherland|Kiefer]].<ref name="Nashawaty"/> He had also just worked with him on ''[[Kentucky Fried Movie]]''. Landis asked Sutherland, one of the most popular film stars of the early 1970s, to be in the movie. For two days of work, Sutherland declined the initial offer of $20,000 plus "points" (a percentage of the gross or net income).<ref name=BI>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/animal-house-mistake-that-cost-donald-sutherland-millions-2014-3 |title=The Huge 'Animal House' Blunder That Cost Donald Sutherland Millions |author=Frank Palotta |website=[[Business Insider]] |date=April 3, 2014 |access-date=November 11, 2015 |archive-date=November 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117032309/http://www.businessinsider.com/animal-house-mistake-that-cost-donald-sutherland-millions-2014-3 |url-status=live }}</ref> Universal then offered him his day rate of $25,000<ref name=Variety>{{cite magazine |last1=Riley |first1=Jenelle |date=November 5, 2014 |title=Donald Sutherland Reflects on Long Run of Success, Looks to 'Snowy' Future |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |url=https://variety.com/2014/film/features/donald-sutherland-the-hunger-games-1201347477/ |access-date=December 10, 2017 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010444/https://variety.com/2014/film/features/donald-sutherland-the-hunger-games-1201347477/ |url-status=live }}</ref> or 2% of the film's [[Gross (economics)|gross]].<ref name=BI/><ref name=Variety/> Sutherland took the guaranteed fee, assuming that the film would not be very successful; although this made him the highest-paid member of the cast (Belushi and Neidermeyer's horse, Junior, each received $40,000),<ref name=UMO /> the decision cost Sutherland what he estimates at around $14 million.{{r|Variety}} The star's participation, however, was crucial; Landis later said "It was Donald Sutherland who essentially got the film made."{{r|neumer2003}}{{r|Variety}}

"Pinto" was screenwriter Chris Miller's nickname at his Dartmouth fraternity.<ref name="insidestory">''Animal House: The Inside Story.'' Executive produced by Kevin Bachar, written by Laura Sobel, Bio, 13 Aug. 2008.</ref> DeWayne Jessie adopted the "Otis Day" name in his private life and continued touring with the band.<ref name="insidestory"/>

===Locations===
[[File:AnimalHsePlaque.JPG|thumb|right|Plaque at the Delta House site (2007)]]
[[File:Dexter Lake Club-2.jpg|thumb|right|[[Otis Day and the Knights]] sang [[Shama Lama Ding Dong]] at the Dexter Lake Club (2012 photo)]]
The filmmakers' next problem was finding a college that would let them shoot the film on their campus.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Because it was set in the past, they needed a location with a classic look,{{r|stone20180815}} so submitted the script to several colleges and universities but "nobody wanted this movie" due to the script. According to Landis, "I couldn't find 'the look'. Every place that had 'the look' said, 'no thank you.'"<ref name="insidestory"/> The [[University of Missouri]] ([[Columbia, Missouri]]) gave consent to shoot the movie at the college, but President [[Herbert W. Schooling]] withdrew permission to film there after reading the script.<ref name=UMO>{{cite web |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/22666/national-lampoons-animal-house#trivia |title=NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE |publisher=[[Turner Classic Movies|TCM]] |access-date=October 7, 2022}}</ref>

The president of the [[University of Oregon]] in [[Eugene, Oregon|Eugene]], [[William Beaty Boyd]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://president.uoregon.edu/history/ |title=Presidential History &#124; Office of the President |publisher=President.uoregon.edu |access-date=2012-06-28 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728034615/https://president.uoregon.edu/history/ |url-status=live }}</ref> had been a senior administrator at the [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California]] in [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]] in 1966 when his campus was considered for a location of the film ''[[The Graduate]]''. After he consulted with other senior administrative colleagues who advised him to turn it down due to the lack of artistic merit, the college campus scenes set at Berkeley were shot at [[University of Southern California|USC]] in Los Angeles. The film went on to become a classic, and Boyd was determined not to make the same mistake twice when the producers inquired about filming in Oregon. After consulting with student government leaders and officers of the Pan Hellenic Council, the Director of University Relations advised the president that the script, although raunchy and often tasteless, was a very funny spoof of college life. Boyd even allowed the filmmakers to use his office as Dean Wormer's.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> Because of the film's content, however, he insisted that "Oregon" not be mentioned in the film. The filmmakers paid $20,000 to use the campus.{{r|stone20180815}}

