Chapter 1: What is discussed at the start of this section?
The Rewatchables is brought to you by the Ringer Podcast Network, where you can find The Watch with Chris Ryan. What are you watching these days, CR? Widow's Bay. Oh, I can't. It just hasn't taken for me yet.
One of the best shows of the year. Really? Oh, yeah. And then I'm riding Euphoria out to the finish. Me too. Yeah. I like Euphoria. They can't scare me off. Have I done my ruin pressure for you yet? No. Better than I thought it was going to be. Nice job.
Craig's here as well, and we're joined by special guest Murph. It's a three-man pod. Hey, Murph. Been waiting for this one for a long time. One of the most influential comedies ever. The last one we're doing for Netflix is a joke month. It is still on Netflix. Animal House is next. CR, hard to explain what this movie meant in the 80s. We just didn't have a lot of comedies.
This is the only comedy about college. Probably had six, seven, eight. You would just rewatch over and over again. The lines, it reached the point, the famous lines from this movie, and then there's like a whole separate subsection of lines from this movie that you could just do shorthand with people. And I think this comedy had as big of an influence
As any comedy that has come out in the last 50 years.
Animal House. Almost like a... It's got like a crater where it landed. And it like starts all these different like micro genres. It kickstarts these careers. Basically launches like three different filmmakers into the world with Reitman, Ramis, and Landis that already worked, obviously. But like... It's importance almost dwarfs its entertainment sometimes.
But I still really enjoy having it on a lot.
What was the movie you said is like putting on an old sweatshirt? Ghostbusters.
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Chapter 2: What impact did 'Animal House' have on comedy?
Yeah. I feel that way about Animal House. I've just seen it so many times. I know every section of it. It's got Belushi who's... Who's right here, actually. One of my favorites of all time.
You know what I wanted to ask you about was what... What kind of relationship you had to National Lampoon as like an institution outside of just the Hughes movies and this?
Only knew it from Animal House. Okay. From all the people that kind of went on and then from reading the books about it. You know, when she started reading the, like even the Bob Woodward book about Belushi. Yeah. The Saturday Night Live book that came out in 84, 85. Just in general, I had no idea until I started reading how impactful it was. I didn't know as a kid.
It's just kind of fascinating because it's not dissimilar from a lot of... upstart media stories that you read about from the last 20 years.
Like, it's not that much different than Vice in some ways or something where it starts out as this, like, small-time production house or, you know, like, magazine based out of Harvard and then branches out into all these different things and takes advantage of corporations looking for, basically, for lack of a better term, content at the time.
It's like Grantland. Just these little underdogs. Yeah. Oh, no, we work for ESPN. Yeah. It's a before-after for comedy movies.
Mm-hmm.
just felt like Blazing Saddles was what, 74, 75 range. This movie comes out and it leads to two different eras because you have the rambunctious comedy era, right?
That's Animal House, Meatballs, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers, Airplane Stripes, like big stars, big set pieces, just felt like it was for everybody who was 20 and older in the 70s and then people like us who were growing up after jumping in.
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Chapter 3: How did 'Animal House' influence college culture?
But it also ushered in the raunchy comedy era. Sex comedy, yeah. Which then Porky's really capitalized on. But we've talked about that in the past. Revenge of the nerds, yeah. Zapped, class, losing it. This was like a whole cottage industry. So it spawned two separate industries of comedy.
It also pretty much invents the modern college comedy. Which maybe doesn't even really take flight until the 90s. I grew up with Kicking and Screaming. Everybody Wants Some is later, but PCU was a big one for me. That is a really reliable subgenre of comedy.
I feel like it was the first college movie. I'm sure there were others, but this is the first one I can really think of that I saw. Where it was like, Is this what it's like to go to college? Yeah. Did you think that? Kind of, yeah. I was on a text thread last night with two of my best friends from high school went to Colgate. Okay.
And they were in a frat in Colgate with two of my other friends who became good friends. And we were just texting about this movie and how much they had seen Animal House for years. And when they went into college in the late 80s, it was like, I want to be in a frat. You're just making the Animal House jokes as you're in the frat. Yeah. And that's just kind of how the 80s went.
I have some takes on this later. But this movie was like… Someday I'll go to college and I'll be like the Animal House guys.
It's hard to explain. That's how I felt about high school with Ferris Bueller. Where I was just like… I'm going to go to high school. I'm going to have my own room. You know, which I did. I was only a child. But like… I'm going to have like this universe within my room. And I like… These are going to be my friends. But one day like…
I'm just going to have the coolest day ever in high school when I'm cut in class.
Craig, you're later than us. There's a million college movies that are out by then. Right? Less than you'd think, though. It's mostly high school more than college. Yeah. You're like old school. It's usually like neighbors, but those are more plays on adults interacting with college less than college kids themselves. So when you watch this movie, first of all, the movie takes place in 1962. Yes.
Yeah. Which now feels like a kajillion years ago.
