I guess I should be talking about long-dead movie stars, but I’m thinking about a certain friend of mine who doesn’t even look down his nose at Animal House. He will not condescend to admit that Animal House even exists. He doesn’t see it as a masterpiece or even watch a frame of the film.
This time around in my fledgling blog, I’m bringing up poor Harold Ramis, and I must leave the matter in your hands. You are all obviously lovers of classic film. You’ve seen Lombard, Flynn, de Havilland, and I’m sure Bogart, Davis, Olivier, and even (God help us) Muni. You’ve taken in The Red Shoes, Roshomon, The Maltese Falcon, and Citizen Kane, and marveled at the work of great directors, cinematographers, and writers.
Today I’m asking you, where does Animal House fit? Is Animal House a classic? Is Animal House great?
I guess it’s obvious where I stand on Animal House. I wanted to hate it going in but it charmed the pants off me and I’ve never looked back. It’s a picture that took American cinema in a new direction, for good or ill. And I’m very curious what you think. Animal House, yes or no?
(In particular I’m wondering about Inga over there in Germany. Does Animal House even translate??)
Robert Matzen 
Animal House… I’m sorry, this is completely unknown to me! According to imdb, there are 3 (!!) German titles: one is the same as the English one and the others can be back-translated as: I think a horse kicked me or The Monkeys are lose in College !!!??? Ermmmm… curious to find out what’s special about it, Robert!
Inga, Animal House is an anti-establishment American comedy created in 1978 by some young upstarts. Some on our own shores never found it funny, but I did. It’s in the same universe as the Three Stooges and Monty Python. I can’t imagine seeing Animal House translated into German but I guess it must have been. It made a fortune for Universal, so I guess it may have done well in Europe but I’m not sure.
imdb lists those titles and there is a release date, so there must be a German version… I’ll watch out for it. thanks!
I’m not a fan. I remember a guy taking me to see it on a date, and I was so repulsed by its sexist depictions of women. Not a good date movie. That being said, I loved the Second City stuff done by Harold Ramis, especially the movie spoofs. I feel the same way about Judd Apatow. I think his best work was for TV — Freaks and Geeks (which featured a Second City alum Ed Flaherty as the dad). I find his movie stuff crass, crude, and rather misanthropic.
http://www.pbs.org/video/2365503323/