The actual house depicted as the Delta House was originally a residence near the campus in Eugene, the Dr. A.W. Patterson House. Around 1959, it was acquired by the Psi Deuteron chapter of [[Phi Sigma Kappa]] fraternity and was their chapter house until 1967, when the chapter was closed due to low membership. The house was sold, remained vacant, and slid into disrepair, with the spacious porch removed and the lawn graveled over. At the time of the shooting, the [[Phi Kappa Psi]] and [[Sigma Nu]] fraternity houses sat next to the old Phi Sigma Kappa house, on the 700 block of East 11th Avenue.<ref name=orencyclop>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/animal_house_film_/#.WCZ2VE0zWM9 |encyclopedia=Oregon Encyclopedia |publisher=Oregon Historical Society |title=Animal House (film) |last=Scheppke |first=Jim |access-date=November 11, 2016 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010514/https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/animal_house_film_/#.WCZ2VE0zWM9 |url-status=live }}</ref> The interior of the Phi Kappa Psi house and the Sigma Nu house were used for most of the interior scenes, but the scenes in Otter and Hoover's bedrooms were filmed on a soundstage. The Patterson house remained vacant after filming ended in 1977 and was demolished in 1986,<ref name="OnFilm">{{cite news | title = On Film | work = [[University of Oregon]] Archives | date = October 23, 1978 | url = http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/archives/ | access-date = August 16, 2007 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070911212130/http://libweb.uoregon.edu/speccoll/archives/ | archive-date = September 11, 2007 | df = mdy-all }}</ref> and the site ({{coord|44.048|-123.081|scale:5000}}) is now occupied by [[Bushnell University]]'s School of Education and Counseling. A large boulder placed to the west of the parking entrance displays a bronze plaque commemorating the Delta House location. The concluding parade scene was filmed on Main Street in downtown [[Cottage Grove, Oregon|Cottage Grove]], about {{convert|20|mi|spell=in}} south of Eugene via [[Interstate 5 in Oregon|Interstate 5]].

===Principal photography===
Filming began on October 24, 1977, and concluded in the middle of December 1977.<ref name=AFI/> and Landis brought the actors who played the Deltas up five days early to bond. Staying at the [[Rodeway Inn]] motel in adjacent [[Springfield, Oregon|Springfield]],<ref name=orencyclop/> they moved an old piano from the lobby into McGill's room, which became known as "party central." James Widdoes ("Hoover") remembers, "It was like freshman orientation. There was a lot of getting to know each other and calling each other by our character names." This tactic encouraged the actors playing the Deltas to separate themselves from the actors playing the Omegas, helping generate authentic animosity between them on camera. Belushi and his wife Judy rented a house in south Eugene to keep him away from alcohol and drugs;<ref name="Nashawaty"/><ref name=chfanml/> she remained in Oregon while he commuted to New York City for ''Saturday Night Live''.

University of Oregon students got haircuts to appear as extras. Not knowing the story, they were bemused to see a horse being led into [[Johnson Hall (Eugene, Oregon)|Johnson Hall]].<ref name="stone20180706">{{Cite magazine |last=Stone |first=Jason |date=Summer 2018 |title=Animal House: Still Funny at Age 40? |url=https://around.uoregon.edu/oq/cell-uo-loid-heroes |magazine=Oregon Quarterly |language=en |access-date=2022-10-19}}</ref> Although the cast members were admonished against mixing with the college students,<ref name="insidestory"/> one night, some girls invited several of the cast to a fraternity party; assuming the invitation had been made with the knowledge of the fraternity, the actors arrived and were initially greeted coldly which soon turned to open hostility.<ref name="Nashawaty"/> It was obvious the group was not welcome, and as they were leaving, Widdoes threw a cup of beer at a group of drunk [[Oregon Ducks football]] players and a melee "like a scene from the movie"<ref name="insidestory"/> broke out. Tim Matheson, Bruce McGill, Peter Riegert, and Widdoes narrowly escaped, with McGill suffering a black eye and Widdoes getting several teeth broken or knocked out.<ref name="Nashawaty"/>