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Chapter 4: What are the most memorable scenes from 'Animal House'?
The toga. Toga. Like, anytime, like, should we have a party Friday night?
And just be like, even though you weren't having a toga party. Yeah.
Like,
My parents used to make double secret probation jokes. This movie probably created that, right?
Yeah, I think so. But there were stealth ones too. Wait till Otis sees us. He loves us. You just throw that one out. Otis, my man. When we had Otis Nixon on the Red Sox, there was like a whole bunch of Otis, my man jokes because every new Animal House.
There's one that I actually, from that, the Dexter scene that I really like is what Peter Riker, I think, says, you girls come here often.
He's great, this movie, by the way. You mind if we dance with your dates? Fat, Drunk, and Stupid is No Way to Go Through Life, Sir was the one that became the biggest one along with Was It Over When the Germans Bombed Pearl Harbor. He's on a roll. Keep him going. Niedermeyer Dad became another famous one. And then the Remain Calm! All is well!
But, I mean, I just listed… That's 12 lines from this. And they really did become part of the way people talk. It's hard to explain.
There's also… I think… I was watching the Chandler-Levack movie, Roommates, a couple weeks ago. The Netflix thing. 20-year-old. It's basically Animal House.
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Chapter 5: What memorable moments from Animal House are highlighted?
When Flounder goes over to Greg and starts talking to him, and then Greg kind of guides him back to the four rejects. Why don't you talk to him some more? I've already met these guys. And he's like, great! You'll have plenty to talk about.
Yeah.
Hand jobs with latex gloves. You think that's aged the best? Yeah, it's hilarious. Flounder in silent rage four years later. That is a one for us month. Silent Rage? Yeah. We're finally going to end up doing that. But Flounder is Chuck Norris' sidekick in Silent Rage.
Chapter 6: How do the hosts reflect on the impact of college culture from the film?
That would be an amazing collection of films. If we did Lincoln's Silent Rage.
If we tried to tie him with Netflix, it was like, hey, so I'm not sure how you're going to promote this in the carousel, but it's one for us month. Toga parties did become a thing in the 80s. I was at the tail end of it when I was in college. I don't think I ever went to one in college. You weren't in a frat. No. Were you?
I was in a fraternity for two years and we did throw a toga party in college. Did you, like, you were a junior and senior or freshman and sophomore? Freshman and sophomore. Why'd you stop? I just, like, honestly didn't like it. Okay.
Chapter 7: What are the key themes discussed about the film's humor and societal commentary?
I don't know. Wow. Sounds like he got hazed. I did go through that. But just not for me. Yeah. We threw the toga party at a house senior year, actually, not in the frat. Was it fun? It's great. It's the best. Yeah. The toga thing became a big thing for about, I would say, 10 years. Never got it. It's also like the easiest dress-up party you can go to. Like, everyone just wears a bed sheet.
Chapter 8: What conclusions do the hosts draw about the film's legacy and influence?
It's the easiest thing in the world. You got to wear, like, shorts underneath the bed sheet, though, right? Not me. Not Otter. And then this is my high school buddy, Jim Grady, who went to Colgate and I think was president of his flat. He texted this yesterday. Little known secret. I wanted to be Rush Chair at Sigma Chi just so I could say, Hi, Jim Grady, Rush Chairman. Damn glad to meet you.
Not joking. Apparently really did that. Oh, my God. Yeah. This is a great what's aged the best. So they... They had this bit in the original script, but they didn't film it with the JFK float. And they had the four people dressed like Jackie Onassis on the day he got assassinated. Oh, yeah. But they had this... They were going to have a car go through his head.
And it was going to be in the exit wound spot of when he got assassinated. And then Landis was like, we got to cut this. It's too offensive.
So that's when he was like, we can't do that. But can we... What if she was 13?
Right. Some of the 13 was fine. If they had had the car... zoomed through his head in the exit wound I think that would have aged pretty funnily in my opinion yeah it's just like holy shit they were really going for it in 1978 but they decided not to do it and then you mentioned the other what's aged the best Louie Louie Shama Lama Ding Dong shout music's great I had one last stage to best.
It's Sarah Holcomb's IMDb. Okay.
Sarah Holcomb is Colette, the young girl?
Sarah Holcomb is the, yeah, who ends up being Maggie in Caddyshack. Oh, thanks for nothing. She's in four movies. And then apparently, sadly, had some issues and was out of the industry. Her first movie ever is Animal House. And her last movie is Caddyshack. Her second to last movie is some movie called Happy Birthday, Gemini. Okay. And then she makes one other movie.
And she's the star of Walk Proud. Do you know what Walk Proud is? I'll just read you what it's about. Robbie Benson plays Emilio Mendez, a young Chicano gang member in Los Angeles who begins to question his gang life when he meets and starts to fall for a white girl who encourages him to try and leave. Okay. Robbie sang the theme song Adios Yesterday. No.
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