Other than Belushi's opening yell, the food fight was filmed in one [[shot (filmmaking)|shot]], with the actors encouraged to fight for real.<ref name="insidestory"/> Flounder's dexterous catching of flying groceries in the supermarket was another single shot; Furst deftly caught most of the grocery items Matheson and Landis rapidly threw at him from off camera, to the director's amazement.{{r|neumer2003}}<ref name="insidestory"/> By filming the long courtroom scene in one day, Landis won a bet with Reitman.{{r|neumer2003}}

The film's budget was so small that during the 32 days of shooting in Eugene, mostly in November,<ref name=chfanml/><ref name=orencyclop/><ref name=ergsaflfin>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_aRVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2133%2C6569609 |newspaper=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |last=Baker |first=Dean |title=Seeing a film from inside |date=October 25, 1977 |page=1B |access-date=October 15, 2020 |archive-date=January 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131010514/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_aRVAAAAIBAJ&pg=2133%2C6569609 |url-status=live }}</ref> Landis had no trailer or office and could not watch [[dailies]] for three weeks. His wife [[Deborah Nadoolman]] purchased most of the costumes at local thrift stores, and she and Judy Belushi made the party togas.{{r|neumer2003}} Landis and Bruce McGill staged a scene for reporters visiting the set where the director pretended to be angry at the actor for being difficult on the set.<ref name="Arnold2">{{cite news | last = Arnold | first = Gary | title = The Madcap World of John Landis |newspaper=The Washington Post | pages = H1 | date=August 13, 1978}}</ref> Landis grabbed a breakaway pitcher and smashed it over McGill's head. He fell to the ground and pretended to be unconscious. The reporters were completely fooled, and when Landis asked McGill to get up, he refused to move.<ref name="Arnold2"/>

[[File:Dexter Lake Club (Dexter, Oregon).jpg|thumb| The closed [[Dexter, Oregon|Dexter]] Lake Club in 2011]]
Black extras had to be bused in from [[Portland, Oregon|Portland]] for the segment at the [[Dexter, Oregon|Dexter]] Lake Club ({{coord|43.914|-122.8115}}) due to their scarcity around Eugene. More seriously, the segment alarmed Tanen and other studio executives, who perceived it as racist and warned that "'black people in America are going to rip the seats out of theaters if you leave that scene in the movie.'" [[Richard Pryor]]'s approval helped retain the segment in the film.<ref name="insidestory"/><ref name="neumer2003">{{cite web | url=http://www.stumpedmagazine.com/articles/animal-house/ | title=Animal House: The Movie that Changed Comedy | work=Stumped | access-date=October 28, 2015 | author=Neumer, Chris | year=2003 | archive-date=April 6, 2019 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190406043642/http://www.stumpedmagazine.com/articles/animal-house/ | url-status=live }}</ref> The studio became more enthusiastic about the film when Reitman showed executives and sales managers of various regions in the country a 10-minute production reel that was put together in two days.<ref name="Medjuck"/> The reaction was positive and the studio sent 20 copies out to exhibitors.<ref name="Medjuck"/> The first preview screening for ''Animal House'' was held in [[Denver]] four months before it opened nationwide. The crowd loved it and the filmmakers realized they had a potential hit on their hands.<ref name="Nashawaty"/>

The original cut of the movie was a lengthy 175 minutes and more than an hour was dropped; the deleted scenes included:
* a John Landis cameo as a cafeteria dishwasher who tries to stop Bluto from eating all the food. Landis is dragged across a table and thrown to the floor by Bluto who then says "You don't fuck with the eagles unless you know how to fly."
* a scene where Boon and Hoover tell Pinto the tales of legendary Delta House frat brothers from years before who had names like Tarantula, Bulldozer, Giraffe, and his girlfriend, Gross Kay.
* two different deleted scenes with Otter and a couple of his girlfriends (one played by [[Sunny Johnson]]—listed in the credits as "Otter's Co-Ed" although her scene was deleted—and the other played by location scout Katherine Wilson, whose deleted scene can be seen in the theatrical trailer).
* an extended version of the scene where Bluto pours mustard on himself and starts singing "I am the Mustard Man."